 Yes, we live in a so-called obesogenic environment, cheap junk food everywhere, thanks in part to subsidies going to the food industrial complex, which manufactures obesogenic foods that foster addiction. The root causes may make obesity difficult to escape, but look, a lot of people do. If it was just the external environment, why isn't everyone obese? Some individuals seem to be more susceptible than others. This suggests a genetic component supported by studies of twins and adopted kids, but the genes we've identified only account for maybe 6 to 11% of the variation in body mass index between individuals. So maybe variation in our other genome may be playing a role. All the different microbes that inhabit our body. We have a hundred times more bacterial genes inside us than human genes. What this study found is that people tend to fall onto one of two groups. Those who have lots of different types of bacteria in their gut, so-called high-gut bacteria richness, and those with relatively few types, and those with low bacterial richness had more overall body fat. Insulin resistance, the cause of type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, and higher levels of inflammatory markers, like C-reactive protein, compared to high bacterial richness individuals. And not only did folks with lower bacterial richness start out heavier, but the obese individuals with lower bacterial richness also gained more weight over time. The question then becomes, can a dietary intervention have any impact? They try to calorie-restricted diet, which by definition is very sustainable, but what we can do is increase our fruit and vegetable intake, which is associated with high bacterial richness. One of a number of studies that have associated increased microbial richness, with diets higher in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. And now, just giving fiber-type supplements didn't seem to boost richness, but the compositional complexity of a whole food, like whole grains, could potentially support a wider scope of bacterial types, thereby leading to an increase in diversity. But human studies to investigate the effects of whole grains have been neglected until now. Folks were given whole grain barley, brown rice, or both for a month, and they did cause an increase in bacterial community diversity. Therefore, it may take a broad range of substrates to increase bacterial diversity, and this can be achieved by eating whole plant foods. And the alterations of gut bacteria in the study coincided with a drop in systemic inflammation in the body. See, we used to think that the way fiber and whole grains helped us is by gelling in our small intestines, right off the stomach, slowing the rate at which sugars are absorbed, blunting the spike in blood sugars, one might get from refined carbs. But now we know the fibers broken down in our column by our friendly flora, which release all sorts of beneficial substances into our bloodstream that can have anti-inflammatory effects as well. So maybe what's happening in our large intestine helps explain the protective effects of whole grain foods against type 2 diabetes. And interestingly, the combination of both barley and brown rice worked better than either alone, suggesting a synergistic effect. This may help explain the discrepancy, the health effects of whole grains obtained in population-based versus interventional states. You know, observational states strongly suggest that those who consume three servings of whole grains a day tend to have a lower body mass index, less belly fat, less tendancy to gain weight. But recent clinical trials where you randomize people to like eat white bread rolls versus whole wheat rolls failed to provide evidence of a beneficial effect on body weight. Of course, whole grains are so superior nutritionally that they should still continue to be encouraged, but maybe the interventional trials failed to show weight benefits because they focused on a limited selection of whole grains, while in the population-based states subjects are more likely to consume a diverse set of whole grains, which might have synergistic activities.