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You may already know that probiotics are the closest thing we have to a magical supplement — one that can reduce inflammation in your body and really, truly help with digestion, weight loss, and fat burning.
But the term “probiotics” is used to refer to a category of supplements, when in fact, one probiotic can be very different from another.
This is the one probiotic you should start taking to speed up your metabolism and burn calories.
First off: what is a probiotic and what, exactly, does one do?
A few things, actually.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that are found in pull form and some foods. They help balance the amount of good gut bacteria you have and get rid of some of the bad bacteria that can be causing digestive and bowel issues.
Body weight also seems related to gut bacteria balance, according to Healthline.
According to Healthline:
“Both human and animal studies have found that normal-weight people have different gut bacteria than overweight or obese people.
In those studies, people with obesity had more firmicutes and fewer bacteroidetes, compared to normal-weight people.
There are also some animal studies showing that when the gut bacteria from obese mice are transplanted into guts of lean mice, the lean mice get fat.
All of these studies suggest that gut bacteria may play a powerful role in weight regulation.”
When you take a probiotic, it ideally contains several strains of bacteria.
But only one bacteria strain has been found in studies to actually inhibit the absorption of fat, which can lead to greater weight loss gains.
The bacteria you’ll want to be on the lookout for in your probiotic supplement is called Lactobacillus. And within that family of bacteria, you’ll find one strain called Lactobacillus gasseri, which is said to be a weight loss star of sorts.
According to Healthline, studies involving Lactobacillus gasseri, performed on both rodents and humans, yielded impressive results:
“One study followed 210 people with a lot of belly fat. It found that taking Lactobacillus gasseri for 12 weeks reduced body weight, fat around organs, BMI, waist size and hip circumference.
What's more, belly fat was reduced by 8.5%.”
There’s a caveat though: once participants stopped taking the probiotic, they gained all of the belly fat back.
Probiotic supplements that contain several strains of bacteria, including Lactobacillus gasseri are an excellent option for anyone who isn’t convinced they are getting enough of this nutrient in their diets.
But some foods you can start eating to gain probiotic benefits include yogurt, fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi, kefir, and kombucha.
