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Do Antibiotics Contribute To Obesity?

Posted by Soulskill on from the what-about-if-you-take-them-with-a-giant-chocolate-shake dept.

sciencehabit writes "Farmers have long used antibiotics to make cows, pigs, and turkeys gain weight faster. Now, scientists claim that receiving antibiotics early in life may also make children grow fat (abstract). The researchers believe the drugs change the composition of the bacterial population in the gut in a crucial developmental stage that may have a long-lasting impact."

10 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. They Do, Just Not By Much by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Informative

    No.

    That's not exactly right. I read NPR's coverage of this earlier today and vastly prefer their title and interpretation of results:

    Could Antibiotics Be A Factor In Childhood Obesity?

    It turns out that it's a factor but it's likely a small factor quoting an expert from the NPR coverage:

    "Although the effect was small on an individual level," Dr. Leonardo Trasande, the lead pediatrician on the study, tells Shots, "we predict that that this rise in body mass would increase the overweight population in the U.S. by about 1.6 percent."

    And to summarize, this is not some over hyped stop using antibiotics trash, the conclusion is:

    "We're not saying that children with severe infections shouldn't be treated with antibiotics," Blaser says. These findings just reinforce our need for judicious use of them.

    Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

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    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:They Do, Just Not By Much by teg · · Score: 1, Informative

      Indeed. Antibacterial is a-okay; I use bleach derivative, personally. Antibiotic? Who the hell would do that?

      Actually, antibacterial isn't too good either - you create bacterial communities of resistant bacteria. Use of antibiotics and antibacterial should be avoided when it's not strictly needed, so that it continues to work when it is.

  2. Farm Animals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Farmers use antibiotics on cows, pigs, and turkeys because they can't digest corn properly which leads to excessive gut bacteria (the corn diet makes them gain weight), and due to the unhealthy living conditions of shoving hundreds to thousands of animals together in a cramped warehouse.

    1. Re:Farm Animals by berashith · · Score: 3, Informative

      yup. the antibiotics are to correct the improper diet, not to cause weight gain. The prophylactic use is just bad, but the fact that these medicines are given to all livestock even when they are not sick yet is only because they will get sick eventually. The feed lots have nothing to do with healthy conditions.

    2. Re:Farm Animals by demonlapin · · Score: 3, Informative

      I was 275 pounds on March 13 this year. I'm now at 225 and still falling. If you haven't tried it before, and there isn't a medical reason you should not, I would really strongly recommend you try a low carb plan for a month. Don't even weigh. Just go buy yourself an item of clothing that is just a little too small (cheap end of season deals on t shirts and shorts) and see how much looser it gets in that month.

      It's not for everyone, and some GI disturbance is normal in the first week or two. But it works for me, very well, and it works because I'm never forced to be hungry. If I want food, I eat something from my list (which is actually pretty extensive, even with some pretty extreme carb limits of < 10 g/day). My long term plan is to stay off all the sugars and starches, eating a more or less paleo type diet (carbs come from veggies and fruits only), and I'm basically cool with never eating sugar/starch on a regular basis ever again. Why? Because this has transformed my life. I'm 37, I've almost always struggled with weight, and this has been pure magic to me. So if you haven't, give it a shot. And stay away from all the processed crap that is being sold in the Atkins name. It's processed crap. Have a couple of chicken breasts tossed in Buffalo wing sauce and served on some nice green leaf lettuce with a little Ranch dressing instead. That whole meal has less than 5 g carbs.

      IAAD, IANYD, this isn't medical advice. Just personal experience. But it's an amazing experience.

    3. Re:Farm Animals by metlin · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, diet is much easier than working out.

      Don't get me wrong, I hit the gym 5 days a week, do rock climbing, surfing, and assorted outdoor activities.

      However, there is truth to the saying that six pack abs are made in the kitchen. Every time I've had a six pack, it's been entirely because my diet has been in check. And when I eat fairly liberally, it doesn't matter how much I work out -- it is always much, much harder.

