Health & Fitness

For years, Ukraine was recognized as one of the most, if not "the" most, corrupt nation in Europe. It held on to that reputation all the way up to the day Russia invaded, at which point media worldwide suddenly started rewriting history.

Whitewashing Ukraine's Corruption and Authoritarianism

As noted by Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, in a sober and clear-eyed article, published in April 2022:¹

"Statements from U.S. and other Western officials, as well as pervasive accounts in the news media, have created a stunningly misleading image of Ukraine. There has been a concerted effort to portray the country not only as a victim of brutal Russian aggression, but as a plucky and noble bulwark of freedom and democracy ...

The promoters of that narrative contend that the ongoing war is not just a quarrel between Russia and Ukraine over Kiev's ambitions to join NATO and Moscow's territorial claims in Crimea and the Donbas. No, they insist — the war is part of a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism ...

The notion that Ukraine was such an appealing democratic model in Eastern Europe that the country's mere existence terrified Putin may be a comforting myth to U.S. politicians and pundits, but it is a myth. Ukraine is far from being a democratic-capitalist model ...

The reality is murkier and troubling: Ukraine has long been one of the more corrupt countries in the international system ... Ukraine's track record of protecting democracy and civil liberties is not much better than its performance on corruption. In Freedom House's 2022 report,² Ukraine is listed in the 'partly free' category, with a score of 61 out of a possible 100 ...

Even before the war erupted, there were ugly examples of authoritarianism in Ukraine's political governance ... The neo-Nazi Azov Battalion was an integral part of President Petro Poroshenko's military and security apparatus, and it has retained that role during Zelensky's presidency ...

[O]ne can condemn Putin's actions and even cheer on Ukraine's military resistance without fostering a false image of Ukraine's political system. The country is not a symbol of freedom and liberal democracy, and the war is not an existential struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. At best, Ukraine is a corrupt, quasi-democratic entity with troubling repressive policies.

Given that sobering reality, calls for Americans to 'stand with Ukraine' are misplaced. Preserving Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity most certainly are not worth the United States risking war with a nuclear-armed Russia."

Media 'Rediscovers' Ukraine's Corrupt Past

Given how mainstream media have been fawning over Zelensky, picturing him as a fierce fighter for democracy, it was surprising to see The Associated Press and NPR suddenly revisiting Ukraine's history of corruption. A July 20, 2022, article, originally published by AP and republished by NPR, states:³

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dismissal of senior officials is casting an inconvenient light on an issue that the Biden administration has largely ignored since the outbreak of war with Russia: Ukraine's history of rampant corruption and shaky governance.

As it presses ahead with providing tens of billions of dollars in military, economic and direct financial support aid to Ukraine and encourages its allies to do the same, the Biden administration is now once again grappling with longstanding worries about Ukraine's suitability as a recipient of massive infusions of American aid."

The sudden critique comes on the heels of Zelensky's firing of his top prosecutor, his intelligence chief and several other senior officials, claiming they are spies or collaborators with Russia.

Zelensky has also dragged his feet when it comes to assigning a new anti-corruption prosecutor, something that should have occurred last December, and which, according to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, "undermines the work of anti-corruption agencies."

Zelensky Blacklists Americans After Getting Millions From Taxpayers

A few days after firing his top officials, Zelensky's Center for Countering Disinformation — established in 2021 — also issued a blacklist of American "pro-Russian propagandists," which includes Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, independent journalist Glenn Greenwald, retired Col. Douglas Macgregor and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer.⁴

As noted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, "Now the Ukrainian government has decided that they can impose censorship in our country." Carlson questioned how President Biden can possibly claim that we're "defending democracy" by sending millions of American taxpayer dollars to Ukraine.

This is being done while Zelensky bans all opposition parties — 11 in all — and blacklists American politicians and journalists who question the use of U.S. taxpayer funds and our involvement in the Ukraine conflict.⁵ It rather appears we're aiding authoritarianism, doesn't it? Greenwald, who appeared on Carlson's show to discuss the blacklisting stated:⁶

"The Ukrainians have a conflict with this neighboring country in Russia. They're totally free to pursue whatever war policies they want. They can fight Russia in the next 10 years if they choose. But that's not what they're doing.

They're begging and in a sense, demanding that other countries, including my own, the United States, provide them with a seemingly endless supply of weapons and money, which means we not only have the right, but the obligation to debate that and ask whether that's in the interest of the American people to do."

