According to a recent study published in the November 11 edition of Science Translational Medicine, a high-sugar, high-carbohydrate diet might cause changes in the composition of bacteria in intestines which could make people on these diet are more prone to putting on weight, and much faster.

For the sake of research, laboratory mice were put on the said diet and it caused almost immediate changes to the gut flora bacteria in them, and the mice turned obese in a very short span of time. The study has led researchers to believe that the same could be true for humans and they are now looking to study the many micro-organism that reside in human intestines more closely.

"Although how much you eat and how much you exercise are dominant drivers of your energy balance, it's possible that microbial communities and how they work also comprise a factor that determines your risk for obesity or risk for malnutrition", said study senior author Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon. Dr. Gordon is the Director of the Center for Genome Sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine.

The study's findings are being viewed as much valuable in times where obesity is spreading like an epidemic. Researchers will now be conducting further studies on the cues discovered through this study.