Probiotics For Weight Loss
Good news! You can eat your way to weight loss. You just have to eat the right foods. While we all know about getting a healthy amount of fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, and whole grains into our diets, some people might not know about probiotics. These are foods that have been allowed to ferment to contain healthy bacteria and they include - kefir (milk), kombucha (tea), raw apple cider vinegar, kimchi (cabbage), miso (tofu paste), and yogurt. These probiotics help with weight loss because the microorganisms and good bacteria they contain benefit your gut. When you add these foods to your diet you’ll improve your gut and you might even notice other health benefits like clear skin, a stronger immune system and weight loss.
It Starts With A Healthy Gut
Loosing weight isn’t just about restricting and burning calories. You can do all the crunches in the world and eat as many rice cakes, as you want. But, if you don’t have a healthy gut to digest your food, you’ll experience bloating, belly fat, and unwanted weight gain. That’s because being healthy is an inside out job that begins in the gut. And, a healthy gut is paramount to being healthy. It’s where food is broken down, nutrients are absorbed, and signals are sent to our brain about how hungry we are or how much fat to store. A lot of these functions are linked to the bacteria in our gut. So, it makes that when we increase the amount of gut-friendly bacteria we reap the benefits- like weight loss. So, do you think it’s time to use food to prevent and treat obesity? See how probiotics help with weight loss. No sit-ups needed.
You’ll Prevent Weight Gain
The best way to loose weight is not to gain it at all. While there are some life changes like pregnancy where weight gain is necessary, there is a way to prevent the excessive weight gain that is often associated with other life changes like a high-calorie diet. A study from the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech found that probiotics might protect against weight gain. Over the course of 4 weeks, participants in the study were feed an excess of 1,000 more calories along with a probiotic supplement. The end result was that participants who were given a probiotic gained less weight and fat than those who were given a placebo. While we don’t suggest adding 1,000 more calories to your daily diet in the form of high-fat foods, it is important to note that probiotics added to your diet can help prevent excess weight gain. As part of a well-rounded healthy diet probiotics might play a key role in maintaining a healthy weight and staying in shape in the long run. And, yes you can have your yogurt and eat your cake too!
You’ll Burn More Calories Too
That’s right, you can eat your way to a faster metabolism. If you’ve ever wondered how someone can eat like a football player, but never gain a pound, the answer could lie in their gut. Sure, exercise and the amount of calories a person eats plays a role in their physical bodies. Yet, it turns out that our gut plays a bigger role than we previously thought and it’s not just dependent on limiting calories. Researchers have found that our metabolic makeup is linked to our gut microbes. People who are slim vs. those suffering from obesity have different bacteria in the gut. The good news is that, diet changes, in particular eating probiotics, can alter the gut and therefore how quickly a person metabolizes food. A study published in the Journal of Molecular Systems Biology found that eating probiotics could introduce friendly bacteria to the gut and improve the digestive system that in turn increases metabolism. Participants who drank probiotics that contained gut-friendly bacteria metabolized food at a faster rate those who didn’t drink the probiotic supplement. Another study has shown that women who take probiotics have a higher rate of weight loss and post-loss maintenance. Yet, the sad news is that the same experiment didn’t work as well for men. So, it looks like science has a little more studying to do! But, in the meantime, it’s good to know that adding healthy living foods to your diet will reap benefits.
Goodbye Belly Fat
Have you ever heard of someone talking about how difficult it is to loose those last ’10 pounds’? Or, have you seen someone who is fit, but gains weight around his or her mid-section? No one like belly fat. Yet, even for some people who are slim, exercise, or eat low-calorie foods, they still gain fat in less than flattering places. There’s a particular strain of gut-friendly bacteria, lactobacillus that has been linked to the loss of belly fat. A study published in the Journal of Functional Foods found that when overweight patients consumed yogurt that contained lactobacillus they experienced a 3% loss of body fat over the course of 6 weeks. Another study from the Department of Kinesiology at Laval University in Quebec Canada found that participants who took probiotics over the course of 3 months lost 50% more weight than their counterparts who didn’t consume probiotics. If you want to add a belly-fat fighting food to your diet, add yogurt to your lunch or enjoy as a dessert after dinner. The balance of protein, fat, and probiotics are a nice combination that can help you feel satiety. Other great probiotic foods are fermented vegetables like cabbage or pickles. While these veggies won’t provide much protein, they’ll be a source of fiber, which will also make you feel full. Be sure to look for brands that state there are ‘live’ cultures in the ingredients to ensure that lactobacillus and other gut-healthy bacteria are present. Some brands over-heat and process foods to prevent unhealthy bacteria, but they also kill off the good bacteria in the process. If you’re not a fan of fermented veggies or you’re vegan you can also add a twice-daily dairy-free probiotic supplement to receive the same belly-fat-fighting benefits.
You’ll Feel Fuller Longer
Eating a well-balanced diet is essential to feeling full. Have you ever noticed that eating sugary or high-fat foods often leads to binges? It’s a dirty trick that our bodies play on us. First, there’s the dopamine (pleasure hormone) hit that comes from eating ice cream or greasy fries. We are programmed to derive pleasure from these foods. Yet, we can become desensitized to the point that we need larger quantities to reach that feeling of pleasure. That’s when we begin to crave those same foods in larger and larger amounts. On the other hand, a well-balanced meal that includes probiotics has checks and balances that give us pleasure from delicious meals while controlling the amount of dopamine hormones released. When you add probiotics to your diet, your gut can be more effective at producing the hormones that control satiety. Lactobacillus has again been linked to weight loss in a study that showed probiotic supplements containing this healthy bacteria improved emotion-related eating behaviors and may impact appetite control.
Less Inflammation, Less Weight Gain
Inflammation is one way your body responds to defends itself against viruses. Yet, chronic or continued inflammation causes tissue damage, chronic fatigue, and obesity. Unhealthy diets are thought to be one of the causes of this type of inflammation. For example diets that are too high in sugar release inflammatory chemicals into the bloodstream that trigger weight gain over time. The good news is that when you make healthy diet changes you can actually reverse and prevent weight gain that is linked to inflammation in the body. Bifiobacteria is a one type of healthy bacteria found in probiotics that do this. It maintains a healthy gut barrier and stops chemicals that cause inflammation from passing into the bloodstream. But, you don’t have to look for a particular strand of bacteria in a probiotic to reap the anti-inflammatory benefits. Most probiotics contain healthy bacteria that will protect and preserve the gut. Another benefit is that probiotics supplements have been shown to relieve inflammation that causes bloating and abdominal discomfort.
You Are What You Eat
It’s like the old saying goes, ‘you are what you eat’. High fat diets full of processed foods lead to obesity. Yet, when we give our body living, whole foods, something magical happens. We become healthy. Your digestive system works smoothly. And, your weightless efforts begin to pay off. So, why wouldn’t you give your body the living nutrition it needs? Adding a probiotic supplement is a quick way to jump-start or maintain your healthy lifestyle. Look for one that contains living cultures and is minimally processed to ensure that it’s as close to the food that nature intended for us to eat. This ensures that you’re not using a probiotic that is full of sugar, chemicals, or over processed to the point that that the good bacteria isn’t even there anymore. When you choose Kayasha probiotics, you’re choosing your health and a probiotic that has living cultures and bacteria can make your gut and body stronger, healthier, and happy