Researchers studied 42 morbidly obese people who had weight loss surgery. Six months after surgery, those who took a daily probiotic supplement had shed 70% of their excess pounds vs. 66% for those who did not.
Study participants who took probiotics after surgery also had less nausea and bloating and generally felt better than those who did not, says researcher John M. Morton, MD, of the Stanford School of Medicine.
"It's a very safe, cheap, and easy-to-administer adjunct to weight loss surgery," he tells WebMD.
The findings were presented at Digestive Disease Week 2008 in San Diego.
Too Much of a Good Thing
The study is the latest to point to the health benefits of probiotics, or so-called good bacteria. Found in certain yogurts and supplements, probiotics are often used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal ailments.
We all have hundreds of species of bacteria in our digestive tract. They help to digest sugars and other carbs. Many are thought to help prevent illness by keeping other, sickness-causing microbes from flourishing.
But sometimes you can have too much of certain bad bacteria, Morton says. That can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, which can affect quality of life.
After noticing that some patients who had undergone gastric bypass surgery had elevated levels of bad bacteria, he decided to see if probiotics could restore the balance of good to bad bacteria in the GI tract.
Patients in the study were given a supplement that contained 2.4 billion colonies of Lactobacillus daily.
Probiotics Lower Levels of Harmful Bacteria
At six months, breath tests confirmed the patients taking supplements had lower levels of harmful gastrointestinal bacteria than those who didn't. The test measures hydrogen byproducts that are produced when bacteria digest carbohydrates.
Morton says that the fact that patients taking supplements had less nausea and bloating could have contributed to their extra weight loss.
"If you're able to digest food with more comfort, you may be less likely to seek out junk food after surgery," he says.