![]() Furthermore, the role of the human microbiome has been found to span beyond the GI tract, mediating a variety of critical communications between the gut, enteric nervous system (ENS), and the brain. Previously ignored by much of the medical literature, the trillions of microbial cells colonizing our gut are now known to be a central metabolic hub, promoting physiological homeostasis and immune function through a close symbiotic relationship to the host. Much work remains to be done to understand the origins and salient factors promoting obesity and its physiological impacts, such that potential therapeutic avenues for directly targeting metabolic pathology can be developed and effectively implemented.Īmong such factors the human gut microbiome has recently taken center stage, bolstered by modern research demonstrating its central role in modulating human health. The global economic and social burden of obesity and metabolic syndrome demands sustainable, fundamental changes in nutritional and lifestyle standards that are based on a sound understanding of metabolic pathology. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, at least two of these criteria coupled with evidence of insulin resistance must be present in order to substantiate a diagnosis. This condition is defined as a clustering of diagnostic symptoms including elevated blood triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose, in addition to abdominal adiposity and low HDL cholesterol. A collection of such risk factors, known as metabolic syndrome, affects an estimated one in four adults worldwide. In parallel to growing waistlines and body mass indices across the globe, modern society is also experiencing a dangerous increase in prevalence of obesity-associated metabolic derangements. Furthermore, due to the rapid global proliferation of the so-called “Western lifestyle”, comprising high-fat, high-refined carbohydrate diets and largely sedentary daily routines, this trend is not confined to the North America but rather materializing on an international scale. In some industrialized countries there has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of obesity in the previous decade alone, with rates doubling or nearly tripling among the general population. Recent estimates from the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) suggest that 1.1 billion adults are overweight, including 312 million who are obese. Obesity has become among the largest global health challenges that currently face our society, comprising what is currently considered an “epidemic” of non-communicable pathology. Finally, we set forth a roadmap for the comprehensive development of functional food solutions in combatting obesity, to capitalize on the potential of pre/probiotic therapies in optimizing host health. ![]() The following review brings forth animal and human research supporting the myriad of mechanisms by which the microbiome affects obesity, as well as the strengths and limitations of probiotic or prebiotic supplementation for the prevention and treatment of obesity. In particular, pre and probiotics have emerged as effective and integrative means of modulating the microbiome, in order to reverse the microbial dysbiosis associated with an obese phenotype. Indeed, research has shown that in contrast to their healthier counterparts the microbiomes of obese individuals are structurally and functionally distinct, strongly suggesting microbiome as a potential target for obesity therapeutics. In recent years, much attention has been drawn to the contribution of the gut microbiota in the development of obesity. High-caloric diets and sedentary lifestyles have been identified as significant contributors to this widespread issue, although the role of genetic, social, and environmental factors in obesity’s pathogenesis remain incompletely understood. Obesity has become a global epidemic and a public health crisis in the Western World, experiencing a threefold increase in prevalence since 1975.
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