Ukraine Is No Defender of Democracy

In the video at the top of this article, I've included three episodes of "The Jimmy Dore Show" in which Dore discusses this and other news surrounding the Ukraine war. In the first segment, he reviews past news articles discussing Ukraine's corruption. Repeatedly, in 2014, 2015 and beyond, Ukraine was declared the most corrupt country in Europe.

In the second segment, Dore reviews how Zelensky was supposed to clean out corruption and usher in a new era of good governance. That didn't happen though.

The Panama Papers^7,8 — described as "a giant leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records [which] exposes a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing" — have revealed Zelensky, his wife and several associates own "hidden offshore assets," raising suspicions that Zelensky may be just as corrupt as his forerunners.

The third Dore Show segment reviews Ukraines' blacklist of pro-Russian journalists, which, as mentioned, includes Greenwald, Scott Ritter, Jeffrey David Sachs and many others. The beauty of being discredited by mainstream media is that they revealed to you who is actually telling the truth.

What Happens to US Weapons in Ukraine?

One wonders whether the U.S. "aid" to Ukraine might also be a corrupt scheme in and of itself. As admitted by CNN,⁹ the U.S. government doesn't know what happens to the billions of dollars' worth of military hardware and munitions shipped to Ukraine.

The supplies cannot be tracked, and the obvious risk is that the weapons can end up in the hands of militias and terrorists. However, this is "a conscious risk the Biden administration is willing to take," CNN says. In the meantime, the U.S. and NATO are simply shipping over whatever Zelensky claims he needs. According to CNN:¹⁰

"Trucks loaded with pallets of arms provided by the Defense Department are picked up by Ukrainian armed forces — primarily in Poland — and then driven into Ukraine, Kirby said, 'then it's up to the Ukrainians to determine where they go and how they're allocated inside their country.'"

Theft Through Endless Warfare

As noted by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in 2011, the purpose of the Afghan war — the longest war in U.S. history, which lasted from 1999 until 2021¹¹ — was not to subjugate Afghanistan. It was to launder money through war.

"The goal was to use Afghanistan to wash money out of the tax base of the United States, out of the tax bases of the European countries, through Afghanistan, back into the hands of transnational security elite. That is the goal. I.e., the goal is to have an endless war; not a successful war," Assange said.

Is Ukraine just another repeat of this same scheme? It's starting to look that way. Rather than sending diplomats and urging Ukraine to negotiate peace, the NATO alliance insists Ukraine fight to the last man, and send weapons and financial aid that quickly vanish into a proverbial black hole.

What's the Goal in Helping Ukraine?

The problem facing NATO and the U.S. is that people are increasingly becoming aware of the fact that things don't add up. Why are we involved in this conflict? We're clearly not defending "democracy"; quite the opposite. We're aiding and abetting an authoritarian regime — and actual real-world Nazi adherents.

As reported by Jeff Childers, president and founder of the Childers Law firm, in a July 19, 2022 blog post:¹²

"The Economist ran a story yesterday headlined, 'Is America Growing Weary of the Long War In Ukraine?' Well. I was immediately suspicious, because the Ukraine war hasn't been that long ...

Late in the article, the Economist put its tobacco-stained finger right on the squidge that marks the real problem: 'Mr. Biden's aim in the war is unclear. His administration has stopped talking about helping Ukraine to 'win,' and instead speaks of preventing it from being defeated.'

That's the problem, all right. What IS the goal, Joe? If it's 'winning,' what does that even look like and how do we get there? ... It seems the pro-war Ukrainians want the U.S. to just skip the messy middle and jump right into direct war with the Russians, to teach them a lesson or something.

But the Russians have nuclear missiles and doomsday submarines and even nuclear torpoedos for goodness' sake. A fully-kinetic global war won't help the Ukrainians, at all. Probably just the opposite. It's magical thinking."

The Rise of Totalitarianism in America

The U.S. support of an authoritarian regime like Ukraine is perhaps best explained by the realization that the U.S. itself has shifted in that direction. According to American philosopher, social critic and cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky,¹³ who appeared on Russell Brand's podcast in July 2022, the U.S. is "living under a kind of totalitarian culture, which has never existed in my lifetime and is much worse in many ways than the Soviet Union before (Mikhail) Gorbachev."

