(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK) New research has shown that processed meals kill off the bugs that keep you thin.
Professor Tim Spector, of King's College, conducted an experiment which concluded that after 10 days of solely eating McDonalds food, his son, who started with 3,500 species of healthy bacteria in his gut, or micro biomes, was left with only 2,200.
The overeating of processed food is one of the reasons the World Health Organisation predicts by 2030 the number of overweight adults in Britain will increase to 64% of women and 74% of men.
Companies are battling this by developing compounds to modify the human micro biome so they can be used in food products to make us all healthier.
OptiBiotix (LON:OPTI) is one of the pioneers of this and chief executive Stephen O'Hara told Proactive Investors: "As the science between the microbes in our gut and health becomes more widely known to the general public, food manufacturers will look to incorporate ingredients in their foods that stimulate microbial diversity,"
Shares rose a healthy 4% today to 33.8p.
Meanwhile, London's main index was as flat as the McDonalds pancake Spector's son likely ate during the experiment.
The FTSE 100 was 10 points higher to 7,056 at lunch with the Royal Mail (LON:RMG) leading the way forward, rising 3.4% to 495p.
A report said rival Dutch-owned delivery firm Whistl, formerly TNT, lost the funding of private equity backer LDC for the expansion of the business.
There was also good news for miners as The People's Bank of China cut interest rates for the third time since November.
The uptick in demand this will create should benefit miners and Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) and both rose 2% to 1,140p and 308p respectively.
Meanwhile, Intercontinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) was the notable faller, suffering from profit taking after last week's first quarter results sent shares more than 1.4% lower to 2,780p.
In broker news, software provider Sage (LON:SGE) benefitted from a target price hike to 565p from 540p by financial heavyweight Goldman Sachs. Shares climbed 3% to 560p.
Pharma giant Hikma (LON:HIK) rose 2% to 2,056p following an upgrade by Stifel. The broker hitched up its rating on the stock to 'buy' from 'hold'.
In small caps, shares in Weatherly International (LON:WTI) began trading on AIM again today after a three month suspension.
Trading was halted in February due to operating problems at its copper mine in Tschudi, Namibia. Shares dropped 12.5% to 1.4p.
Another stock returning from suspension was Daniel Stewart (LON:DAN) which promptly eased 16% to 1p.
The shares were suspended at the beginning of May pending the appointment of a new nominated adviser, which this morning was revealed as Beaumont Cornish.
There was better news for Eland Oil & Gas (LON:ELA) as shares advanced 7% to 65p after its 45% owned associate Elcrest received confirmation that it can become the operator of the OML 40 asset in Nigeria for at least ten years.
Cloud-based video expert Forbidden Technologies (LON:FBT) said its platform Forscene is increasing its footprint in the sports production market .
It will be used as part of a three year agreement, beginning this year, to provide the platform to a major sports digital content producer. Shares climbed 8% to 8p.
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