Looks are important in a society as most people are focused on that. We are judged if we are too thin, too fat or if we do not fit in the “normal” standards imposed by others. So researchers are always trying to find faster and better ways to make us feel better about ourselves
Nowadays, there is a solution to almost everything concerning our body. If we are too thin, there are ways of getting you faster and if you are fat, well, there are diets or supplements that promise you the results wanted.
One of this is a professional study recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition and led by Professor Angelo Tremblay at the University Laval in Quebec, Canada. The study claims that the probiotic use can help with weight loss and revolutionize obesity medication.
What are Probiotics?
Now, for everybody to understand, Probiotics are microscopic bacteria that we eat and may have beneficial values to our heath. We have more than 100 trillion microorganisms or friendly bacteria in the intestines and they create our gut flora or gut microbiome. They are also known to produce critical nutrients to the body as well as vitamin K and certain B-vitamins.
How do Gut bacteria influences weight gain and loss?
Scientists have concluded that a healthy gut is essential for those looking to lose weight. And it does not stop here. The balance of the gut flora can help our gastrointestinal tract to function generally, help us fight infections and establish a healthy metabolism as well as compose approximately 75% of our immune system.
Yes, it is that essential for our body. Any significant modification in the gut flora has been related to diseases like autism, depression or autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes.
An example of a disturbance in the balance would be related to the use of antibiotics (antonyms for probiotics). When antibiotics are used, they are used to kill all bacteria present in the body, not just the bad ones, but all of it completely. That is why the antibiotics are not recommended by doctors to be used in the long term and can lead to other serious illnesses.
To fight that side effect coming from antibiotics, OTC probiotic supplement brands are gaining more and more attention and are considered as a real ally in restoring and also keeping the balance intact within the gut flora that contains the good bacteria.
It seems that they can do wonders for our bodies. But let us analyze a bit from the scientifically part also and establish how exactly do gut bacteria influences weight gain and loss.
Studies on Probiotics and weight loss: British Journal of Nutrition
We know that there were many studies done on this topic. One of it was written by Professor Angelo Tremblay in the British Journal of Nutrition and involves the two essential groups of healthy bacteria present in the gut: bacteroids and firmicutes which are responsible for fluctuations in the body weight.
Numerous studies done on rodents were able to prove that there is considerable evidence to link gut bacteria from obese mice to lean mice that rapidly gained fat cells when playing with the proportions of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. In the study done on TLR5 deficient mice, the rodents that had harmful germs in their guts also showed a boost in their hunger and consumed 10 percent more meals than their regular species.
This resulted in their metabolism being affected too causing in some causes diabetes and obesity. When they were given smaller portions and lowering their concentrations, their weight dropped and was in control however they suffered from insulin resistance by enhancing the production of insulin.
Probiotics may reduce the number of calories you ingest from your meals. They also alter animal and human hormones and proteins associated with appetite and fat stored as human fat tissue (triglycerides). They may also reduce low-grade inflammation in the cells, which can then lead to obesity. More research is needed to be done on how much power do probiotics have to impact the energy balance within the gut flora and weight gain and fully understand its findings and what they mean for the human body.
Another study took place on 125 overweight men and women and expanded over a period of 24 weeks. The weight loss diet was planned for 12 weeks followed by another 12 weeks of a “weight maintenance” diet. Probiotics from the Lactobacillus Rhamnosus family were used in the testing’s on half of the 125 subjects and indicated that two pills to be provided per day. The other half were given the inactive substance also known as placebo.
So, we wonder, after 24 weeks, what were the after-effects?
It turns out that after 12 weeks, the women that were using the probiotic pills lost an astonishing 4.4 kg comparing to just a 2.6 kg for the fake medicine group. And it only gets better: during the 12 weeks maintenance diet program the probiotic group lost a whopping 5.2 kilograms per person, which is about double the pounds that the placebo group lost.
That is indeed an accomplishment for researchers: now we know based on the facts showed that combining probiotics focused on women over 50 years of age with a healthy diet can lead to pretty substantial weight loss. And if you also add another ingredient to that recipe of probiotics like daily workouts it will for sure intensify and control the weight loss process and in no time the fat belly will decrease considerably.
