Taking probiotics for your gut health is one thing. (Who’s gonna say no to fewer stomach issues and more bathroom regularity? No one—that’s who.)
But can these teeny-tiny bacteria — found in dietary supplements and fermented foods — help you lose weight, too? They do live in your stomach, after all.
First: What the heck are probiotics anyway?
Probiotics are live microorganisms that naturally live in your body already, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
“Probiotics are substances that encourage the growth of bacteria, specifically beneficial bacteria, that help to keep intestinal health in balance,” says Frances Largeman-Roth, a registered dietician and author of Eating in Color. “A healthy balance of good bacteria in the body may help regulate weight and ward off a range of health issues.”
Those other health issues include digestive problems like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), along with allergic skin diseases like atopic dermatitis, and even the common cold, per the NCCIH.
READ MORE: Follow These Steps To Change Your Gut Bacteria And Lose Weight
So, can probiotics help with weight loss?
Honestly, no one knows for sure — that’s because most probiotic research has focused on how to improve digestive issues or immune health.
The most promising evidence on probiotics and weight loss comes from a 2013 study in The British Journal of Nutrition, which studied the effects of one strain of probiotics, lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG).
Researchers followed 125 men and women throughout a 12-week weight-loss program, giving half the participants LGG and the other half a placebo. At the end of the trial, the women who took probiotics lost more weight than the women on the placebo. The probiotics group also went on to continue losing weight after the trial had ended (the placebo group only maintained).
That sounds legit, right? Well…kind of. Dr Caroline Apovian, director of nutrition and weight management at Boston Medical Center, says the difference in weight loss between the probiotic and placebo group in this study just barely qualifies as noteworthy.
“There was no weight loss difference overall between the probiotic and placebo groups,” she says, “but there was a significance when you separate [out] the women in the probiotic group.” Even then, she notes, the women in the probiotic group only lost about 1.8 kilograms more than the placebo group.
The bad news? This is pretty much the only study of its kind — all the others have used much smaller sample sizes.
Still, probiotics promote overall health, which never hurts when it comes to weight loss. “Gut bacteria lines the intestines and comes in contact with the food you eat, [so] the thought is that this may impact how you absorb nutrients,” says Amy Gorin, a registered dietician and owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition in the New York City area.
It’s important to remember, however, that exactly how probiotics for weight loss may work is based on educated theories and speculation — it’s unclear if or why there’s a connection. Apovian adds that while it’s entirely possible that a probiotic-filled healthy gut could be more amenable to weight loss or weight maintenance, it also might be thanks to another kind of cause and effect.
“It may certainly be that those people who eat healthy have healthier guts and not the other way around,” she says. “As far as which came first [the healthy diet or the healthy gut], it’s likely the healthy diet.”
So…how can I add more probiotics to my diet?
While you can get probiotics through food, the easiest way to get some probiotics in your diet every day without fail is likely through a probiotic supplement.
But here’s the thing: There are dozens of probiotic supplements on the market, with different supplements containing different strains.
Solgar Advanced Multi-Billion Dophilus specifically advertises that it uses the LGG strain (previously studied for its relationship to weight loss), and known for helping to promote healthy gut bacteria.
A helpful daily source of beneficial microorganisms that promote a healthy balance in the gut. It’s a natural probiotic blend packed in easy-to-swallow vegetable capsules.
The Real Thing Pro-Probiotic is another probiotic supplement that’s more potent than most (it contains ten different strains of live bacteria). It’s most often prescribed along with certain medications to manage chronic digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.
20-billion colony forming units of 10 probiotic bacteria and yeast per dose. Plus two of their favourite prebiotic fuels for growth. It all adds up to better digestion and increased immunity.
Gorin notes that one study in Obesity found daily supplementation with a high-strain probiotic may provide some protection against weight gain when eating a high-calorie, high-fat diet. However, the sample size was limited: only 20 non-obese men were studied.
Similarly, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Functional Foods found a link between loss of body fat and the probiotic strains lactobacillus fermentum and lactobacillus amylovorus (3 percent and 4 percent, respectively), but only 28 participants were studied.
Of course, don’t forget to hit up your doctor for the go-ahead before taking any supplements, says Gorin — while probiotics are generally considered to be safe, they may cause some gastrointestinal upset at first, like bloating and gas.
READ MORE: Can You Really Use Probiotics To Fight Acne?
But what if I don’t want to take a supplement? Can I get probiotics anywhere else?
You sure can — in fact, it might be better to get your probiotics from food sources. “I would always urge people to eat food first,” says Gorin — that way, you’re getting other nutrients too, in addition to probiotic benefits. Here are a few ways to get probiotics from food:
1. Stock up on yoghurt.
Fermented dairy products, like yoghurt and kefir, are high in the lactobacillus probiotic.
“Not all yoghurt contains probiotics, so it’s important to read the label and visit the company’s website to look for transparency about this,” says Gorin.
If you would rather drink your dairy than eat it with a spoon, you can try kefir, a fermented drink made from cow’s or goat’s milk and cultures of yeast and lactic acid bacteria.
2. Load up on picked cabbage.
Like yoghurt and kefir, vegetables that are fermented — especially pickled cabbage, like sauerkraut and kimchi — are reliable ways to pump up your probiotic ratio.
One caveat about pickled cabbage: Some products sold in stores have been through a heating process called pasteurization for safety, which can destroy both good and bad bacteria. So, if you really want to reap the fermentation benefits, look for unpasteurized products or make your own.
3. Go all in on fermented cheeses.
So, cheese isn’t likely to be first on your list when you think of probiotics, but it turns out, fermented cheeses like Gouda, cheddar, and Swiss are made with lactic acid bacteria, a probiotic, says Jackie Newgent, a registered dietician. Quality matters here too (more fermentation equals more probiotics), so make sure the person behind the counter, points you to the finest aged Gouda there is.
4. Use apple cider vinegar…on salads.
Many purported health benefits of ACV are pretty conflated (and are not actually scientifically proven), but ACV really does have probiotics to help your gut health. Instead of taking it via shot (or diluted in water, even), try adding it to your salad dressings for an extra kick of healthy bacteria. Hot tip: Look for an ACV that contains the ‘mother’ (live cultures).
Bragg's raw organic apple cider vinegar is the real deal; unfiltered, unheated, unpasteurised and free of any artificial additives.
The bottom line: Probiotics won’t work weight-loss magic—but they can help with gut health, so it doesn’t hurt to give them a try.
This article was originally published on www.womenshealthmag.com
