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EventsCan antibiotics make you fat?
Can antibiotics make you fat? It’s an interesting idea:
Mother Jones: Can antibiotics make you fat?
Cows regularly get antibiotics in their feed as it helps them put on pounds. The cause may be that it disturbs the gut microbiota and makes the cows absorb more energy from the feed. Mice experience a similar fate when put on antibiotics, adding 10-15 percent of fat mass.
Now, humans aren’t cows or mice. But could we gain weight too by eating antibiotics? It’s still speculative, but it’s another reason not to use antibiotics unless it’t truly necessary. I added this tip to the others about medications on the How to lose weight-page.
What do you think?
Update: I was just told there’s a study showing significant weight gain in people being treated with antibiotics for stomach ulcers. Hard to know if it’s because of the antibiotics or a side effect of curing the ulcer though.
It's an interesting fact that humans are technically just 10% human. The bacteria in our bodies outnumber human cells 10:1.
"Eradication of Helicobacter pylori increases the incidence of hyperlipidaemia and obesity in peptic ulcer patients"
"...Conclusion.
"Our findings show that eradication of H. pylori significantly increases the incidence of hyperlipidaemia and obesity in patients with peptic ulcer."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1590865804004098
To the point of the question posed, I personally have lost weight a couple of times when taking an antibiotic. Could have been the illness for which I was being treated or the drugs. Don't know.
Disease states themselves can cause weight gain and fat cell disregulation. So can lack of sleep and probably toxins.
http://humanfoodproject.com/are-you-carrying-the-obesity-pathogen
SUPERBUG MARYN MCKENNA has been following the story unfolding.
Where do UTI's come from?
Just as well I keep my 25(OH)D at 50ng/ml 125nmol/l
For this example, assume antibiotics can kill all bacteria, and assume there's two groups of bacteria; fat-feeding (FFb), and carb-feeding (CFb).
LCHF + antibiotics. FFb is attacked only by antibiotics. CFb is attacked both by diet and antibiotics. Net result is more FFb, less CFb.
HCLF + antibiotics. FFb is attacked by both diet and antibiotics. CFb is attacked only by antibiotics. Net result is less FFb, more CFb.
It's kinda like being hit by a hurricane while there's a famine, but next town over they get hit by the same hurricane while they have abundant food.
For the entire human, LCHF keeps us lean, HCLF keeps us fat. Combine with the above, and we can see how LCHF + antibiotics can reduce CFb flora even more than either LCHF or antibiotics alone. Combine with the potential effect of gut flora on the rest of the body, and we can see how reducing one group of bacteria through antibiotics + diet can have an effect greater than just with diet alone. With the simplified example above, we can see how the same antibiotics can make us either fat or lean, depending on diet.
This gives us an interesting take on what's been happening for the last 30 years. We've been taking lots of antibiotics, but we've also shifted our diet toward HCLF. We've been collectively destroying our FFb, while simultaneously cultivating our CFb. Ironically, we can use antibiotics again to reverse all this, but we must go with LCHF first.
This gives us another interesting possibility. Let's say you go LCHF, and then get an infection, and you have to take antibiotics. Take them, but this time make sure you stick with LCHF strictly, or even outright ZC and all-meat. This way, for the short time you have to take antibiotics, you have a much greater effect on your gut flora than if you just stuck with your regular LCHF, or even if you decided to indulge in some carbs during that short time. After that, return to your regular LCHF.
High producing dairy cows consume fairly high levels of starch in their diets, but nutritionists ensure they do not get too much to prevent them from getting over conditioned. Starch makes them fatter. So yes, maybe cows do get fatter when they get antibiotics, simply because bad bugs are removed from their digestive systems and the nutrients are then absorbed better. But let me assure you there is a big move all around the world to reduce the usage of antibiotics in animal feed. Also many animal diets these days actually also contain probiotics.
In my opinion a similar thing will happen when humans uses antibiotics because they take in too much carbs and they get absorbed better. Thus, the antibiotics should not be blamed, but rather the carbs.
Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 9 January 2013, c142WH)
Livestock MRSA Found For First Time In UK Milk
Big rise recorded in farm antibiotic usage
It's possible there will be less used this year as the total herd is lower I believe but I'll only believe it when I see some facts to support that idea.
FQs mutate and deplete mitochondria (a likely major player in obesity and many disease processes). This was published more than 20 years ago.
FQs dysregulate blood sugar homeostasis--this is a class effect (published).
All FQ package inserts have a warning that side effects can be delayed and to contact your MD (too late once you have already finished the prescription and you are damaged with no known protocol to fix you). I figured it out before I finished the prescription...
FQs are toxic to tendons, nerves, muscles, vision, and more.
FQs produce more oxidative stress than other classes of antibiotics. Perhaps the brain and pancreas get damaged which both can cause dysglycemias.
FQs are associated with C. difficile. They are big gun antibiotics which can damage and alter the gut microbiome.
Unfortunately I got hit by FQs and I am still not near normal 3 years later. This is how I ended up eating LC and learning about the DietDocotor.
Hopefully more people will be aware of the risks of FQs. Getting fat is associated with many more side effects from FQ injury.
While it's true the refined, over processed carbohydrates provide an ideal base for the proliferation of pathogenic gut microbia see Comparison with ancestral diets suggests dense acellular carbohydrates promote an inflammatory microbiota, and may be the primary dietary cause of leptin resistance and obesity we cannot, and should not, overlook the fact that regular antibiotic use disrupts the formation and composition of our gut microbiome and promotes the proliferation of pathogenic antibiotic resistant forms that make maintaining weight equilibrium difficult.
For many people reducing refined carbohydrates is the complete solution but others reach a weight plateux and others find, even with carb restriction, their blood glucose levels remain obstinately high. For these people a low carbohydrate regime, combined with improvements to gut flora via Bitter Melon, Chinese Yam (to reduce pathogenic gut flora ) and prebiotics, probiotics, fermented foods (to establish commensal flora) and improvement in immune function to reduce reliance on antibiotics (Vit D 50ng/ml 125nmol/l, melatonin, lactoferrin etc) is required to address the underlying problem with gut flora that many years of antibiotic and refined carbohydrate exposure has created.
http://www.sugaraholics.com
http://highfatlowcarbrecipes.wordpress.com/
http://yesdiets.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-healthy-diet-does-not-leave.html
Anyway, I have been eating LCHF for the past year and have lost around 20 pounds "Woop Woop" however, recently I was put on antibiotics for a bad case of epididymitis "Ouch!!!" To my surprise, I gained about 7 pounds in a week! You can imagine my dismay and perplection when the scale frazzled my mind with what it showed me :) My eating regime for anyone interested is:
Morning - Nothing
Lunch - Nothing
Dinner - Good old LCHF something!
Yeah, I eat once a day :)
Thanks for posting this article, it has put my mind at rest to some extent. I'll report back when I get off my course of antibiotics (1 week to go tomorrow) Tell me about it, most people need 7 days! I got 2 weeks of Doxy prescribed.