      At the end of the day, it comes down to simple math. You just need to burn more than you eat and bring your body fat percentage to pretty low levels (>10%) for most people to see abs (although, if you are lucky and genetically predisposed, you can see abs at ~12-15% -- but most of us aren't). But sometimes, it's just a lot easier to not eat that bag of chips or only eat a salad for lunch and dinner than, say, run it off.

      For instance, a bag of Lays kettle chips is ~200 calories and a regular size chocolate chip cookie is ~180 calories. A bowl of Cap'n Crunch with skim milk? 300 calories. Add some sugar to that, and just having these will put you over 600 calories. That's ONE hour of running at 6mph.

      Instead, you can have some egg whites and oatmeal for lunch, two salads, and perhaps some baked lean meat or seafood for lunch and save yourself a whole lot of calories.

      I save most of my calories for two things: protein and fat. Since my goal is to lose fat and not just weight, I make sure to preserve my muscle mass when I cut. How do I do this? By lifting more weights and eating more protein. And fat? Well, dietary fat is actually required, and I've found out that I need to take enough fat for sufficient T levels.

      When it comes right down to it, carbs are almost not required, and I only save my carbs for my pre-workout and morning meals: the two times of the day when I actually need some energy.

      Being active and just eating fairly healthy works for us because we are already in good shape, and have lifestyles where we burn at least as much as we consume. But the problem is, most people already have pretty shitty diets, and on top, they are absolutely inactive. So, for those people, diet is without argument the first step.

      Your body cannot "get" fat from nowhere -- it cannot violate the laws of thermodynamics. As long as you are burning more than you are eating (i.e. eating below your maintenance calories), you WILL get in shape. You may not be muscular or be toned, but you will certainly lose weight. Unfortunately, if you do not lift weights and eat protein, you will lose both fat and protein -- but doing those two will help you preserve at least some muscle mass when you're cutting down.

  3. Re:No. by Hatta · · Score: 5, Informative

    The plural of "anecdote" is not "data". And for that matter, neither is the singular.

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  4. Sugar consumption makes kids get fat by swb · · Score: 4, Informative

    Followed very closely by a diet heavy in carbohydrates, thanks to a failed and scientifically baseless "low fat" dietary guidelines that promote a "low fat" diet high in carbohydrates.

    It staggers me to watch fellow parents pour gallons of sugar down their kids throats -- "look, it's low fat and free from high fructose corn syrup!!!!" despite the fact that it contains apple juice as a "natural" ingredient, which is just injected for its fructose content -- it's like HFCS without the corn syrup.

    If you don't want your kids to get fat, feed them eggs and sausage. If you want them to get fat, feed them juice, soda, and lots of grains and watch them swell like cows in a feedlot.

  5. Re:No. by swb · · Score: 4, Informative

    Even portion size can be less of an issue if you are eating 20% or fewer calories in carbohydrates. Fat intake will produce a leptin response, making you feel full and not wanting to eat any more.

    Carbohydrates, especially fructose (as Dr. Lustig points out in "Bitter Truth) suppresses the leptin response -- you don't feel full, the metabolization process of simple carbs just locks away the energy as fat accumulation and preventing you from using it for energy, making you even more hungry.

    I went low carb about 8 months ago and I took the idea of "eat until you were full" seriously, thinking maybe I could knock back a couple of steaks at a time. I couldn't; I lost all interest in eating once the full feeling kicked in.

  6. Grains, not Antibiotics make Livestock gain Weight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Farmers don't give livestock antibiotics to make them gain weight, they give them grains to do that, and then they have to give them antibiotics so that they don't die from the grains. Cows, for example, are ruminates which are designed (or evolved, I guess I should say) to eat grass, not grain, which would kill them before they could be brought to market without the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics makes grain feeding possible, but it is actually the grain, not the antibiotics which leads to the weight gain.