In this article, learn about probiotics and weight loss, including whether they work and how to use them.

While the research is still in the preliminary stages, some information suggests that probiotics could help a person lose weight, or that poor gut health has links to obesity .

Taking a probiotic supplement may help keep the intestinal flora balanced and promote a healthy body by boosting the digestive and immune systems.

Probiotics are live organisms that occur naturally in the gut. Many supplements and fermented foods also contain probiotics. Some people wonder if probiotics can help them lose weight.

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Share on Pinterest Some probiotics may help people lose weight and boost overall health.

There are many different microorganisms in and on the human body, mainly in the form of friendly bacteria. Researchers think that some of these bacteria may play a role in weight loss and gain.

In the gut, the beneficial bacteria help break down and digest food. They also help create nutrients and vitamins for the body to use. The probiotic bacteria feed on fibers and turn them into helpful compounds.

An unhealthy digestive system may lead to dysbiosis, which refers to an imbalance in the gut microbes.

When too many harmful microorganisms grow, there may not be enough of the helpful bacteria available to keep these harmful organisms in check. It also typically means the diversity of bacteria in the gut is lower.

Research from 2013 suggests that gut dysbiosis contributes to the development of obesity, though it may not be the underlying cause.

As the author of a 2015 study notes, people at a healthy weight and people with obesity show marked differences in their gut flora.

Their research found that changing the gut flora in animals caused them to lose or gain weight accordingly. However, in humans, changing the gut flora did not result in weight loss or gain.

This evidence does suggest, however, that there is a shift in a person’s gut flora when they gain weight. While changes are associated with obesity, they do not seem to be the underlying cause.

The researcher identified the following factors that can change a person’s gut flora from a thin to an obese pattern:

a high-fat diet

a high-calorie diet

the use of artificial sweeteners

a disrupted diurnal rhythm

There is a small body of evidence suggesting some probiotics may help people lose weight.

Research in The British Journal of Nutrition studied the effects that one type of probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, had on people with obesity.

Women who took the probiotic supplement lost more weight during the study than women who took a placebo. Additionally, the group taking a probiotic supplement continued to lose more weight in the weight-maintenance stage, after they finished dieting. The same effects did not occur in men, however.

Another 2013 study looked at the effects of Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus amylovorus.

During the study, individuals who were overweight but otherwise healthy ate yogurt that contained these Lactobacillus strains for 6 weeks. At the end of this period, the participants had lost an average of 3–4% body fat.

Researchers have also examined effects of Lactobacillus gasseri for fat loss. In this study, people with extra belly fat who drank fermented milk products containing the helpful bacteria lost 8.2– 8.5% of their belly fat over 12 weeks.

However, when they stopped drinking the milk, all of this belly fat returned. This suggests probiotics can help people lose weight in some cases, but researchers still need to do more studies to back up this claim.

Low bacterial diversity may also influence obesity. For instance, the author of a 2015 review found that there is a link between low gut flora diversity and inflammation in the body.

Low microbial diversity may also be a risk factor for problems associated with obesity, such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

With these facts in mind, taking probiotics could benefit not just a person’s weight loss efforts, but their overall health.