The Buzz About Akkermansia muciniphila: It’s More Than Just Weight Loss

ScaleThe bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila is creating quite a stir in science news, with people calling it the “weight loss bacterium”. While it’s exciting to think about a bacterium that has the ability to reduce body weight with no change in food intake, there’s another reason to get excited: The potential to treat obesity-related metabolic disorders such as type-2 diabetes and perhaps even diseases related to intestinal inflammation.

There are hundreds of bacterial species that colonize the gut. Why has this bacterium been dubbed the “weight loss bacterium”, and why do researchers have such lofty goals for this simple unicellular organism? Continue reading “The Buzz About Akkermansia muciniphila: It’s More Than Just Weight Loss”

Lard: It Does a Body Good!

Walking through the grocery store, one can’t help but see the campaign against fat: low-fat yogurt, fat-free salad dressing and skim milk all play their roles. There are even fake-fat potato chips out there. From fat burners to fat blockers, it seems like fat, and especially saturated fat, is Public Enemy #1.

Most anti-fat crusaders state that it is not the monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat that is the problem; rather, the fault lies with our consumption of saturated fat. They consistently recommend eating foods that are high in the unsaturated fats, such as fish and olive oil, and avoiding saturated fat-laden foods like butter, pork, lard and coconut oil. While they may even agree that all fats are healthy, they also recommend that such “healthy” fats should constitute no more than 7–11% of our total calorie intake.

However, what is the real story behind saturated and other fat? Is fat really the weight-enhancing, heart disease-inducing, artery-clogging, cancer-causing, acne-generating villain we make it out to be? Will it ruin your health? Frankly, is fat really bad for you? Continue reading “Lard: It Does a Body Good!”