The cause for this cultural change, Chomsky believes, can be traced back to the censorship of global news. Basically, most Americans live in an echo chamber, where there's no diversity of views, especially not from perceived adversaries:

"If today in the United States, you want to find out what Minister (Sergey) Lavrov of Russia is saying, you can't do it. It's barred. Americans are not permitted to hear what Russians are saying," Chomsky told Brand. "Can't get Russian television, can't access Russian sources ...

You wanna find out what the adversaries are saying, which is of utmost importance … But the United States has imposed constraints on freedom of access information, which are astonishing and which in fact go beyond what was the case in post (Joseph) Stalin and Soviet Russia."

The Biolab Angle

Another angle that can help explain the U.S. support of a clearly authoritarian and anti-democratic regime is the fact that we have a number of biolabs in Ukraine, the purposes of which the U.S. government is keen to obscure. Childers addresses this as well:¹⁴

"The next story may possibly be the most significant news I've ever reported, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. The news is that Deputy Chairwoman of the Russian State Duma (congress) Irina Yarovaya gave an update yesterday on Russia's official investigation into US Biolabs in Ukraine.

What the Russians are saying isn't pretty. And they claim to have a mountain of evidence. So far, the U.S. has not deigned to respond to any of the deadly serious allegations.

Remember that back in May, the Russians presented evidence to the U.N. Security Council arguing that the U.S. had been performing illegal bioweapons development — AND TESTING — in Ukraine, including accusing the last three Democrat administrations of working with George Soros, Bill Gates, and big pharma to break treaties, develop illegal weapons technology, release bioweapons into Ukraine, test the weapons on soldiers and mental patients, and — most significantly — infect the Russian people and crops ...

A remarkable diagram shows all the alleged players that goes far beyond those named above, and includes Pfizer, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others.

The Russians accused the top Democrats of facilitating the illegal research for military purposes in league with big pharma, which was brought in whenever there were tests or leaks, to develop lucrative treatments for the new diseases.

In return, argued the Russians, big pharma funneled massive campaign contributions back to Democrats, making a sinister and demonic viral feedback loop."

According to Yarovaya, the key masterminds of this conspiracy include the U.S. Democratic party, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and George Soros. The U.S. government, meanwhile, has done nothing to counter these Russian allegations, other than dismiss them as "Russian misinformation" unworthy of so much as a reply.

Childers suspects Biden's attempt to set up a Disinformation Governance Board might even have been an "effort to screw an even tighter lid" on the biolabs story, seeing how Nina Jankowicz, selected to lead the board, previously worked for Zelensky himself. She also worked for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.¹⁵

Russian Report to Drop Before the US Midterms

According to Yarovaya, the Russian government intends to release a comprehensive report about the U.S. biolabs in Ukraine sometime before the U.S. midterm elections. In her July 18, 2022, status update to the Russian legislature, she stated:¹⁶

"As evidence today, the parliamentary commission may already present the facts that bio laboratories supervised by the Pentagon on the territory of Ukraine did not meet safety criteria. In the current mode of their activity, they posed and pose a colossal threat for citizens of Ukraine and for the whole world.

The facility was not only insecure. Despite the fact that they were working with dangerous viruses and pathogens, there was also a leak. It is quite likely that this explains the growth of epidemics in Ukraine.

But most likely, those who created these laboratories were interested in ensuring [they] were not adequately protected, not only for corruption, but also in order to carry out a live experiment; in this way, to monitor what the reaction from the population would be, what the mortality rate would be, what the consequences would be."

Russians Accuse US of Intentional Negligence

To be clear, the Russians are accusing the U.S. of intentional negligence, which is no small matter. As noted by Childers, the same thing appears to have happened in Wuhan.

From 2018 onward, the U.S. State Department issued reports in which investigators warned the lab was poorly run and primed for an accident. Fast-forward to late 2019, and SARS-CoV-2 mysteriously emerged right in the vicinity of that same lab.

Now, any official that admits COVID was or might be the result of a lab leak is also careful to say that it must have been an accident. But if a lab is intentionally negligent, is a subsequent leak really accidental?

The point the Russians seem to make is that it's not accidental at all. However, intentional neglect allows the responsible party to pretend that an intentional release was accidental. That way, they're not guilty of a crime. But that's not all. Childers continues:¹⁷

"The Russians also alleged that the U.S. culprits are hiding behind 'animal research;' further concealing their guilt by genetically grafting human infection capabilities onto existing animal viruses, so they can claim natural origins for the newly-developed bugs. Like with COVID. Or monkeypox ...

