Can Probiotics Help You Lose Weight?

Can probiotics help you lose weight naturally? Maintaining a normal healthy weight is actually a complex interplay of what kinds of food you consume, how much of that food you ingest, regular exercise routines, and genetics. There's been tons of research done on the role of obesity, high levels of body fat, high blood pressure, and other diseases related to obesity, as well as how diet, exercise, and supplementing one's diet can affect weight loss. Some studies have shown there may be a correlation between bowel problems and weight gain as well, which makes sense since constipation and indigestion can both lead to weight gain.

What this all means is that while there are no "cure-alls" in terms of how you should eat and what you shouldn't, there are certain foods and types of food that you need to eat more of to ensure your body has the right amount of nutrients and bacteria to keep up with the constant bombardment that it faces from within your digestive tract. In order to keep your gut healthy and maintain an optimal balance of beneficial bacteria (the good guys) and undesirable bacteria (the bad guys), you've got to be able to recognize when your body is out of balance. And if probiotics can be used as a tool to correct some of these common imbalance, then they're certainly something worth looking into.

A major reason probiotics can be used to promote good overall health is because they boost the levels of the good bacteria, or Lactobacillus acidophilus, in your gut. When the bacteria levels increase, your immune system is able to do what it needs to do in order to ward off illness and maintain a healthy balance in your body. This can help to prevent many forms of disease and can also improve your overall health, including your resistance to many types of illnesses and disease.

There are two ways in which probiotics work in order to boost your overall health. The first way is through increasing the number of Lactobacillus bacteria in your gut. The other way is through increasing the production of the good bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus. There are about 120 species of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Although many of them are known to have beneficial effects on health, researchers have found that there is always a selective group of the species that can produce different kinds of toxins when put under stress, leading to a decrease in their overall healthful levels.

To understand how can probiotics work to combat this, you need to understand how bacteria work in your body. Bacteria are mostly kept in check by an intestinal lining called mucus. However, sometimes, certain species can overgrow and make their way into your bloodstream. When this happens, it can create toxins that can enter your blood stream and start to cause problems like irritable bowel syndrome, asthma and other inflammatory conditions.

Probiotics can counteract this overgrowth of harmful bacteria. Some types of probiotics that can do this are Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus citrinus and Lactobacillus salivarius. These species are naturally found in the healthy gut of most people, but when they become overgrown, they can lead to problems like irritable bowel syndrome. By helping to maintain the appropriate levels of these beneficial bacteria in your gut, can probiotics help you lose weight. This is because Lactobacillus acidophilus is one of the body's main line of defense against harmful bacteria. When it is able to control its overgrowth, you can be sure that other bacteria are not overtaken.

In addition to helping you naturally counterbalance the growth of harmful microorganisms, can probiotics also help you lose weight through the use of other products. One of these is prebiotics. These are the prebiotics that are produced by the friendly bacteria in the digestive tract. Like probiotics, they too have the ability to help regulate the growth of unhealthy microorganisms and therefore can contribute to your overall health.

Prebiotics come from plants and contain the types of nutrients that the average person needs for optimal digestive health. However, some plants - like onions, garlic and milk - contain high levels of fat that can inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria. Fortunately, there are supplements that contain a high level of prebiotics as well as probiotics that can help regulate your gut bacteria so that they can grow and contribute to your health. These digestive enzymes can be found in many health and nutrition stores and can be bought in supplement bars as well as bottled beverages. You can also get them as nutritional supplements for pets.