Lifeboat Foundation

This is a good thing to know.

Microbes living in our guts ooze a substance that could help protect us against excessive weight gain, according to observations in mice.

The bacteria-derived compound may explain why early exposure to antibiotics can play a role in childhood obesity, a condition which is rising globally.

Vanderbilt University biochemist Catherine Shelton and colleagues discovered this by giving young mice a high or low fat diet, with or without exposure to antibiotics. Mice only given penicillin antibiotics did not gain weight, but those also on a high fat diet did.