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It’s one of the most effective supplements that provides almost immediate results: probiotics are the gut-healthy supplements that create a balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria in your gut and can even help you lose weight.
Gut health is linked to inflammation, obesity, and even diseases like cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. But all probiotics are not created equal.
This is the one anti-inflammatory probiotic you should be having every morning to get rid of stubborn belly fat for good, according to a doctor.
All probiotics contain live microorganisms that improve digestive health. There are two families of bacteria in the gut: the “good” Bacteroidetes and the not-great Firmicute, according to Reader’s Digest. An understanding of how bacteria interacts in your gut provides insight into why probiotics can help with weight loss.
Will Bulsiewicz, MD, a gastroenterologist in Mount Pleasant, SC, explained to Reader’s Digest: “Lean individuals have a higher proportion of bacteria from the Bacteriodetes family, while obese individuals have more from the Firmicutesfamily.”
What this means is “that obese individuals carry gut microbes that are designed to efficiently extract the bad parts of our food, namely from fat and sugar, and the implication is that by modulating our gut flora to maximize Bacteroidetes and minimize Firmicutes, we can optimize healthy energy harvesting from our food and kick our obesity problem to the curb.”
When you’re shopping for a quality probiotic, two things are important: that your probiotic contains at least 1 billion CFUs (which stands for colony forming units) and that you’re choosing a supplement that contains a bacteria strain that can aid in weight loss.
According to studies, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, which is a member of the Bacteroidetes family, is one of the best for weight loss outcomes.
“When researchers out of Université Laval in Quebec, Canada placed 125 overweight men and women on a 12-week weight-loss diet, followed by a 12-week period aimed at maintaining body weight, the women who took two probiotics from the L. rhamnosus family daily lost twice as much weight, compared with their counterparts who did not take probiotics. (The probiotics did not affect weight loss in men.),” reports Reader’s Digest.
And while you’re popping your daily probiotic supplement, remember: you can also get probiotics from natural foods sources that include fermented foods, kombucha, and yogurt.
