Summary Supplements containing live bacteria, called probiotics, may burn abdominal fat, says a study.
The findings of the new small study suggest that a new probiotic supplement that prevents intestinal fat absorption could be an effective weight-loss tool.
The study was funded by Micropharma, the company that makes the probiotic supplements.
“Normally we digest all the food and absorb all the calories,” study researcher Peter Jones from the University of Manitoba in Canada said. “We think the probiotics interfered with the absorption of those calories, so that more calories went out the tailpipe and there were less calories to pack on the abdominal fat,” he said.
However, the study looked at a small number of people who were only slightly overweight to begin with. The slimming effect was also fairly modest, so even if the results hold, probiotics wouldn’t eliminate the need to maintain a proper diet and exercise.
“People aren’t going to be able to just eat probiotics to reduce weight,” Jeremy Burton, microbiologist at the Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics, who was not involved in the study, said.
Probiotics, or active bacterial cultures, can modify the ecology of the bacteria that colonize the human gut. Beneficial bacteria may improve depression, soothe stomach problems and even fight sinus infections.
Since other studies have shown that gut bacteria alter how the body absorbs calories from food, Jones and his colleagues wanted to see if the “bugs” could affect weight loss.
Jones’ team fed 28 overweight volunteers a daily serving of yogurt. Half the participants’ yogurt was spiked with either the bacteria Lactobacillus fermentum or Lactobacillus amylovorus. To isolate the effect of the bacteria, the researchers provided all of the food participants ate during the course of the study.
