Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
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Clinical studies have shown that taking a probiotic supplement supports weight loss, helping you lose weight and boost your metabolism.
Probiotics are the ‘good’ bacteria in your digestive tract. They are the key to healthy digestion, regularity and overall health. Naturally present in the body, bacteria accounts for two pounds of bio-mass in the intestines; this bacteria needs to be ‘good’ bacteria, rather than harmful, unhealthy bacteria that lends to a variety of problems for your body.
Levels of probiotics decrease as we age, but can also be lowered by factors like a poor diet and obesity. As the level of probiotics in our bodies decrease, problematic bacteria in the gut thrive. Unhealthy levels of bacteria can cause issues with digestion, like gas, bloating, and constipation and your skin, like acne, rosacea and eczema.
Obesity rates have more than doubled between 1980 and 2014. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared obesity as a global epidemic. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults older than 18 years old were overweight. Overall, about 13% or 600 million adults in the US were obese.
Diets that are high in sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods can cause havoc for your body, especially in your gut where it can wipe out beneficial bacteria. If you’ve been trying to lose weight by eating healthy and staying active but are not seeing results, you might want to look into including Probiotics into your diet.
Clinical trials have shown that Probiotics are able to correct an imbalance of bacteria in the gut. Published in the journal Obesity Reviews in October 2017, Norwegian researchers from Vestfold Hospital Trust in Tonsberg found that consuming a yogurt-probiotic drink daily led to a 1.3lbs weight loss after just three weeks. Data from 957 obese adults saw benefits in reducing their body weight after taking the supplements between three and 12 weeks. Researchers discovered that a three-week course of probotics lead to 0.59lb (0.27kg/m²) loss in BMI. They also found a 0.6% reduction in fat percentage for those who had taken the probiotics, when compared to a placebo.
Published in the British Journal of Nutrition by a team of researchers led by University Laval professor Angela Tremblay, after a 12-week diet period, researchers observed an average weight loss of 9.7lbs (4.4 kg) in women taking a probiotic supplement. After the initial 12 week period, the weight of the women in the placebo group had remained stable, but the probiotic group had continued to lose weight, with a total of 11lbs (5.2kg) per person.
Nutrition
You can’t expect to see a change if you do not change your diet! If you continue to eat and follow an unhealthy lifestyle that kills the good bacteria in your body, you will further damage your body and your weight loss results will be null and void. Be sure to eliminate harmful foods like processed foods and sugar from your diet and begin to incorporate more vegetables, protein and fruits in your diet. Fermented foods like yogurt are full of good gut bacteria. Be mindful of the amount of sugar in your yogurt!
Supplementation
Probiotic supplementation might be just what you need to get your gut back on track, as well. The problem with many generic probiotic blends is that there is nothing included to prevent heat and stomach acid from killing the probiotic strains before they’ve even been digested. Research shows that species of probiotics may confer the greater health benefits to individuals of all ages. According to Archana Gogna, MS, CNS, MBA of InVite® Health, your probiotic supplement should include three critical groups of probiotic bacteria –
A superior probiotic supplement will use these specific strains and the most advanced technology to be sure this supplement does not require refrigeration and can be taken with or without food. Look for CFU on the label, which stands for Colony Forming Units. This is the number of bacteria that are expected to survive and colonize through the heat and stomach acid.
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Bacteria is commonly thought of as negative. There are plenty of harmful bacteria that can lead to a number of risks when it comes to the bacteria inside of your body. But with harmful bacteria comes beneficial bacteria called Probiotics.
Probiotics are friendly bacteria that make up the microbiome in your gut or digestive tract and are the key to good health, especially to good digestion and regularity. Bacteria, though naturally present in the body, accounts for two pounds of bio-mass in your intestines, which need a balance of beneficial bacteria to promote good health.
Levels of probiotics decrease with age and can also be affected by other factors, including a poor diet and obesity. As the levels of probiotics decrease, problematic bacteria in the gut thrive, which can lead to digestive problems like bloating and gas.
There are many reasons why your doctor or certified nutritionist would recommend taking a probiotic supplement. Supplements come in various forms and there are plenty of different brands and ingredients to choose from. A nutrionist/doctor will be able to recommend which probiotic is best for you..
Probiotics may be beneficial for you if –
Antibiotics were created to eradicate bacterial infections, but they can cause damage and interrupt the balance between good and bad bacteria in your gut. Symptoms of this imbalance include diarrhea and gas. Taking probiotics during the course of your antibiotics can help replenish the good bacteria and help reduce some of the side effects. Talk to your healthcare provider before starting any medication or a supplement protocol.
According to a report in the April 2002 issue of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, researchers analyzed the results of 34 studies and concluded that the use of probiotics during antibiotic therapy resulted in a 50% lower risk of developing Antibiotic-Associate Diarrhea (AAD) compared to those taking a placebo, in both children and adult data from the study.
In a 2013 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers found that probiotic supplementation over a 24 week period showed significantly higher weight loss than those who took a placebo. In the double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of obese men and women, each subject consumed either two capsules of probiotics or a placebo. Each group was submitted to moderate energy restriction for the first 12 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of weight maintenance. After 24 weeks, a significant treatment between sex interactions was observed. The mean weight loss in women in the probiotic group was significantly higher than that in women in the placebo group.
Probiotics, especially the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species, have been shown in numerous clinical trials to support healthy digestion. When your gut bacteria is balanced and healthy, it keeps your entire digestive system working as it should. This allows for healthy digestion and absorption of foods (carbohydrates, fats and proteins), maintaining acidity of the colon and normalizing bowel movements, eliminates issues with gas, and supports the ability to digest dairy products.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, emerging research is finding that the benefits of probiotics may extend beyond the digestive tract and into the skin. “In fact”, the website reports, “skin prone to acne or rosacea has shown improvement with daily probiotic use, giving dermatologists reason to consider supplementing traditional acne therapy with a dose of this beneficial bacteria.”
Whitney P. Bowe, MD, FAAD, a board certified dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, reports that oral probiotics – sold as dietary supplements containing Lactobacilli and/or Bifidobacterium – could influence skin conditions by affecting what is known as the “Gut-Brain-Skin Axis”. Here’s how it works, according to Bowe – stress in combination with processed foods that lack fiber can slow digestion, which changes the type and number of bacteria that live in the gut into unhealthy bacteria. Eventually, the gut lining becomes leaky and toxins are released into the bloodstream, causing inflammation throughout the body, including flare ups of acne or rosacea.
According to the University of Colorado’s department of Urogynecology, one area where probiotics have been studies is in women with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), which occurs due to the transmission of pathogens (bacteria) from the rectum and/or vagina to the urethra or bladder. According to a randomized, controlled trial (published to the universities website) involving treatment of UTIs with Lactobacillus probiotics, there was a 73% reduction in episodes of recurrent UTI compared with the previous year. The control group had six UTIs per patient per year vs. 1.3 UTIs per patient per year after intravaginal administration of probiotics.