Several studies and investigations – among others with mice, to which the microbiome of either normal-weight or overweight humans was applied
1 – have already dealt with the tasks of the Bacteroidetes bacteria in our intestine. And have discovered a
relation between the weight of a person and the
number of certain bacteria species . People who suffer from
obesity, for example, often have a rather low percentage of Bacteroidetes – and therefore many
firmicutes bacteria. Firmicutes are particularly industrious and decompose food very thoroughly. They get out every bit of energy – and make us fat in the long run, if we use more than is actually necessary.
If the proportion of
bacteroidetes is higher, on the other hand, we take up
less fat and thus also fewer calories from food – which means that people with many Bacteroidetes in the intestine "accumulate" fat less quickly and are generally slimmer.