Why Do People Gain Weight
To understand the connection between probiotics and weight loss, you need to understand why we gain weight in the first place. Weight gain can come from several different factors creating the perfect storm that has ravaged our body.
Causes of weight gain include:
Another Lactobacillus strain also showed promise in helping people lose weight. This study followed overweight people who drank fermented milk rich in Lactobacillus gasseri. After twelve weeks, the average person lost 8.2% to 8.5% of their body fat 8.
Lastly, one analysis found that women can lose weight with Lactobacillus rhamnosus. More interesting, these women lost weight after they already dieted 9.
This experiment was conducted during their weight-management stage. In the weight-management stage, the typical person has plateaued and wont lose extra weight. However, these women shed excess pounds thanks to Lactobacillus rhamnosus.
It should also be noted that men didnt see the same results. That says a lot about womens gut biome and the differences hormones can make. So, as a womens body changes after menopause, it might be in their best interest to get a probiotic bacteria with Lactobacillus to fight off excess weight gain.
Possible Side Effects Of Probiotics
Probiotics are living bacteria and yeasts that provide health benefits when consumed in large amounts.
They can be taken as supplements or consumed naturally through fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha .
The health benefits of probiotic supplements and foods have been well documented, including a lower risk of infections, improved digestion and even a reduced risk for some chronic diseases .
While there are many health benefits linked to taking probiotics, there can also be side effects. Most of these are minor and only affect a small percentage of the population.
However, some people with serious illnesses or compromised immune systems may experience more severe complications.
This article reviews the most common side effects of probiotics and how to reduce them.
Bad Bacteria And Other Pathogens In Your Gut
When your gut microbiome gets out of balance, there is an opportunity for bad bacteria and other pathogens to multiply in your gut. Some of these pathogens, such as the common yeast Candida Albicans thrive on sugar and have the ability to induce sugar cravings in their human host.
The increased sugar intake, in turn, allows Candida Albicans to grow faster and can fuel a vicious cycle of sugar cravings and weight gain. Other symptoms of an overgrowth of Candida Albicans in your gut include: bloating, flatulence, severe fatigue, difficulty focusing, and a thick layer of white coating on your tongue.
Candida can be treated via a change in diet, certain herbal dietary supplements, and prescription medications. If you suspect that you have a Candida infection, contact your Primary Care doctor or healthcare practitioner.
If you have been struggling to lose weight or keep the weight off, have increased sugar cravings, bloating, fatigue after eating and a decreased ability to concentrate, then it is recommended to consult your physician or healthcare practitioner for parasite and pathogen testing. This can be done via blood tests as well as stool tests, depending on the types of pathogens you are testing for.
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Common Causes Of Abdominal Pain
Having abdominal pain can be a mild inconvenience or have a significant impact on your well-being. There are several reasons why you may have abdominal pain, ranging from minor muscle strains to appendicitis that requires surgery.
Our skilled providers at Smart Clinic Urgent Care often deal with patients suffering from abdominal pain. Here are the six most common causes.
Can Some Probiotics Cause Weight Gain Heres Why
On the flip side, some probiotics can cause you to gain weight. Everything done correctly and in moderation is bound to yield good results, and so do probiotics. Note that probiotics are not created the same and therefore benefit your body differently.
The advantage you reap from them is influenced by factors such as your diet and lifestyle. Additionally, randomly taking too many probiotics and hoping to shed off some pounds will likely not work. As a matter of fact, you need to know the kind of probiotic strain to take.
For example, one strain of Lactobacillus Gasseri may help limit weight gain, and another strain may promote weight gain . You also need to know how often to take it and what kind of diet to complement it with. You see, it can get pretty overwhelming.
That said, here are answers to your question can taking probiotics cause weight gain?
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Risk Of Adverse Reactions
If youre allergic and intolerant to many foods, then its wise to read the labels of any probiotic supplements you buy carefully. Some of these supplements may contain common allergens such as dairy, soy, and eggs. Such supplements should be avoided by anyone with allergies since they may trigger allergic reactions .
In the same vein, if you are allergic to yeast, consider taking bacteria-based probiotics instead of yeast-based ones .
You arent lucky either if you are lactose intolerant. For one, lactose is one of the ingredients in these supplements . You may increase bloating and flatulence if you take lactose-containing probiotics. Therefore, its best to choose lactose-free options instead.
