Gut microbiota (aka the normal bacteria that live inside your gut) also play a role in weight regulation. This article in Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Disease (Dec 2008) describes how important these bacteria are."... imbalances in the composition of gut microbiota have been associated with susceptibility to infections, immune-based disorders, and recently also with insulin resistance and body weight gain"
Does an imbalance in gut flora promote obesity or do obese people have imbalances? It becomes a bit of a 'chicken and egg' scenario. More than likely, it's a bit of both.
Without a doubt, steady diets of junk food promote obesity as well as gut flora imbalances. On the other hand, when gut flora balance is disturbed, energy regulation, nutrient absorption, immune function and hormone activity are all dysregulated.
From the same article above,
"The metabolic role of the gut microbiota is essential to the biochemical activity of the human body, resulting in salvage of energy, generation of absorbable compounds, and production of vitamins and other essential nutrients... "
Bottom line:
Probiotics may play a role in your overall strategy toward weight loss. It is not a weight loss method alone. But it plays a significant role in shifting your overall physiology to health and metabolic balance.
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