By The Way...

Monday, August 14, 2006
10:31:00 AM EDT
Hearing Regret -- New Order
A really fascinating piece in the New York Times this weekend talked about a possible microbial root for obesity; that some of the tiny little critters that live in our gut could cause some of us to get fatter, faster -- and that these critters can be contagious. Here's an interesting point, however:

If microbes do turn out to be relevant, at least in some cases of obesity, it could change the way the public thinks about being fat. Along with the continuing research on the genetics of obesity, the study of other biological factors could help mitigate the negative stereotypes of fat people as slothful and gluttonous and somehow less virtuous than thin people. There is, of course, the risk of overemphasizing how potent the biological forces are that make some people prone to gaining weight. Biology sets the context, and that is critical, but obesity still boils down to whether a person eats too much or exercises enough. The danger in bending too far in the direction of a biological explanation — whether that explanation is genetics, infectobesity or some theory yet to be discovered — is that it could be misinterpreted, by fat and thin alike, as saying that behavior is irrelevant.

This is something I personally harp on a lot. There are any number of causes for obesity, some of which may be directly under our control and some of which may not be, but the great temptation is always to say that because obesity (or any other problem) is "not our fault," our behavior toward it doesn't matter, i.e., we're in thrall to biology, society or destiny. I don't think this is true at all: What we consciously do for (and to) our bodies matters. Biology isn't destiny.

Moving away from the person responsibility aspect of things, here's an interesting thing to note, from the article, and I'm going to put something in bold to accentuate it:

Of the trillions and trillions of cells in a typical human body — at least 10 times as many cells in a single individual as there are stars in the Milky Way — only about 1 in 10 is human. The other 90 percent are microbial. These microbes — a term that encompasses all forms of microscopic organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and a form of life called archaea — exist everywhere. They are found in the ears, nose, mouth, vagina, anus, as well as every inch of skin, especially the armpits, the groin and between the toes. The vast majority are in the gut, which harbors 10 trillion to 100 trillion of them. “Microbes colonize our body surfaces from the moment of our birth,” Gordon said. “They are with us throughout our lives, and at the moment of our death they consume us.”

Incidentally, this doesn't mean that "you" are 90% microbes, or that 90% of our weight is microbes (the microbes in our bodies are mostly smaller than our own cells by a considerable amount). It simply means that there are a lot of different things living on -- and in -- you. And to some extent you should be happy they're there: Many of them are beneficial to us and help our bodies maintain themselves (not withstanding the ones that may cause us obestity issues). But it's still a hell of a thing to think about: trillions of little living things, living in you.






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This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)

• #3 Comment from psychfun 
  8/14/06 3:57 PM | Permalink

  I'm sorry Paul...love you to death but this is exactly the prejudice I talk about in my psych class. Problem is you do not start off 348 right away. It comes slowly & then it affects motivation, emotions etc which influence how you exercise etc. Think about it like when you are sick with the flu...ALL THE TIME...you start to feel dragging because of the extra poundage so then are you like to say "HEY, I THINK I'LL GO WORKOUT!" BAHA! Right! My students learn about the Hypothalamus' role. We can destroy or excite a certain area & one with either feel like they stuff themselves at thanksgiving all the time until they whither away & die OR they will feel like they are starving to death all the time! This can be from a brain injury, something going wrong during development (in utero or after), could be toxic/chemical damage ETC! There is also the reinforcement factor when young just sooooo many contributing factors. How about your foot doctor telling you, you can stand or walk only 20 min per hr! :-) Although I just lost weight but....Also on this point it is really interesting because I had a stomach problem this spring that went undiagnosed from a previous stint with an antibiotic Augmentin which does it almost all the time. After they treated it to get that bad bacteria out of me I lose weight hmmm! May be something to this. Also reminds me of those aweful infommercials of colon cleansing & how much lbs we have in our gut. Ha!
• #2 Comment from robinngabster 
  8/14/06 12:23 PM | Permalink

  Ears, nose, mouth and my....wha????? Vagina!???  OMG I didnt need to know that.  :)
  
  My extra poundage I am sure has nothing to do with microbial thing....it is the cake I keep eating!   Intersting John.
• #1 Comment from plittle 
  8/14/06 11:02 AM | Permalink

  I don't care what microbes you have in your body, or how your genetic make-up affects your metabolism. If you weigh 348 pounds, you need to spend less time on the couch with a bag of potato chips on your lap.
  -Paul
  http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/