Updated 01.25.2026
You know that friend who eats total junk, never works out, and still somehow still manages to look fit? So frustrating! While we’ve been led to believe that this is due to a supposed “fast metabolism,” it turns out it’s actually much more to do with the gut microbiome.
When it comes to the 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut, it’s important to understand this fundamental relationship:
A healthy gut microbiome makes being healthy easier, while a toxic microbiome contributes to declining health.
What makes a healthy gut microbiome? Diversity.
A diverse community of organisms means you have all sorts of bacteria that help with certain roles. The work is divided and you know how that saying goes: many hands make light work. So when you have a diverse group of just the right microbes – your energy production is up, your metabolism is running like a dream, and you feel fantastic.
Scientists have found that certain gut microbes help shape your body and help manage healthy weight. A recent study on“intestinal microbiota alterations suggests [1] One day we might even be able to lose weight by simply adding certain bacteria to the gut microbiome.
We already know that by simply putting other people’s microbes in our guts we can affect our weight. In a few startling cases, fecal transplants used to treat people with chronic diarrhea caused by C. difficile, accidentally cause those people to gain weight. [2] Gut bacteria seems to influence whether or not a person will be fat or thin. In fact, scientists can actually look at your gut microbiome composition and tell with 90% accuracy if you are maintaining a healthy weight. [3]
Here are 3 ways your gut bacteria could be making it hard for you to lose weight.
1. Driving up physiological stress – Physical stress can lead to weight gain. [4] The gut microbiome can contribute to weight gain by producing harmful byproducts, which can enter the bloodstream and turn on inflammatory responses. This can lead to increased fat storage and decreased fat export. [5]
2. Not having enough butyrate – This important short-chain fatty acid is protective and encourages healthy weight and healthy blood glucose metabolism.*. Butyrate also makes you feel full more quickly.* [6]
3. Making you feel hungry all the time – Your microbes communicate with your brain through the vagus nerve. They influence ghrelin, leptin, and other peptides responsible for normal hunger responses. [7] Your gut microbiome can also make your feel more hungry if it isn’t producing enough enzymes, you don’t have enough butyrate producers, and have low diversity. [6,8,9]
"I've been implementing my recommendations for months now and have noticed a tremendous difference in my energy level and overall gut function.” - Alice
"The results speak for themselves. I’ve lost weight and I’m still losing, by eating what my body needs… exactly what the data says.” - Dawn
"I lost weight without dieting by just eating the foods on my personalized Viome food list.” - Lisa
"It’s been an amazing journey…very personalized. I have lost weight in inches, I feel younger, and my husband says I look younger.” - Suzanne
We know weight loss can be tough. Find out if your weight struggles are due to your gut microbiome with Viome – and let’s tip the scales in your favor
Get started with Viome and see what you’re recommendations will uncover.
Resources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28628112
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fecal-transplants-may-up-risk-of-obesity-onset/
- http://cty.jhu.edu/imagine/docs/second-genome.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25723161
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28925931/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22506074/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23892476
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3266401/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5187364/