Yarovaya said the result of all this intentional negligence has been 'unforeseen situations all over the world.' She fingered the U.S. for the novel monkeypox outbreak. 'Everything related to coronavirus, monkey pox, should be searched in the test tubes of American laboratories,' she said.

By a totally random coincidence, the very same Wuhan Institute of Virology where COVID was developed was also experimenting with monkeypox ... Because the Russians are naming specific individuals, it is starting to look like the Russians plan to launch a Nuremberg-style international criminal complaint along the lines that so many Americans have been wishing for."

'Game of Nuclear Chicken'

If Childers suspicion that the Russians are planning a Nuremberg-style complaint, it's no wonder the U.S. government is trying to keep a lid on the accusations, even at the risk of having their silence appear incriminating in and of itself.

Childers also believes China may join with Russia in this effort, as Russia's justification for invading Ukraine to take down dangerous biolabs would also "create a neat justification for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan." As it turns out, Taiwan is home to a staggering 1,251 biolabs that serve "medical, agricultural, food and environmental needs."

At least 31 of those labs work with "virology, bacteriology, parasitology, mycology and vector biology," and one, a biosecurity level 4 (BSL4) lab in northern Taiwan belongs to the military. So, China could easily justify an invasion of Taiwan by saying there are unsecured biowarfare facilities there.

"All these allegations — completely ignored by corporate media — are incredibly serious," Childers notes.¹⁸ "The Russians are accusing the U.S. of a biological weapons of mass destruction attack. It has long been the official policy of the U.S. that a bioweapons attack is equivalent to a nuclear attack, and would justify a nuclear response.

It doesn't matter whether they're right. The Russians appear to believe they are legally justified in retaliating against the U.S. using weapons of mass destruction. And they're building the case using a lot of shady stuff that the U.S. and its deep-state corporate allies have been up to.

It sure would be a good time for the U.S. government to speak up and get totally transparent about the legitimate purpose behind all these labs. Assuming there IS a legitimate purpose.

But perpetrators, whoever they are, would almost certainly risk nuclear war to protect their secrets if only half of what the Russians are saying is true. So, wittingly or not, we are all involved in a deadly game of nuclear chicken. And our driver is Joe Biden."

Is There a Way Out?

In an interview with Lex Friedman, filmmaker Oliver Stone discussed the history of corruption in Ukraine — detailed in his film "Ukraine on Fire" — the propaganda surrounding the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, and his understanding of why Russia is acting the way it is.

At the end of that interview, Friedman asked Stone whether he thinks we can walk back from the brink of nuclear war. Stone replied:

"Yes, [through] reason ... and then diplomacy. Talk to the guy. Mr. Biden, why don't you calm down and go talk to Mr. Putin in Moscow. And try to have a discussion without falling into ideologies."

Assuming the U.S. government in general and Biden in particular are not embroiled in criminal biowarfare activity in Ukraine, then Stone's suggestion is reasonable. However, if their actions are based on a need to protect a dirty secret (or two), then diplomacy wouldn't even be on the menu of options.

Russia would probably want its pound of flesh. They would want justice to be settled, which in the case of illegal biowarfare manufacturing could include the lifelong incarceration of certain individuals. Seeing how Biden is on Russia's list of "key mastermind conspirators," it seems reasonable to assume he wouldn't easily be let off the hook.

And that brings us right back to Childers' prediction, which is that the perpetrators "would almost certainly risk nuclear war to protect their secrets if only half of what the Russians are saying is true."

So, while World War III has so far been an information war waged against the public, nuclear war between nations is still a possibility — thanks to corruption at the highest levels, which prevents diplomatic solutions.

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While the initial hysteria over COVID-19, what C.J. Hopkins refers to as the Covidian cult — or the magic spell that fell over the majority of populations throughout the world during the initial phases of the pandemic — is largely over, the next phase — the new normal project — is ramping up.

I recently spoke with Hopkins, an award-winning American playwright, novelist and political satirist based in Berlin, about the changes that have occurred since we last talked about a year ago. Hopkins’ new book, “The Rise of the New Normal Reich,” is a history book of sorts, which compiles his essays over the last two years, allowing a clear picture of the pathologized totalitarianism that is subtly taking over society.

