Gut health linked to excessive weight gain during pregnancy

Gut health linked to excessive weight gain during pregnancy

"The link between gut microflora populations and weight may also extend to pregnancy, with a new study revealing that women who gain excessive weight during pregnancy have different microflora profiles."

A study with 50 pregnant women revealed that women who experienced excessive weight gain during pregnancy had more Escherichia coli bacteria in their gut, and fewer Bifidobacteria than women with normal weight gain during pregnancy. Yes, we need more of the good bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus and not so much of the E. coli and enterobacter.

A breakthrough paper published in Nature in December 2006 reported that microbial populations in the gut are different between obese and lean people, and that when the obese people lost weight their microflora reverted back to that observed in a lean person, suggesting that obesity may have a microbial component.