“…While a relationship between the gut microbiome and obesity has been observed, it remains unclear as to how the gut microbiome contributes to the development of obesity, but proposed mechanisms include the production of short chained fatty acids (SCFAs), monosaccharides, and other bioactive molecules. These bacterial products may lead to an increase in dietary energy harvest ( Turnbaugh et al, 2006 ), changes in lipid metabolism ( Ghazalpour et al, 2016 ), changes in fat storage regulation ( BĂ€ckhed et al, 2004 ; BĂ€ckhed et al, 2007 ), altered satiety ( Arora, Sharma & Frost, 2011 ), and an increase in systemic low-grade inflammation via the interaction with either the enteric nervous system ( Schwartz, 2000 ; Tehrani et al, 2012 ; De Lartigue, De La Serre & Raybould, 2011 ), the endocrine system ( Mondo et al, 2020 ; Kirchoff, Udell & Sharpton, 2019 ; Scarsella et al, 2020 ), or the immune system ( Cani et al, 2007 ; Cani et al, 2012 ).…”