Diet: What are probiotics and how contribute to weight loss

Did you know that the number of bacteria in your body is ten times the number of cells?…
And yet it is true! Most of these bacteria live in your digestive system. To have the right bacteria in your stomach it is important to weight loss, better digestion and strengthen your immune system.
Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain the right bacteria, which enter the stomach, and gradually increasing in population and colonize the digestive tract with microorganisms that are good for the health.
Taking care of your gut and the friendly bacteria that reside there, it can be one of the most important things you can do for your health.
According to the official definition, probiotics are “live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, provide a health benefit for the host.”
Probiotics are usually bacteria, but there is also a kind of yeast that can act as a probiotic. You can get probiotics from appropriate dietary supplements, and foods, which are prepared by bacterial fermentation. Such foods are yogurt, kefir, and other.
Probiotics should not be confused with prebiotics (attention to the “e”), which are dietary fibers, which feed the friendly bacteria already in the gut.
There are dozens of different probiotic bacteria, has been shown to have health benefits. The most common groups include the varieties of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Then, there are many different types of each variety and each type has many strains.
Each type of probiotic helps in different health conditions. Therefore, the selection of the correct type (or types) of probiotics is critical. A lot of probiotic supplements combine different species together in the same feed. These are known as probiotic broad-spectrum, or multi-probiotics.
Probiotics and weight loss
According to research, obese people have different gut bacteria than thin people.
Studies in animals have also shown that transplants of stool from lean animals, can make obese animals to lose weight. For this reason, many scientists now believe that gut bacteria is important in determining body fat.
Although this claim requires more analysis and study, there are some strains of probiotics, which has already been proven to contribute to weight loss.
The most impressive study on this topic was published in 2013. It was a study of 210 people with central obesity (excess fat in the abdominal area). In this study, the intake of the probiotic Lactobacillus gasseri did the participants lose 8.5% of the mass of belly fat within a period of 12 weeks. When they stopped taking the probiotic, they have regained the fat they had lost in 4 weeks!
There are also some indications that the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis may help in weight loss and prevention of obesity. However, this should be studied more before any responsible scientific proposals to consumers.