A new study has found that the kind of bacteria you have in your gut will impact your attempts to lose weight

A new study has found that eating healthily and exercising regularly may not be the only two things that determine whether or not you can fit into those suit trousers from ten years ago.

Instead, the team from Washington University discovered that most dieters are hampered in their efforts to lose weight because of the trillions bacteria in their gut.

Those of us with a ‘Western’ diet (processed foods, higher amounts of animal proteins etc) tend to have a less diverse microbial range, which can make losing weight a difficult and slow process.

The microbiome – as the trillions of gut bacteria are otherwise known – has been the subject of much research for years now, but only in the past 12 months or so has its importance really become mainstream news.

One company which has been exploring the link between gut bacteria and weight loss for a while now is ( ).

Its Slimbiome ingredients – which are used in the GoFigure range of products – increase the microbial diversity and numbers of healthy bacteria in your gut.

“The greater the microbial diversify the more likely you are to be able to diet more easily and sustain that weight loss,” says OptiBiotix’s chief executive Stephen OHara.

“[Using our products] people are losing weight very quickly – up to 3lbs a week, they’re losing it very easily so they don’t feel hungry, but more importantly they’re all sustaining that weight loss.”

OHara adds that the science behind his firm’s technology has been around for a few years now but it’s taken time for the practice to catch up with the theory.

“We’ve had the science [for a little while], but sometimes science doesn’t work in practice. What we’re seeing now is that the actual products we’re creating and selling are working.”

The general public is starting to catch on as well, with OptiBiotix having to pump more money into its subsidiary The Health Weight Loss Company to keep up with demand.