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Do Probiotics Help You Lose Weight?

By on May 25, 2011
Do Probiotics Help You Lose Weight

You may be wondering if eating all those foods with probiotics is doing you any good.  Well, on many levels, yes, it is doing you very good.  And now, the latest research out of the Stanford School of Medicine has shown that it not only does your digestive system good but it also may help you lose weight.

The human body contains trillions of microorganisms in the digestive tract.  One kind are probiotics.   What exactly do probiotics do?   Well, besides the new and exciting studies that show they help with weight loss, probiotics also:

  • Treat diarrhea
  • Prevent urinary tract infections
  • Prevent yeast infections
  • Treat IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
  • Reduce the recurrence of bladder cancer
  • Help quicken the treatment of infections in the intestines
  • Treat and prevent child eczema
  • Reduce and even prevent the flu and common cold
  • Improve your overall health


Some people ask me, “do probiotics cause weight gain?” because of the fact that they are contained in foods.  The answer to that questions is no, they do not.  As long as you don’t overeat foods with probiotics they wont’ make you fat.

How Do Probiotics Cause Weight Loss?

The research that came out of Stanford University was done on patients who had just received the weight loss surgery gastric-bypass.  The researchers noticed the beneficial effects of probiotics on patients who had just had the surgery.  Now researchers are starting to think that probiotics work for people in general (not just those who’ve had gastric-bypass surgery).

Research has shown that the intestines of “normal” weight people contain different types of bacteria in their intestinal tract.  So researchers are now coming to the conclusion that maybe the lack of, or different mix of, bacteria in the intestines of overweight people may be the cause of the problem.

It’s way too early to know if simply eating a healthy mix of probiotics will help overweight people lose weight.  However, if you are overweight, it wouldn’t hurt to include probiotics in your diet.  I’ve been asked “do probiotic supplements help you lose weight?”  Probiotic supplements are just like any supplements in that you need to make sure the source is pure and you’re getting what you pay for.  Check and make sure you’re getting probiotic supplements from a reputable company.   You can join Consumerlab.com and find out which brands they’ve tested to know which companies are reputable.

Here’s a list of foods that contain Probiotics:
1.Yogurt
2.Buttermilk
3.Kefir
4.Tempeh
5.Miso
6.Sauerkraut
7.Kim Chi
8.Brewer’s Yeast
9.Supplements
10.Prebiotics (foods the probiotics eat so they can thrive in your system): Honey, fruit, raw apple cider vinegar, sprouted wheat, tomato


About Sara

Sara is head writer and editor for TimeForTheNewYou.com. She's a health enthusiast and has been writing about health and weight loss related issues for more than 4 years. She's also the mother of a beautiful boy named Sam.

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