Zee Media Bureau
Washington: According to a recent study certain probiotics could help women lose weight and keep it off.
Previous studies have suggested that the intestinal flora of obese individuals differs from that of thin people. This is most likely due to the fact that a diet high in fat and low in fiber promotes certain bacteria at the expense of others.
The recent study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition by a team of researchers headed by Université Laval Professor Angelo Tremblay.
The researchers tried to determine if the consumption of probiotics could help reset the balance of the intestinal microbiota in favour of bacteria that promote a healthy weight.
They studied about 125 overweight men and women who underwent a 12-week weight-loss diet, followed by a 12-week period aimed at maintaining body weight.
Throughout the entire study, half the participants swallowed 2 pills daily containing probiotics from the Lactobacillus rhamnosus family, while the other half received a placebo.
After the 12-week diet period, researchers observed an average weight loss of 4.4 kg in women in the probiotic group and 2.6 kg in the placebo group.
However, no differences in weight loss were observed among males in the two groups.
"We don't know why the probiotics didn't have any effect on men. It may be a question of dosage, or the study period may have been too short," Professor Tremblay, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Environment and Energy Balance, said.
After the 12-week maintenance period, the weight of the women in the placebo group had remained stable but the probiotic group had continued to lose weight, for a total of 5.2 kg per person.
In short, women consuming probiotics lost twice as much weight over the 24-week period of the study.
Researchers also noted a drop in the appetite-regulating hormone leptin in this group, as well as a lower overall concentration of the intestinal bacteria related to obesity.
Probiotic is a compound of two Greek words: "pro," to signify promotion of and "biotic," which means life.
With the growing interest in probiotic interventions many studies are being carried out on the health benefits of consuming foods and supplements containing certain kinds of live bacteria. Many studies suggest that live-active cultures of probiotics can actually help prevent and treat a wide variety of ailments including irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS -- a hard-to-treat intestinal conditions, such as abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, diarrhea and constipation.
(With Agency Inputs)