During the early phases of the pandemic, Hopkins’ work was heavily censored by YouTube and Facebook, which went so far as to even suspend or restrict the accounts of people who tried to share Hopkins’ posts.¹ “The shock and awe phase that we went through in '20 and '21 is over,” Hopkins said. “You can't sustain shock and awe like that forever. What we're experiencing now is really the normalization of the pathologization of society.”²

Moving Toward the Pathologization of Society

In “The Rise of the New Normal Reich,” Hopkins details how related measures of totalitarian control are being normalized around the world. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be experiencing these things firsthand.

“If you're aware of how people are behaving in different countries or in different states in the U.S., what have you, there are many places where it is becoming just completely normal to walk around with a medical-looking mask on, and people don't think twice about segregating and banning people and imposing vaccine mandates and what have you. All of these measures that were rolled out during the shock and awe phase are just subtly becoming a part of daily life,” he explains.³

“We're being conditioned to walk around in our lives, terrified of some pathogen that is going to come and attack us, or some health threat. It's really, it's a wholesale revision of reality, and it's frightening.”⁴ The global-capitalist ruling establishment, which Hopkins refers to as GloboCap, is using fear as a strategy for control over the population.

Two-Thirds of the Population Will Obey

Hopkins refers to the now infamous Milgram experiments in the introduction of his book. In 1962, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram tested the limits of human obedience to authority. The study administrator instructed the study subjects — the “teachers” — to give electric shocks to a student.

The subjects were clearly uncomfortable with the task at times, but most still continued, showing that people may carry out heinous acts when ordered to do so by authorities because they feel less responsible for the behavior in this capacity.⁵

Ultimately, 65% of the subjects continued through the study and administered the maximum voltage level, even though they knew it was wrong, Hopkins says. He believes that this is an accurate picture of the portion of society that will obey what they’re told by authorities no matter what:⁶

“The reason that I brought it up in the introduction is I think that percentage pretty much holds true.

I think if you go back and look at totalitarian movements of the past, if you look at our experience over the last two years, I think when a society, or a conglomeration of societies, decides to go totalitarian, and the powers that be use all of their ... weapons to transform that society into a totalitarian system or a quasi-totalitarian system, this reaction is predictable.

You're always going to get somewhere around two-thirds of that society. They're going to click heels, and they're going to follow orders ... It's primarily out of fear. People don't want to be punished ... I don't think it's possible, necessarily, to change that percentage. What I'm concentrated on is trying to activate the other 35% of us. I think that has been successful to a certain degree.

I think more and more of us, and when I say us, I mean the 35% who are not clicking heels and following orders, more and more of us are feeling like we have permission to speak out, like we have permission to resist, permission to push back. I think if that 35% of us is active, that, OK, maybe we can't stop the forward momentum of the new normal altogether, but we can certainly throw a monkey wrench into it and derail it and change it significantly.”

How GloboCap Exerts Their Subtle Control

When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, it gave rise to global capitalism. “This is when the last real ideological adversary to global capitalism disappeared, right? Since then, we have been living in a single ideology world,” Hopkins explains. “It doesn't matter what country you live in or where you are, we have one single ideology that dominates the entire planet, and it's global capitalism.”⁷

Since this time, GloboCap has been engaging in “clear and hold,” a military term that basically means surveying a territory and wiping out any remaining pockets of resistance so you can maintain control. Hopkins notes that for the last three decades, GloboCap has been focused on establishing ideological uniformity by eliminating resistance.

“It doesn't really matter what the nature of those pockets of resistance is, whether it's Islamic fundamentalism, whether it's Christian fundamentalism, or traditional values,”⁸ the goal is to get rid of resistance and tighten control on society:⁹

“In 2016, GloboCap ... recognized that what they had was a populist pushback going on ... This is what led to Trump. This is what led to Brexit and what have you. Prior to that, we had the War on Terror. They were fighting that ... If you go back and look at the history from 2016 right up until COVID began, what you see is GloboCap responding to this populist backlash and wiping out this type of resistance ...

I don't think it's any mistake that the new normal sprang directly out of what I called the war on populism, which was basically the Trump years. I don't think that's an accident at all.”

In the past, totalitarian regimes used drastic and obvious shows of control, putting people into concentration camps. Today’s ruling establishment is far more subtle in its tactics, but possibly even more dangerous:¹⁰

“I don't think they can put us in camps ... they don't have to. If you look at what's happening to the economy, if you look at what's happening to our ability to travel, to our ability to communicate, I mean, the censorship that is going on, I think the technologies that are being deployed in the service of this new form of totalitarianism are much more subtle and, in many ways, much more effective.

