Gut bacteria and weight loss

ZeroDelta

Anyone else take probiotics? A while back I read "Impact of the Gut Microbiota on the Development of Obesity: Current Concepts" and "How Gut Bacteria Help Make Us Fat and Thin." Both of these articles made me curious. In a completely non scientific low tech experiment I decided to repopulate my gut.

I went out and bought two different probiotics. I picked two that had high live organism counts and different species. I took the brands on alternating weeks.

After a few weeks I found a huge reduction in my appetite. Before taking the probiotics I was alway hungry. Now I tend to only be hungry around meal times. I've continued with the probiotics for the last three months. The reduction in appetite has remained stable.

I have absolutely no scientific proof that the probiotics reduced my appetite. It could be the placebo effect. I'm not recommending any product. I'm just relating my experience. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.

RodaRose

Also look up prebiotics. They seem to offer benefit.

yarwell

Google "psychobiotics" too

Alluminati

I googled and got …

Need2Exerc1se

I took them for a while but didn't notice any difference. I eat a lot of prebiotic foods so I guess they just didn't have anything to offer me.

zoeysasha37

Alluminati wrote: »

I googled and got …

+1

NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner

yarwell wrote: »

Google "psychobiotics" too

Are they biotics that have forgotten to take their meds?

Tee hee hee

Unknown

This content has been removed.

SLLRunner

Alluminati wrote: »

I googled and got …

Now, this made me burst out laughing! LOL!

SLLRunner

catscats222 wrote: »

often when a person takes probiotics they are more aware of what they eat
spending that much money on a daily pill changes people's habits (could be placebo effect).
it as helped my immunity, but then again, i started eating better around the same time.

Why would a person be more aware of what they're eating when taking probiotics, and how does this help weight loss since weight loss is based on calories in/calories out?

A few years ago a doctor told me to take probiotics for a certain medical issue, I did, and I didn't lose any weight at all. It helped settle things down, but I just ate what I normally ate at the time, just still too much of it.

senecarr

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26474235

CONCLUSION:
In both humans and animals there are characteristic changes in the gut microbiota associated with obesity. In animals but not in humans altering the microbiota can result in weight loss and weight gain which does not occur in humans. This suggests that in humans the changes in gut microbiota are an association with rather than the cause of obesity.

jgnatca

Why would a person be more aware of what they're eating when taking probiotics, and how does this help weight loss since weight loss is based on calories in/calories out?

Placebo effect. Taking a pill makes people more aware, and they may be more vigilant about other things they are eating. Or not. You didn't.

I have been experimenting with Kefir and the days I take it it seems my digestion is more regular.

@RodaRose I googled prebiotics too. Thanks for that tip. If I were to summarize, eating lots of fruits and vegetables is good for gut health.

There's a Ted talk about how a small bridge tax resolved traffic jams. When the tax was removed, traffic jams resumed. When commuters were quizzed about how their habits changed during the tax, they didn't know. Most likely they made small adjustments to their routines and decided to car pool or defer trips more often, but they were not aware that these small adjustments had such a profound impact.

I think it is very similar with weight gain or loss. We keep looking for the "smoking gun" that can explain the obesity crisis in first world countries, but maybe it's not a big thing. Maybe for most people it's small imperceptible decisions made throughout the day (two tablespoons of peanut butter instead of one) that add up.

ohio770

There's likely something to that. The Wall Street Journal had an article last weekend. http://www.wsj.com/articles/study-links-antibiotics-with-weight-gain-in-children-1445451135

The study followed 164,000 children until age 18 and found that children exposed to antibiotics before the age of 2 experienced increased weight gain, the effects were cumulative. The more doses the child had, the more prolonged the weight gain. The theory is that the antibiotics affect the bacteria in the gut and as a result changed digestion.

kommodevaran

Maybe sick children are less active than healthy children, and sick children are more sad, and sad children are more easily bored, and bored children are more prone to overeat?

AnvilHead

jgnatca wrote: »

...I think it is very similar with weight gain or loss. We keep looking for the "smoking gun" that can explain the obesity crisis in first world countries, but maybe it's not a big thing. Maybe for most people it's small imperceptible decisions made throughout the day (two tablespoons of peanut butter instead of one) that add up.

I think it's pretty simple. We eat more and don't move as much. Restaurants pride themselves on "super sized" portions and many families with two working parents rely more on eating out or takeout/fast food rather than home-cooked meals (which were far more common when mom was the homemaker and dad was the breadwinner). We drive everywhere, and at work we hardly have to get up from our computers. Kids get driven to school rather than walking or riding their bicycles. Physical education has been (and continues to be) cut back or eliminated in schools - kids don't get any exercise at school, then they come home and sit in front of the gaming console or computer rather than being outside playing. Those kids then grow up to be adults for whom physical activity isn't a priority (or hardly even a thought), while simultaneously being accustomed to their mega-sized triple burgers, bucket of fries and 44 oz. sodas on a daily basis.

IMO, a lot of the other things people point fingers at (pesticides, GMOs, gut bacteria, bla bla bla) are either/both: a) excuses for lazy people who lack the dedication to lose weight, and/or b) tinfoil hat propaganda to further causes not directly related to weight loss. Some of the things are symptomatic of obesity and poor health, so they're correlative rather than causative.

SamandaIndia

ZeroDelta wrote: »

Anyone else take probiotics? A while back I read "Impact of the Gut Microbiota on the Development of Obesity: Current Concepts" and "How Gut Bacteria Help Make Us Fat and Thin."

Thanks for the links to these interesting articles.

brower47

Great post! I'm so glad you found what works for you!

jgnatca

@AnvilHead the problem with the common sense approach (eat less move more) is that if we stop there and governments shape policies based on these assumptions, we better darn well be right. Here are some potential actions:
- tax the obese
- stipulated school breakfast/lunch programs
- No vending machines in schools
- Mandatory exercises in schools
- Walkable cities
- Junk food tax
- Limited insurance for the obese

scolaris

This is advancing research... I'm not sure we know the final story on gut health at this time. I keep an open mind.

kateandmnms

I make my own milk kefir....its great for gut health and digestion

Soopatt

I eat a lot of yogurt with live cultures - that seems to handle it for me.

Need2Exerc1se

kommodevaran wrote: »

Maybe sick children are less active than healthy children, and sick children are more sad, and sad children are more easily bored, and bored children are more prone to overeat?

That's a lot of maybes.