According to a new article from the Times Online, “taking probiotics during pregnancy can reduce obesity in mothers”. If this isn’t evidence for the interaction of all of your microscopic bacteria influencing every area of your body’s function, we don’t know what it is. Yes, we at TAP absolutely believe that the bacteria you have in your gut, whether good or bad, influences your weight and whether or not you are obese.
Taking probiotics during pregnancy is always a good idea, in our opinion, because probiotics provide a myriad of benefits to both mother and baby, above and beyond just preventing obesity. For example, high-quality probiotics are natural anti-inflammatories and can help to counteract such conditions as allergies, asthma, etc in young children (see other TAP posts for news articles about this for references).
In the case of this article, we noticed some interesting facts that deserve to have attention drawn to them. The most important fact of the article is, “Researchers found adiposity [aka fat] in 25 percent of the women who received the probiotics along with dietary counseling, compared with 43 percent of the women who received diet advice alone.” These results are just astounding! Imagine being able to reduce risk by 20% just be adding in a probiotic…
Another aspect the article doesn’t really mention is that there was a third control group that didn’t receive any advice or interaction. Ironically, they gained less than the diet-counseled group, and came in at 40 percent (3 percent less). We at TAP believe this 3 percent could come from the fact that women who are typically put on diets can rebel and end up gaining more weight because certain foods feel forbidden to them. This can create “dieter’s blues,” which can lead to even more weight gain. We at TAP, however, happen to believe that once you have a happy gut, your moods can stabilize… aka “dieter’s blues”, a potential third variable, could have been controlled with the supplementation of probiotics…
Another key quote, “The women who got the probiotics fared best. One year after childbirth, they had the lowest levels of central obesity, as well as the lowest body fat percentage.” There are two take-away messages here. These women had the least amount of the most dangerous type of fat: concentrated belly fat also known as central obesity. Second, they had the lowest overall body fat percentage.
The study used capsules containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, according to the article, but this information is flawed as well because they do not offer species and strain name. In order to sure maximum results with probiotics, it is best to take a proven probiotic supplement, like Natren, that offers science and complete species and strain disclosure on every label.
The women in this study and their children will be studied for years to come to see if the probiotics administered during pregnancy will have a lasting effect. We bet they will…
For more information, click on the link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6240822.ece
