Bile acids for more effective weight loss!

Obesity is caused by an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. So losing weight requires reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity. This is probably not news to anyone. The problem is that the majority of dieters are unable to maintain the weight they have achieved in the long term, and this is not necessarily due to a lack of willpower, but primarily to what is known as metabolic adaptation.

So it is no coincidence that after many failed diets and exercise regimes with poor results, overweight people have less confidence in non-invasive procedures such as diets and drugs, and that, although more expensive and uncomfortable, more and more people are opting for weight loss surgery (gastric sleeve surgery, gastric band, gastric balloon).

Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne recently discovered that bile acids can do more than that, they can convert fat-storing cells into fat-burning cells. This process is known as thermogenesis and its function is to maintain normal body temperature in cold environments.

In addition to white fat cells, which store energy, and brown fat cells, which use energy, there are also so-called beige fat cells in the human body. These are scattered in white adipose tissue but, like brown fat cells, they contain the protein that produces heat by burning calories. The problem with brown fat is that it is only rarely (or not at all) found in the human body and its quantity cannot be controlled, at most we can only enhance its function. The good news is that beige fat cells, on the other hand, can not only be activated but also multiplied. And this is what scientists believe has great therapeutic potential.

Weight loss with brown fat. Is it really possible?

But what is it that can turn a white fat cell into beige fat? This is the question researchers have now found the answer to. The process is controlled by secondary bile acids, metabolites produced by the liver and our gut bacteria. What are we talking about? According to the study, activating the bile acid receptor TGR5 with molecules that mimic bile acids, known as mimetics, can trigger the conversion of white fat cells into beige fat.

Bile acids accumulate in the blood and interact with TGR5 receptors on white fat cells, thereby altering the metabolic function of white fat. It's not just a colour change, as laboratory tests have also shown that these bile acids increase the number of mitochondria in new fat cells, which leads to greater energy use.

In addition, bile acid-like molecules trigger the breakdown of fats - allowing fat cells to use fatty acids as their first fuel.

"The results suggest that bile acids are not only involved in digestion as emulsifiers, because when the concentration of bile acids in the blood reaches a certain level, fat burning and heat production are triggered. What is exciting about this discovery is that even low concentrations of TGR5-selective molecules are sufficient to trigger the process, i.e. we do not need to mobilise our entire bile acid stores," write the authors of the study, published in Nature Communications. The next step for the researchers will be to observe whether mitochondrial fission, as a mechanism to promote fat burning, also occurs in response to other stimuli.

So it is possible that a new therapeutic option may be emerging in the near future, which may also be effective for those who find it difficult to lose weight and all too easy to gain it back.

Source: sciencedaily.com