Losing Weight with Probiotics -- What Science Has Found

Probiotics are one of the newest fields of study in science, helping to combat disease in a more natural way by recognizing that not all bacteria are bad, and that some are quite necessary to human life. Reserachers are now finding out about what role probiotics play in weight management, including regulating metabolism and helping maintain a healthy weight throughout pregnancy.

Uncertain, but definite potential

A recent study by Amsterdam researchers may not have uncovered any clues about HOW probiotics help people maintain a healthy weight, but it provided some unarguable facts. The team studied 256 women who had recently gotten pregnant, and divided them into three random groups. The first group received probiotics capsules as well as dietary counselling and food samples. The second group received dietary counselling and a placebo capsule, while the third group received a placebo capsule and no dietary counselling or food samples.

The women continued taking the capsules until they began their babies on solid foods and stopped breastfeeding exclusively, at around 6 months of age. Ther results were as follows:

• 25% of the women who received probiotics and diet advice showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 28%.
• 43% of the women who received a placebo and diet advice showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 29%.
• 40% of the women who received only a placebo showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 30%.

Central obesity was defined by the study as having a BMI (Body Mass Index) over 30, and a waist circumference of greater than 80 centimeters.

Speeding up the metabolism with probiotics

In a study that has been published for over a year now, researchers from Imperial College London and Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, gave two different types of commercially prepared probiotics drink to mice that had human gut microbes transplanted into them.

The mice that were treated with probiotics metabolized bile acids differently; the function of these acids is to emulsify fats in the upper gut. Being able to absorb more fat from the food you eat could contribute to obesity, while excreting more of that fat would have positive implications for weight loss.