US researchers identified gut bacterium for weight loss

US researchers have found a gut bacterium that may help people lose weight and improve their metabolic health.

This comes amid several weight-loss injections and medications that have proved their ability to help people lose weight.

In studies on mice, the team from the University of Utah found that a specific type of gut bacteria, called Turicibacter, can improve metabolic health and reduce weight



gain.

People with obesity tend to have less Turicibacter, suggesting that the microbe may promote healthy weight in humans as well. 

The results could lead to new ways to control weight by adjusting gut bacteria, said the team, in the paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Turicibacter, a rod-shaped bacterium, was found to single-handedly reduce blood sugar, levels of fat in the blood and weight gain for mice on a high-fat diet.