{"id":39680,"date":"2019-11-12T12:29:28","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T20:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/?p=39680"},"modified":"2021-11-03T02:05:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T09:05:46","slug":"a6probiotic-for-weight-loss-belly-fat-metabolism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/blog\/a6probiotic-for-weight-loss-belly-fat-metabolism\/","title":{"rendered":"Probiotics for Weight Loss & Metabolism"},"content":{"rendered":"

We once thought that weight loss was all about calories in, calories out, or just diet and exercise<\/a>. Or perhaps, it’s in your genes or hormones like leptin<\/a>. However, your gut bacteria might actually have more to do with your weight than you think. Read this post to learn about how probiotics could help you lose weight<\/a> and improve your metabolism.<\/p>\n

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How May Probiotics help with Weight Loss?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

1) Reducing Calorie Harvest from Foods<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

In mice and rats, obesity-related microbes can harvest more energy from food than the microbes that are found in lean animals [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Compared with lean mice with normal genes, the gut bacteria of obese mice have more genes that can burn carbohydrates for energy [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

2) Changing Metabolism<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

How the gut bacteria metabolize primary bile<\/a> acids to secondary bile acids affect our metabolism by activating the farnesoid X receptor<\/a>, which controls fat in the liver and blood sugar balance [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Also, activation of bile acid receptors can increase metabolic rate in brown adipose tissues (fat that burns fat) [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Intestinal microbiota<\/a> can affect host fat storage [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

In mice, diet accounts for 57% of changes in their gut microbiome<\/a> [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

3) Fecal Transplants <\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Gut bacteria<\/a> from stools of healthy and lean humans transferred to obese people with type 2 diabetes increased insulin<\/a> sensitivity and gut bacteria diversity in a clinical trial on 18 people . However, this study did not observe significant changes in body mass index 6 weeks after the transfer [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

In a case study, fecal matter was transplanted from an overweight donor to a lean patient for C. difficile<\/i> infection treatment. After the transplant, the recipient had increased appetite and rapid unintentional weight gain that could not be explained by the recovery from the C. difficile<\/i> infection alone [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Feeding obese and insulin-resistant<\/a> rats with antibiotics or transplanting them with fecal matters from healthy rats reversed both conditions [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

In identical twin rats with discordant phenotypes (e.g., one obese and one lean, despite identical genetics), the gut bacteria also seems to control their metabolism. Germ-free mice (with no gut bacteria) populated with the obese twin had increased fat cells and reduced gut bacteria diversity compared to mice that were populated with the lean twin’s fecal matter [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

In humans, more clinical studies would be necessary to determine whether fecal microbiota transplants can have long-term effects on insulin sensitivity<\/a> or weight, even though fecal microbiota transplant improved the gut microbiome for up to 24 weeks in a small trial on 10 people [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Presently, there are several phases 2 and 3 clinical trials for fecal microbiota transplant [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n

While results thus far have shown that fecal microbiota transplant is a promising therapy for metabolic problems, it does come with risks, including [R<\/a>]:<\/p>\n