There are many weight loss fads on the market these days, each one promising results that seem too good to be true. However, researchers and health professionals agree that the key to losing weight and keeping it off is through healthy eating and consistent exercise.
There are several ways to create and follow a healthy diet, but one of the easiest ways to stimulate weight loss through diet is by adding probiotics.
Having an increased amount of probiotics in the body won’t just promote weight loss, it will improve your general health.
What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are beneficial, living micro-organisms, or bacteria, that help a persons’ digestive system. There are trillions of micro-organisms in the body, each serving a specific purpose.
While many people believe that the word ‘bacteria’ denotes something negative, probiotics are a good form of bacteria that help keep the bad bacteria in the digestive system balanced.
Probiotics create something called gut microbiota, which ensure the intestines are healthy, prevents diseases, produces vitamins, and keeps the digestive system working optimally.
When something happens to these microbiota and the bacteria become imbalanced, there are serious consequences, such as sickness or weight gain.
Probiotics and Antibiotics
Probiotics, as mentioned above, are a healthy form of bacteria that keep the digestive system working properly. When there are enough good bacteria in the gut, everything runs normally and harmful matter is flushed from the system.
The problem arises when people cause this system to become imbalanced. The most common way of destroying the balance is by taking antibiotics.
Just like bacteria has a bad reputation, antibiotics have a good one. And while antibiotics have done a lot to prevent and treat diseases, they have a downside.
Antibiotics were created to destroy all the bacteria in a sick persons’ system. This works well when the person is sick, but this process also wipes out the good bacteria.
When the bacteria in a persons’ body is wiped out, they begin to experience serious issues, one of which is extreme weight gain.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise since antibiotics were first created to boost the weight of cattle. When antibiotics are taken over an extended period of time, they increase blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as blood sugar.
What’s worse is that most people aren’t aware that the medicine they’re taking to get better is the reason for their bad health and weight gain.
How Probiotics Can Help You Lose Weight
Thankfully, probiotics offer an easy way to replenish the good bacteria in the gut. When taken regularly, probiotics can improve a persons’ metabolism, helping create more energy in the body.
The better the metabolism works in a body, the more calories are being burned off every day, which is great for those needing to lose weight.
Probiotics are also extremely important to keeping the hormones in the body balanced. There are specific hormones in the digestive system that gut microbiota help control.
These hormones don’t only keep blood sugar balanced, they also produce the feeling of being full.
People who are trying to lose weight will find they don’t need to eat as much as they used to, since their body will tell them sooner that they’re satiated.
Probiotics and the healthy bacteria they return to the digestive system can also help keep inflammation down.
Many studies done recently have found that there is a direct connection between inflammation and weight gain.
To keep this weight off or to lose it after having an issue with inflammation will require the bacteria in the gut to be replenished. Probiotics offer a simple way to get this bacteria back into the gut.
Adding Probiotics to Your Diet
For those looking to restore the bacteria in their gut or who want to make sure they have enough good bacteria there, just in case, there are several ways to incorporate probiotics into a daily diet.
The most common place to find probiotics is in yoghurt. This breakfast food, especially those specifically marked to be probiotics, is a simple way to regulated bacteria.
However, it should be noted that yoghurts are typically very high in sugar, so for those trying to lose weight, unsweetened or plain yoghurt is probably the best option.
Kefir is another probiotic option that has long been used to restore good bacteria. It can be added to smoothies or stirred in with oatmeal and granola to create delicious breakfast options.
For those who want to add probiotics to their diets throughout the day, foods like sauerkraut, miso, or tempeh are also great options.
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