I've made the point, online, I made the point in the book again, I don't think global capitalism can go openly totalitarianism in the same way that systems in the 20th century did. I think it's suicidal for global capitalism. It needs to maintain the simulation of freedom, the simulation of democracy, and so the technologies that are being deployed are much more subtle.”

While people may not end up in prison-like camps, the end-game may be no less restrictive. Technologies like vaccine passports and the upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC), for instance, could easily lead to tight control over your finances, limiting your ability to purchase food or pay rent if your access to your funds is turned off.

The Foundation of Dissent Is Being Erased

GloboCap is using an insidious tactic that strays from the ideological and political motives of the past. “It's totalitarianism masked by this pathologized narrative,” Hopkins explains, such that followers believe they must go along for the sake of public health:¹¹

“Why have I been so confrontational for the last two years? It's in large part because I want to pop this ... bubble that people are living in and say, ‘Oh, yes. I'm just doing this to protect the public health.

I'm just trying to follow the science and what have you.’ It's like, ‘No, you're part of a totalitarian movement, and you are enforcing official ideology, which you adopted in the spring of 2020, and you would have thought was completely insane six months earlier. Now, you believe it as if it's the word of God and you want to enforce it on everybody.’"

Using clever tactics like censorship and attacks on people’s reputations and credibility, those in control are moving toward taking away something that’s essential in a free society — dissent:¹²

“Global capitalism, and increasingly the new normal, claims reality. Yeah, it claims reality. It cannot broadcast an ideology. It's, in a sense, post-ideological, right? Global capitalism, the new normal, it doesn't come out and say, ‘Here's our ideology, and we want to ram it down your throat,’ all right? It says, ‘No, we have no ideology, all right? We're just basing everything on science and facts, and the way things are.

Therefore, anyone who disagrees with us is not a political adversary. They're a crazy person, so it's not that we don't want you to listen to our political adversaries. It's we're trying to warn you about these crazy people, who are talking nonsense, which isn't fact.’

This is much more insidious and much more important than, I think, people realize. What's happening is the very foundation of dissent, the very ability of people to oppose the dominant ideology, is being erased, is being erased, and dissidents are being assigned to the category of abnormal or crazy people, right? This is how this system is dealing with dissidents, and it's incredibly insidious.”

You can read more about Hopkins’ perspectives on the coming new normal in his book, “The Rise of the New Normal Reich.” Volumes I and II of his Consent Factory Essays are also published by Consent Factory Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content, Inc. He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org.

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This article was previously published September 30, 2019, and has been updated with new information.

Before we review the evidence that your gut flora plays a role in regulating your metabolism and likely is a factor in the development of obesity, please understand that there is beyond overwhelming evidence that excess seed oils and an increase in linoleic acid is likely the primary factor contributing to the obesity epidemic as discussed in my interview with Tucker Goodrich.

Hippocrates once said that "all disease begins in the gut,"¹ and the more we learn, the more accurate that statement proves to be. As noted in a 2018 paper:²

"While often-quoted figures suggest that the microbes that live in and on the human body outnumber human cells by 10:1, a more recent estimate suggests that we are essentially one part human to one part microbe in terms of cell number.³

These commensal microorganisms have a vital role in human health. They break down otherwise indigestible dietary fibers and other components of food, produce vitamins, promote the development and maturation of the immune system, and prevent pathogenic bacterial species from colonizing the gut."

According to evidence cited in this paper, of the 1,000 or so gut bacteria we know of, any given individual will have around 160 different species of bacteria colonizing their gut. This individual combination is known as your gut microbiome, and can have a tremendous influence on health and well-being.

The diversity of your gut microbiome begins to be established when you are an infant, and is affected by genetics, whether you are breast- or bottle-fed, and your immediate environment. Later in life your microbiome is significantly affected by your food choices.⁴

Diets high in sugar and processed foods may reduce the diversity and your overall health, while diets high in whole foods high in fiber tend to have a beneficial impact. For example, a number of studies have found obese individuals tend to have a less diverse gut microbiome,⁵ in addition to having greater numbers of certain harmful bacteria and fewer beneficial ones.

