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17th August 2018
02:38pm BST

It's a simple scientific fact that burning more calories than you take in from food and drink will result in weight loss. However, when it comes to shedding some serious pounds, your gut holds the all-important key.
"When we don’t have enough of the right gut bacteria, our immune system may not behave as it should", says nutritionist Cassandra barns.
"An important step is having a healthy gut microbiome – the population of bacteria, yeasts and other organisms that live in our gut."
It is this microbiome and its contents that play such a pivotal role in your rate of fat loss. Barns states:
"As well as aiding digestion, the microbiome is thought to help teach the immune system the difference between friend and foe.
"They also help to keep the gut wall healthy, which may aid in preventing immune reactions by ensuring only the right foods are absorbed into the bloodstream."
The efficiency of your gut microbiome can be disrupted by many factors in a modern environment. These include:
A varied diet is the simplest and most effective way to improve your gut health. Modern diets are only made up of a small number of ingredients - even those marketed as 'healthy' choices.
Fad diets such as Paleo and Atkins both involve cutting certain food groups out of your diet, but you need elements of everything in moderation. Protein, carbs and fat are all vital for a number of natural processes. Improving the variety of your diet can be done in two easy ways, Barns says."Try breads made with different grains such as rye or spelt. Or veer away from wheat completely and fill up on oats instead.
"Oats are low-cost and versatile, and are also one of the best sources of soluble and insoluble dietary fibre you can find.
"Fruit and veg are high in fibre, which helps encourage the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Vitamin C and flavonoids such as quercetin in fruit and vegetables may also help manage or reduce allergic symptoms." For more tips on losing weight, check out JOE's Ditch The Dad Bod series.Explore more on these topics: