Fight Your Weight With Probiotics

Probiotics is another one of those words that we’re expected to remember when talking about health, nutrition and dieting.

This new word refers to the friendly bacteria that help your body effectively digest your food.

Much research has been done into what probiotics can do for your health. Most of these benefits are associated with improving absorption, facilitating healthy digestion and strengthening the immune system.

However, this research is young and much research still needs to be done about how probiotics interact with different diseases.

How this helps weight loss?

Healthy intestines contain intestinal flora. This is bacteria that aids in bodily digestion. But some intestinal systems lack intestinal flora due to antibiotics.

Many holistic practitioners believe that Lactobacillus can help obese people lose weight by improving their metabolism and killing harmful intestinal micro-organisms that contribute to the fat formation.

Additionally, recent studies have shown that lactic acid bacteria can break down various complex carbohydrates, including those contained in beans, starches, and difficult-to-digest vegetables, thus reducing bloating, intestinal accumulation of waste, and gastrointestinal discomfort so typical for vegetarians and people on low-fat, high-carb, and high fiber diets.

Probiotic supplements

Specially selected strains of freeze-dried microorganisms are manufactured in pill form. Hopefully, through digestion, the friendly bacteria will be released from the capsule and start life in your intestines.

These dosages are taken once a day and must be refrigerated. Many probiotics also contain nutrients that help the friendly bacteria flourish.

Be aware

Probiotics are natural supplements. But they can cause allergic reactions just like other conventional medicines.

Like conventional medicines, dietary supplements may cause side effects, trigger allergic reactions, or interact with prescription and nonprescription medicines or other supplements you are taking.

A side effect or interaction with another medicine or supplement may make other health conditions worse. These supplements are also not standardized.

Also, since these probiotic supplements are relatively new, no one has any clue what the long term effects of these supplements are.

Foods with probiotics

Yogurt is one of the biggest sources of probiotics and many yogurts are advertised as being good for regularity. But some yogurt is pasteurized, which kills bacteria on the yogurt.

Another food with probiotics is Kefir. This is a drink that is somewhat like liquid yogurt. Another drink that contains probiotics is probiotic fruit juice. As for food, fermented cabbage, brined olives and salted gherkins are probiotic.

Using probiotics intelligently

There are a huge number of probiotics on the market and there have been few conclusive discoveries on probiotics. Several bacteria are not helpful at all for the digestive system, yet manufacturers release products with these probiotics and make unsubstantiated claims.

Also, many probiotic products are completely useless because the bacteria often die before it can even get to your digestive system. The best way past this is to consume probiotics as close to the manufacturing date as possible and research probiotics before spending money on them.