Microbes and hormones and chemicals… Oh My!

Interesting headlines today:

• Genetics in the Gut: Intestinal Microbes Could Drive Obesity and Other Health Issues
• Fat epidemic linked to chemicals run amok

In an effort to once again pin down why diets don’t work, researchers have launched various studies and have found there are myriad reasons why we’re packing on the pounds, reasons that go beyond consuming too many calories. 

I find it all fascinating… and hopeful, in a way, but it’s overwhelming to me.  I know that when I keep my calories low, I lose weight.  When I don’t, I gain weight.  I can sugarcoat it all I want or cover it in scientific rhetoric, but it always comes out the same.  When I’m honest with myself, I find out I have just plain been eating too much. 

That’s not to say that microbes and chemicals don’t play a role in weight or that they don’t impact our health.  It’s just that, as far as my body goes, the equation is simple… although it’s definitely NOT simple to execute.

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