Gut Balance: The Secret to Weight Loss?

More than two thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. Why? The conventional explanation is too much food and too little exercise, but new thinking about the causes of overweight and obesity suggests that something else is at work.

Research shows that gut microflora and intestinal microbiota play a pivotal role in weight maintenance through its influence on metabolism, appetite regulation, energy expenditure, and endocrine regulation. Gut flora imbalance is why so many people can’t lose weight despite exercising more and eating less.

In The Gut Balance Revolution, author Gerard Mullin, M.D. —the foremost authority on digestive health and nutritional medicine—explains how to prevent leaky gut, inflammation, and insulin resistance, which are major contributors to obesity. This book will teach you how to rebalance the gut microbiome using a simple three-step method:

• Reboot: Weed out fat-forming bad bacteria by eliminating foods that make them grow and promote inflammation, insulin, and fat accumulation, and reignite fat burning metabolism with exercise and dietary supplements.
• Rebalance: Reseed your gut with good bugs and fertilize friendly flora to establish a healthy gut ecology, reduce stress, and reinstitute a healthy lifestyle including sleep hygiene.
• Renew: Carry this lifestyle adjustment forward and maintain your weight with good eating habits with allowances for pleasure foods.

When we unknowingly eat the wrong foods that put us out of gut balance, promote inflammation, and reduce the needed biodiversity of gut flora, we establish the conditions for fat accumulation. When the trillions of live bacteria in our digestive tract—the gut microbiome—are balance, excess pounds melt away and we feel revitalized.

Mullin presents a three-part program to weed out the “bad bugs” (bacteria) through a low-carb, moderate-fat, high-protein 30-day diet. He incorporates whole-food carbs and prebiotic foods to cultivate the presence of healthy bacteria while weight-loss goals are being met. After the 30 days, readers can switch to a lifelong maintenance phase that allows for eating off the plan.

The very workable plan is enhanced with:

• Lists of metabolism-boosting, pre- and probiotic, and maintenance foods.
• Anti-stress measures and exercises.
• Detailed meal plans.
• Shopping lists and appealing recipes (like blueberry spice waffles and crunchy almond tuna salad).
• Inspiring real-life success stories.

Mullin’s promise of quick, sustainable weight loss through practices that also combat chronic health problems and discourage disease will have many readers lining up to devour this sensible guide.