Can Your GUT Cause Weight Gain? Your Microbiome Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss | EP#401

👇 Visit The Proof website for the full show notes and supporting studies. 👇 https://theproof.com/podcast/ Simon’s personal supplement stack: https://hub.theproof.com/supplements Karen Corbin joins me to unpack one of the most fascinating questions in nutrition science right now: can your gut microbiome influence how many calories you actually absorb from food? We explore what it means for weight management, metabolic health, and long-term disease risk, plus why the future of microbiome research depends on better study designs, more rigorous phenotyping, and a shift from “who’s there” to what microbes are actually doing. What We Cover Can two people eat the same food, yet absorb meaningfully different calories because of their microbiome? Why a high-fibre, microbiome-supporting diet may increase faecal energy loss, and what that could mean over time Where the “missing” calories might go, including the role of microbial biomass and fermentation Why association-heavy microbiome research has limits, and what better human studies need to look like Karen’s practical framework: “Have I fed my gut microbiome today?” and the four key upgrades What the evidence says about probiotics vs food-first prebiotics for metabolic health Why early-life factors matter, but why it is still worth changing your diet today Where microbiome science is heading next, including metabolite signatures, objective diet measures, and gut–brain links You can keep up with Dr Karen Corbin’s latest research on how diet-microbiome interactions influence human metabolism and energy balance by connecting with her on https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-cor... and exploring her profile at the https://www.adventhealth.com/institut.... 00:00 Intro 01:09 Can the Gut Microbiome Increase or Reduce Calorie Absorption? 04:23 Karen Corbin’s Microbiome Research Journey in Nutrition Science 11:23 New Microbiome Experiments That Could Change How We Eat 21:10 Energy Balance Explained: Calories, Metabolism, and Weight Gain 33:50 How Scientists Study the Gut Microbiome 43:23 Is the Gut Microbiome Causing Obesity and Metabolic Disease? 48:09 How Medications Like Metformin Affect the Gut Microbiome 52:09 Can a High-Fiber Microbiome Diet Reduce Hunger and Cravings? 57:47 Liver Fat, Type 2 Diabetes, and Metabolic Dysfunction Explained 1:03:03 Best Diet and Nutrition Strategies for Fatty Liver Disease 1:09:28 How Diet Changes the Gut Microbiome and Metabolism 1:14:09 Probiotics vs Prebiotics: What Actually Improves Gut Health? 1:21:34 GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs and Their Effects on the Microbiome 1:25:57 Gut Microbiome Metabolites and How They Impact Health 1:31:26 Gut-Brain Connection: How the Microbiome Affects the Brain 1:39:51 Future of Gut Microbiome Research and Personalized Nutrition This episode is brought to you by: 38TERA Consider 38TERA's DMN prebiotic supplement a daily multivitamin for your gut. Formulated by yours truly and gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz. Head to https://38tera.com/?ref=SIMON and use code THEPROOF for a discount at checkout. IM8 With 92 nutrients, including Vitamin B12, Iodine, Selenium and Vitamin D, in highly absorbable forms, IM8 Daily Essentials is the perfect all-in-one daily multi-vitamin to ensure you meet your daily micronutrient needs. IM8 is offering an exclusive 10% off your first order with a free welcome kit when you enter the promo code SIMON at checkout on http://im8health.com/ Eight Sleep Upgrade your sleep with the Pod 5 Ultra by Eight Sleep. Clinically validated to deliver up to 1 extra hour of quality sleep per night through temperature control and biometric tracking. Use code THEPROOF for $350 off at http://eightsleep.com/theproof. Try it risk-free for 30 days, with worldwide shipping. Function Health Take charge of your health with advanced blood testing and personalised insights. Function Health offers a practical way to track key health markers such as cholesterol, blood sugar, and more. Learn more and join at http://functionhealth.com/simonhill for a $25 credit toward your membership. Only available to those living in the United States. Momentous My go-to supplement brand for protein and creatine is Momentous. Use code THEPROOF for up to 35% off your first order at http://livemomentous.com/ Shopify Shopify, the world's leading e-commerce platform, helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet’s best-converting check out–up to 36% better compared to other leading e-commerce platforms. To boost your conversion rate, and grow your business, sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at http://shopify.com/proof. WHOOP Whoop, the most advanced fitness and health wearable available. Your personalised fitness and health coach to recover faster, sleep better, and train smarter. Claim your first month free on http://join.whoop.com/simon.