Whats more, some probiotic supplements contain prebiotics. These are simple plant fibers that the bacteria use as food, but you cannot digest them. The most common prebiotic is lactulose . When a supplement contains both a prebiotic and a probiotic, it is referred to as a synbiotic .
Some individuals may experience flatulence and bloating when they consume synbiotics.
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How Much Is Best Probiotic For Menopause Weight Gain
Best Probiotic For Menopause Weight Gain come in a variety of designs and pricing ranges. Its difficult to predict product costs nowadays.Because the price range is so wide, you don’t know how much something costs. For example, a pair of pants can range from $20 to $200 depending on where you buy them. Similarly, additional goods like as best probiotic for menopause weight gain.
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Reduces Appetite And Fat Absorption
TBH, the connection among probiotics, body fat, and weight isnt totally understood yet. But science has some theories.
According to research from 2018 and 2019, probiotics may affect fatty acid function and suppress appetite.
Research from 2020 also supports this idea. Basically, probiotics may promote the release of appetite-suppressing hormones like peptide YY. If you have higher levels of these hormones, you may be able to burn calories and fat more easily.
Researchers in a 2015 test-tube study proposed that certain probiotics may also limit fat absorption from food and boost the amount of fat that *ahem* exits through your body.
Bacteria strains such as those in the Lactobacillus fam seem to work this way, in particular.
How Do Gut Bacteria Influence Body Weight
How gut bacteria influence body weight is not fully understood, but people with overweight or obesity tend to have significantly different microbiomes to people with moderate weight.
In fact, scientists have found that after transplanting gut microbes from people with obesity into mice, the mice then developed obesity.
One possible explanation is that the microbiome may influence weight gain through the gut-brain axis. This is the chemical signaling that happens between your brain and your gut, which can lead to hormone release that causes responses such as hunger.
This may explain why you might feel more hungry when youre stressed, for example.
Its therefore possible that if you change your gut microbes, you could change your weight.
Increased belly fat has also been linked to the 15 bad bugs ZOE identified in the PREDICT study. These bugs are associated with dietary inflammation, which is linked to weight gain and obesity.
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Use Apple Cider Vinegaron Salads
Many purported health benefits of ACV are pretty conflated , but ACV really does have probiotics to help your gut health. Instead of taking it via shot , try adding it to your salad dressings for an extra kick of healthy bacteria.
The bottom line: Probiotics wont work weight-loss magicbut they can help with gut health, so it doesnt hurt to give them a try.
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Where Do You Find Probiotics
Did you know that you can find probiotics in many forms, from pills to pickles to kombucha? It appears that probiotics from food provide more benefit to your gut health than probiotic supplements. This is because probiotics that are in food are still very active and living, and these foods also tend to contain fiber which acts as a prebiotic.
Prebiotics are types of fiber that probiotics feed off of, thus keeping a healthy population of good, multiplying bacteria in the gut for longer. So, what types of foods contain probiotics? These would be what we call fermented foods and include the following:
While I dont recommend a specific probiotic supplement given the current literature, there is absolutely no harm in including probiotic-rich foods in your diet. I actually highly recommend it! These foods can help improve the diversity and composition of your gut microbiota.
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Do Probiotics Start Working Immediately
It is possible to see symptom improvement anywhere from a few days to a few months after taking probiotics. Revly by Amazon offers one Daily Probiotic capsule for a low price that will help you maintain your digestive health. It contains high-quality probiotics that will help you feel good about your digestive system.
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What If I Dont Want To Take A Supplement Can I Get Probiotics Anywhere Else
You sure canin fact, it might be better to get your probiotics from food sources. I would always urge people to eat food first, says Gorinthat way, youre getting other nutrients too, in addition to probiotic benefits.
Apovian agrees, saying that most probiotic foods are healthy foods and it certainly cant hurt to eat them . Here are a few ways to get probiotics from food:
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Probiotic Weight Gain Tips & Ideas
Since weight gain is a side effect of taking probiotics one possible solution is to reduce the dosage and the number of pills that you take in a day. For instance, if you have been taking two pills of probiotics in a day, reduce the number to one a day and monitor yourself. If you are still gaining weight then switch to another probiotic.
Remember that the species and particular strains may cause different effects on your body. Lactobacillus species act differently with L. rhamnosus and L. gasseri being the top notch strains that may help you lose weight. However, L. acidophilus acts quite in the opposite manner.
It is also important to note that not everyone wants to lose weight. There are those who want to gain.