Studies have shown obesity is associated with as much as a 40% decrease in diversity,⁶ and that improving that diversity through probiotic supplementation can help resolve metabolic defects, resulting in fat loss.⁷

Obesity Associated With Frequent Diarrhea

There's also a link between abnormal bowel movements and obesity, according to research⁸ published in September 2019. As reported by Medical Xpress:⁹

"In the most comprehensive analysis of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and bowel habits to date, published today in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, a team of physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found a strong association between obesity and chronic diarrhea independent of an individual's dietary, lifestyle, psychological factors or medical conditions …

'While several previous studies have pointed to an association between obesity and bowel habits, all lacked data on whether dietary or other factors drive the connection,' said corresponding author Sarah Ballou, Ph.D., a health psychologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at BIDMC.

'Our research confirms a positive association between obesity and chronic diarrhea and reveals for the first time that this relationship is not driven by confounding factors such as diet or physical activity level.'"

Looking at data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the researchers found 8.5% of obese and 11.5% of severely obese individuals reported chronic diarrhea, compared to 4.5% of those with normal weight. "Stepwise regression revealed that severe obesity was independently associated with increased risk of diarrhea," the authors say.

Unfortunately, this study cannot shed light on why this is happening. One hypothesis is that chronic low-grade inflammation is at play. Not only is chronic inflammation a factor in obesity,¹⁰ but it can also contribute to diarrhea.

Systemic inflammation is also believed to be one of the leading triggers for other serious diseases, including neurological degeneration,¹¹ Type 2 diabetes¹² and cardiovascular disease¹³ — all of which, by the way, are also associated with obesity.

Committing to making changes to your gut microbiome can do far more than improve your bowel habits. Your gut health is important to most aspects of your health, including reducing your risk for cancer, metabolic syndrome and depression.

Probiotics Shown to Alter Metabolism

Improving your microbiome can be as simple as increasing your intake of fermented foods or taking a quality probiotic supplement. Previous research has demonstrated that probiotics — beneficial bacteria found in fermented and cultured foods such as yogurt — have a measurable effect on your metabolism.

One such study,¹⁴ published in 2008, found the bacterial strains Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus affected a number of different metabolic pathways, including the metabolism of:

• Hepatic lipids
• Amino-acids
• Methylamines
• Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)

As reported by Science Daily:¹⁵

"Adding 'friendly' bacteria changed the makeup of the bugs in the gut, not only because this increased the number of such bacteria, but also because the 'friendly' bacteria worked with other bacteria in the gut, amplifying their effects.

One of the many biochemical changes observed by the researchers was a change in how mice treated with probiotics metabolized bile acids. These acids are made by the liver and their primary function is to emulsify fats in the upper gut. If probiotics can influence the way in which bile acids are metabolized, this means they could change how much fat the body is able to absorb."

While some claim taking probiotic supplements or eating fermented foods won't have a significant impact on your microbiome, this particular study found otherwise. As noted by corresponding author Jeremy Nicholson with the department of biomolecular medicine at Imperial College:¹⁶

"Some argue that probiotics can't change your gut microflora — whilst there are at least a billion bacteria in a pot of yoghurt, there are a hundred trillion in the gut, so you're just whistling in the wind.

Our study shows that probiotics can have an effect and they interact with the local ecology and talk to other bacteria. We're still trying to understand what the changes they bring about might mean, in terms of overall health, but we have established that introducing 'friendly' bacteria can change the dynamics of the whole population of microbes in the gut."

Can Probiotics Effectively Aid in Fighting Obesity?

So, can probiotics actually have a beneficial impact on obesity? A number of studies suggest the answer is yes. Among them is a 2013 animal study,¹⁷ which found the probiotics Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17, found in human breast milk, act as an obesity inhibitor and antidiabetic.

According to the authors, "The administration of L. gasseri BNR17 significantly reduced the body weight and white adipose tissue weight regardless of the dose administered." Such findings jibe well with studies¹⁸ showing breastfed babies have a significantly lower risk of childhood obesity.

In another study¹⁹ published that same year, obese participants with a fasting blood sugar level above 100 mg/dL were given either BNR17 or a placebo for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the treatment group had shed more body fat than the controls. As reported by the authors, "Despite there being no change in behavior or diet, administration of only the supplement of BNR17 reduced weight and waist and hip circumference."

Lactobacillus gasseri has also been shown to ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis,²⁰ thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects. L. gasseri is also one of four bacterial strains shown to help eradicate Helicobacter pylori,²¹ a primary cause of stomach ulcers.

A more recent review,²² published in the journal Nutrients in February 2019, sought to "present evidence … demonstrating the effects of various probiotic strains and their potential efficacy in improving obesity and associated metabolic dysfunctions." As noted in this paper:²³

"A large body of evidence has described several possible mechanisms by which the gut microbiota can contribute to, and/or influence, obesity.

