I’m not sure what your response is supposed to be saying to the grandparent. Wouldn’t this make total sense if gut flora changed in the united states over the past 100 years? especially if you consider that period includes the introduction and widespread use of antibiotics as well as diet changes, chemical effects that are known to change gut flora. Because gut flora is acquired from the mother, it makes sense that different ethnic groups in different parts of the world would have different compositions also. Gut flora in various societies doesn’t seem to have been studied very much (I’m a lazy googler and only found one study that was tangential) but I wouldn’t be surprised if different nations had different gut flora.
Different nations may have different gut flora, but my past googling indicates a degree of national weight average and national caloric intake which would be awfully conspicuous if gut flora were the real mechanism at work.
Perhaps HFCS in particular encourages LPS bacteria. Or perhaps LPS bacteria particularly stimulates thirst for sweet liquids. It’s impossible to know without (preferably both of) historical LPS and a controlled experiment. Also, your link does not establish a causal link between sugary drink consumption and obesity, merely that they’ve been correlated for a few decades.
In addition, the researchers reviewed a study in schoolchildren that showed an educational program advocating fewer sugary sodas reduced weight gain and obesity among the kids after 12 months.
Which you would expect if the sodas had a causal relationship with obesity, and probably not if they didn’t.
Can you think of any observations, in humans, which favor the LPS bacteria model of obesity, rather than simply being reconcilable with it given enough ad hoc additions?
I’m not sure what your response is supposed to be saying to the grandparent. Wouldn’t this make total sense if gut flora changed in the united states over the past 100 years? especially if you consider that period includes the introduction and widespread use of antibiotics as well as diet changes, chemical effects that are known to change gut flora. Because gut flora is acquired from the mother, it makes sense that different ethnic groups in different parts of the world would have different compositions also. Gut flora in various societies doesn’t seem to have been studied very much (I’m a lazy googler and only found one study that was tangential) but I wouldn’t be surprised if different nations had different gut flora.
Different nations may have different gut flora, but my past googling indicates a degree of national weight average and national caloric intake which would be awfully conspicuous if gut flora were the real mechanism at work.
Perhaps the presence of LPS bacteria and the corresponding immune response provoke a larger appetite.
That’s a possibility, but it’s one under which I would antipredict findings like this.
Perhaps HFCS in particular encourages LPS bacteria. Or perhaps LPS bacteria particularly stimulates thirst for sweet liquids. It’s impossible to know without (preferably both of) historical LPS and a controlled experiment. Also, your link does not establish a causal link between sugary drink consumption and obesity, merely that they’ve been correlated for a few decades.
Well, from that link
Which you would expect if the sodas had a causal relationship with obesity, and probably not if they didn’t.
See also this article.
Can you think of any observations, in humans, which favor the LPS bacteria model of obesity, rather than simply being reconcilable with it given enough ad hoc additions?