Therefore you could choose to avoid or take probiotics from the following brands if you want to lose or gain weight.
Note: that there is no concrete evidence that these particular brands cause weight gain. This only based on the idea that they contain lactobacillus spp.
Brands that contain Bifidobacterium infantis such as Align Probiotics, Digestive Probiotics, Propolis Plus, Super 10 Probiotic Complex, Flora 20-14, LactoPrime Plus, MegaFlora Plus, LifeStart-2, Probiotic All-Flora, Ultimate Flora Critical Colon and Ultimate Flora Ultra Potent among many others.
References
Some Strains Of Probiotics Cant Survive Long Enough To Bring About Effective Weight Loss
There are lots of different types of probiotic bacteria that companies use in their drinks and supplements. Some are more potent than others, with a higher chance of creating the right reactions in the gut. Others may not be hardy enough to make it that far. It isnt just the shell of the capsule that needs to be strong here. The living bacteria within have a shelf life and this means a risk of ingesting dead strains. There is also the problem of refrigeration. Some strains need constant refrigeration to survive, which is fine for yogurts and related drinks at home. But factor in the product being in transit or displayed in a store for extended periods of time which results in a high chance that the product may no longer helpful. One would now be drinking a sugary yogurt drink and gaining weight due to the inactive ingredients.
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Using Probiotics For More Weight Loss
Theres a vast amount of research still being done on the ways probiotics influence weight loss, metabolic function, and obesity. But many initial findings show that probiotics for weight loss are beneficial, especially to lose belly fat.
Scientists have identified several strains that can support a healthy weight, such as many types of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus gasseri, and L. rhamnosus. If you want to get started with a probiotic to help you lose weight, its always good practice to let your doctor know so he or she can best advise you. You can also incorporate more fermented foods into your diet like yogurt or sauerkraut.
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Probiotics That Cause Weight Gain
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Certain cheeses are also probiotics, such as aged cheddar, parmesan, Swiss cheeses like gouda, and cottage cheese with live cultures.
Prebiotics are nutrients in food that we cant digest ourselves, such as fiber. Some of the most common prebiotic foods are onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, legumes, and whole grains.
Eating more plant-based foods is a great way to introduce extra prebiotics into your diet, to allow the good gut microbes to thrive.
You should aim for 30 different plants a week .
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Agreements And Disagreements With Other Studies Or Reviews
In accordance with our findings, previous reviews have found probiotics to reduce body weight in adults, and the reported effect sizes were small , . However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first of recent reviews including only overweight/obese adults or populations. Also, no previous systematic review has, to our knowledge, examined the effects of probiotics on body fat mass and fat percentage. One recent review examined the effect of probiotics on body weight in infants, children and adults and found probiotics to increase weight in infants and children, while having the opposite effect among adults . These findings raise suspicions of reporting bias where only favourable results are reported. Hence, as the present study only included subjects where weight loss is favourable, we cannot exclude the possibility of selective reporting.
A synergistic effect between probiotics and prebiotics is not unlikely therefore, in order to minimize between-study heterogeneity, only studies where the independent effects of probiotics on body weight, BMI, fat mass and fat percentage could be determined were included. Prior reviews have included interventions with both probiotic and prebiotics, and to our knowledge, no other review has been undertaken to examine the independent effects of probiotics on body weight and the related outcomes.
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Can Probiotics Help With Weight Loss
Honestly, no one knows for surethats 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 .
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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 .
That sounds legit, right? Wellkind of. Caroline Apovian, MD, 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 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.
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 , its likely the healthy diet.
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Probiotics And Weight Loss With Microbiome Testing
As you can see, there are so many stomach bacteria that have different interactions with our bodies. The same can be said about the foods we eat. Even if were overweight, we still have different tastes from the overweight person down the street from us. Therefore, not one gut biome will look the same.
Sure, studies are excellent for giving us generalizations. We have a solid foundation as to which bacteria strains help you gain weight. We also know which probiotics and weight maintenance go hand-in-hand.
With that knowledge, we can help you find the right strain-specific probiotic to meet your unique gut biome. Thanks to microbiome testing, we send you everything you need to take a gut test at home. Based on these results, we can determine which stomach bacteria is causing your system to be set up for weight gain.
Knowing which intestinal flora are in your gut biome, we can recommend targeted probiotics to help shift the balance back to the beneficial bacteria. That way, you stand a chance to lose weight and keep it off for good!