Although so much is still unknown and debatable, thus far there is a general consensus that the gut microbiota is implicated in obesity through dietary carbohydrate fermentation, lipogenesis, excess energy storage, and several other pathways including a vast array of metabolites, hormones and neurotransmitters, some of which are known to control food intake and the regulation of energy balance."

How Gut Bacteria Can Influence Your Fat Stores

Three main phyla or groups of gut microbes make up the human microbiome and serve diverse structural, protective and metabolic functions:²⁴

• Bacteroidetes — Porphyromonas, Prevotella and Bacteroides
• Firmicutes — Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Lactobacillus and Eubacteria
• Actinobacteria — Bifidobacteria (the most prevalent type)

As explained in the 2019 Nutrients review,²⁵ in your gut, these bacteria protect your health by "displacing harmful bacteria, competing with pathogens for nutrients and producing antimicrobial factors."

Structural functions provided by them include "developing the immune system, inducing immunoglobulin A (IgA), and reinforcing the mucosal barrier," while metabolic functions "benefit the host by synthesizing vitamin K, folate and biotin" and play a role in the absorption of minerals such as magnesium, calcium and iron.

Importantly, gut bacteria also help break down the foods you eat and ferment digestive-resistant starches, turning them into beneficial SCFAs, which help modulate your immune response and inflammation.²⁶ As explained in the 2019 Nutrients review:²⁷

"Degradation of dietary polysaccharides and fiber by Bacteroides and Firmicutes in the gut results in the production of SCFAs, such as propionate, acetate, and butyrate.

Propionate is an important energy source for the host via de novo synthesis of lipids and glucose in the liver. Acetate is used in peripheral tissues as a substrate for cholesterol synthesis while butyrate represents a rich energy source for the epithelial cells that line the colon.

Furthermore, microbiota is involved in the control of energy balance, food intake, and satiety via gut peptide signaling, through hormonal effects in the blood or by modulating the nervous system directly. The appropriate balance of these regulatory peptides may be disrupted if the microbiota composition is altered …

SCFAs … also serve as signaling molecules that can activate G-protein coupled receptors (GPRs), including GPR43 (also known as free fatty acid receptor 2) in adipose and intestinal tissues.

In adipose tissue, SCFAs bind to GPR43, thus promoting adipogenesis and increasing energy expenditure. In intestinal tissue, SCFAs bind to GPR43 leading to secretion of anorexigenic peptides … resulting in improved glucose tolerance and increased energy utilization."

Since SCFAs play such an important role in fat accumulation, the two phyla that produce SCFAs, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, may be used as markers for obesity. As noted in the 2019 review, obese individuals tend to have higher proportions of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus and lower proportion of Bacteroidetes and Bifidobacterium compared to normal weight individuals.²⁸

Studies have also linked specific strains to specific health problems. For example, high levels of Bacteroides vulgatus (which is abundant in the human gut) appear strongly associated with inflammation, insulin resistance and altered metabolism.

Low levels of certain bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum, including Blautia and Faecalibacterium, have been linked to the accumulation of trunk-fat specifically.²⁹

How Probiotics Can Benefit Your Health and Weight

The 2019 Nutrients review also details the mechanisms by which supplementation with probiotics can improve your health and weight. Key areas of influence include:³⁰

• Enhancing the integrity of your intestinal epithelial barrier
• Enhancing the adhesion of bacteria to your intestinal mucosa, thereby facilitating colonization
• Producing antimicrobial and other health promoting substances
• Inhibiting pathogenic microbes by competitive exclusion
• Modulating your immune system

While individual strains of bacteria have been linked to specific health effects such as reductions in trunk fat or lowered inflammation, several studies have demonstrated that multi-strain probiotics may be more beneficial than single-strain ones, as they tend to create synergistic effects.³¹

An Easy, Inexpensive Way to Improve Your Gut Microbiome

While probiotic supplements are widely available, few can compete with traditionally fermented foods, in terms of the diversity and sheer number of probiotics.

Fermented foods are also your least expensive alternative, as you can easily make them at home. Using a starter culture will speed the process and ensure you'll end up with a consistent, high-quality product.

Remember, your diet is one of the easiest, fastest and most effective ways to improve and optimize your microbiome, so the good news is you have a great degree of control over your health destiny.

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