You’ll find them in cultured and processed milk products like yogurt. Probiotics are live microorganisms with similar properties to the ones naturally found in the digestive system. They are commonly referred to as “good bacteria” since they have been observed to reduce the number of bad bacteria in the body.

There have been numerous studies on the benefits of probiotics to the body and how it can promote overall wellness but not enough to fully establish its role as food supplement. Despite that, the World Health Organization (WHO) describes probiotics as live microorganisms that can improve a person’s health when taken in sufficient dosage.

Probiotics is readily available for consumption. Eating a cup of yogurt can give the body sufficient amount of probiotics in order to achieve its health benefits. Other sources of probiotics are dietary supplements in the form of powders, tablets and capsules, processed dairy products like fermented and unfermented milk, soy drinks and some types of juices.

There are different varieties or strains of probiotics. The two species are bifidobacteria and lactobacillus. Studies have also dedicated effort in finding which probiotic strain is most beneficial to the body. And a new study has revealed that probiotics can also help a person shed off unwanted fats and prevent the risk of obesity.

Probiotics as Weight Loss Supplement

A group of researchers from Japan conducted a study, and their findings were published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Their study yielded results saying that daily intake of probiotics, specifically the lactobacillus gasseri strain, can help people lose weight and reduce the risk of becoming obese. The study poses great significance to one of the most notorious health issues in many countries; obesity remains to be a health problem that affects millions of people and which has been linked to the development of several chronic and degenerative diseases. According to the study, the consumption of fermented milk product containing the probiotic strain for twelve weeks resulted to an average of 4.6 percent decrease in abdominal fat and 3.3 percent decrease in subcutaneous fat. Participants of the study experience a body weight loss of 1.4 percent and their waist lines decreased by an average of 1.8 percent.

The research was a collaborative initiative conducted by the Isogo Central and Neurosurgical Hospital, Iwaki Meisei University, Nippon Milk Community Co., Kyushu University and Snow Brand Milk Products. Previously, Kyushu University has conducted a study on the effects of the probiotic strain on fat cells in animals. Their study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2009. The new study supports their claim and provides more evidence of the weight loss properties of the probiotic strain in question. The scientists from Snow Brand said that the probiotic strain has the strong ability to grow in the human gastrointestinal tract and change the metabolism and composition of the digestive microflora or the intestinal microbial environment and the physical attributes of the feces.

The problem of being overweight or being obese is the target of the study. They aimed to find a suitable role for probiotics in managing weight and reducing the risk of obesity. The World Health Organization had estimated that by 2015, the numbers of the overweight population will rise up to 1.5 billion by 2015 and will result to an overall cost of more than $117 billion annually.  And this is in the United States alone. The findings of the study further contribute to the establishment of a concrete file of evidence on the overall health benefits of probiotics.

In support to the study on the weight loss benefits of the lactobacillus gaserri strain, a study published in 2006 in the Nature journal said that the microbial population in obese and lean individuals are different, with lean people having substantially more good microorganisms in their intestinal tract. But when the obese study participants regained normal weight, the microflora population became similar to that of a lean person. This indicates that microbial components can affect body weight and may contribute to obesity.

The group of Japanese researchers used 87 overweight participants with an average body mass index of 24.2 kilograms per square meters. They were randomly chosen to take 200 grams of fermented milk containing or not containing the probiotic strain for 12 weeks. The control group, as expected, did not experience any significant weight loss at the end of the study period. But the participants who received the probiotic strain had an average overall weight loss of 1.4 percent. The scientists said that the probiotic strain showed potency in reducing abdominal adiposity and overall body weight. They added that the results of the study suggest the influence of probiotics in controlling and managing metabolic disorders.

Health Benefits of Probiotics

Aside from helping with weight loss, the regular intake of probiotics offers other health benefits.

Probiotics help counteract the side-effects of antibiotics

Taking antibiotics can produce several side effects like diarrhea, cramping and gas. Probiotics can be used to offset the side effects by controlling bowel movement and reducing digestive gas.

Probiotics act against lactose intolerance

Drinking milk for some people can be a nightmare. Their incapacity to digest several types of sugars in milk results to gastrointestinal problems which causes a very upset stomach. Probiotics can help ease the symptoms of lactose intolerance by stimulating digestion and allowing the indigestible sugars to smoothly pass out of the system. A person suffering from the symptoms of lactose intolerance can simply open a bottle of soy milk enriched with probiotics, for example, and wait for the good microorganisms to do their job.

Probiotics promote digestive balance

The presence of pathogenic bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and parasites can upset the balance of microorganisms in the stomach. This will not only result to digestive problems and stomach pain but may also lead to serious health problems. Probiotics are also being studied on its benefits in fighting bacteria that causes irritable bowel movement, infectious diarrhea, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases, vaginal infections, periodontal disease and tooth decay, respiratory and stomach infections and even skin infections. Though continuous and large scale studies are still needed to really establish the health benefits of probiotics, it is well on its way to becoming one of the most beneficial live microorganisms for the human body.

Sources
nutraingredients.com
medicinenet.com
healthcastle.com
health.harvard.edu