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Don’t laugh, but your poo could actually be making you fat - here’s why

It sounds absolutely insane, but your poo could actually be the reason why you put on weight - and find it difficult to lose it again.

More specifically, it’s the bacteria in your poo - the faecal microbes which are unique to us all, and which we inherit from our parents.

People who have fewer strains of gut microbes seem to be fatter, the King’s College London researchers found.

Dr Michelle Beaumont of King’s said: ‘This study has shown a clear link between bacterial diversity in faeces and markers of obesity and cardiovascular risk, particularly for visceral fat.

The study, published in the journal Genome Biology, found people with a more diverse community of bacteria in their poo had generally lower levels of belly fat.

King’s College London researchers looked at stool samples from 1,313British twins as part of their annual sampling to extract DNA information about faecal microbes.

Dr Jordana Bell, of King’s, said: ‘There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that gut bacteria may play a role in obesity, and a number of studies are now exploring this in more detail.’

‘Further scientific investigation is needed to understand how precisely our gut microbes can influence human health, and if interventions such as faecal transplants can have safe, beneficial, and effective impacts on this process.’