Is a Virus Driving You to Eat?

December 28, 2016

Weight Loss Ahead ScaleIt’s pretty well established that your gut biome, the good (and sometimes bad) bacteria in your digestive tract impact many aspects of health, impacts many aspects of health, weight, in particular. Researchers have been working to untangle which bacteria, and combinations upon combinations of bacteria, have what effects. Occasionally, they’ll pinpoint a bacterium, or an intruder like a virus or fungus (or yeast) that have a particularly noticeable effect.

One such discovery is a virus that may be cause obesity. The clue that lead scientists to it? Fat chickens. A couple of controlled experiments later, and there’s a pretty strong connection that a certain chicken-borne virus can drive people to eat. To overeat at meals, to eat more between meals, and to tax the will-power of those trying to fight it (of which there are documented cases!). Of those obese people tested, a whopping 30% were positive or the virus, while only 11% of non-obese people had it.

Scientists think the virus, called Ad-36 (for adenovirus 36 of about 50 that humans have), triggers weight gain three ways: more glucose is absorbed and converted to fat (so eating the same as the person next to you won’t work), tells the body to make more fat, and sets off triggers that allow for the creation of fat.

Well over a dozen studies have shown a strong correlation between Ad-36 and being overweight, but many doctors still remain skeptical, and stick with treating patients with diet and exercise, with stricter recommendations that are lifelong or those who have had severe weight gain or stepped into Type-2 Diabetes. While that strategy always boosts other areas of health, it’s clearly misguided to ignore that up to a third of obese patients might be fighting a chronic infection!

What do you do? Pay attention to small cuts and scrapes, and any life changes they trigger: less energy, more appetite, mood changes… there are a lot of little infections that can add up to a big impact on our life!

And take good care of yourself. Diet and exercise will help most people with weight issues, and are important to our health in and of themselves. But you can do more. Support your immune system with colloidal silver, and support a specific part of your immune system, your good bacteria, with a steady stream of probiotics in your diet. Good bacteria go beyond our cut to our skin and more (you’re more bacterial cells than human!) so having the “right” ones can mean a big impact on health.

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