Gut Health and Weight Loss

Calories in versus calories out is just one aspect of weight loss. Many other factors can impact your ability to lose weight. One of those factors is the health of your gut microbiome.

Weight Loss Tip #7 - Take a Probiotic

What are probiotics and how do they impact weight loss?

There are currently tens of trillions of live bacteria in your digestive tract (some good, some bad). These bacteria are known collectively as your gut microbiome.

If there is an imbalance in your gut and not enough "good" bacteria, the result may be bloating, discomfort , bowel changes and difficulty digesting certain foods. This imbalance can also cause a decreased immune response to viruses and common colds, increased intake of highly processed foods and desire for sugary foods as well as weight changes, fatigue and disrupted sleep patterns.

Studies have shown that individuals struggling with overweight and obesity tend to have an imbalance of gut bacteria related to those in a healthy weight range.

The connection is not fully understood yet, what we do know is increasing the "good" bacteria and diversifying the types of bacteria in the gut can help with weight regulation.

Probiotics are living, healthy bacteria that are beneficial for your gut health. As mentioned above, they can improve digestion, reduce inflammation, decrease bloating and discomfort following meals and regulate appetite, which decreased overall calorie intake.

With that said, I wouldn't rush to your nearest grocery store without a little more consideration. Not all probiotics are created equal and there are a LOT of probiotics on the store shelf.

I recommend finding a probiotic with multiple bacteria strains (or cultures) as the make up of each person's bacteria will be unique. You can find this information on the probiotic Supplement Facts.

This is one of my favorite probiotic brands - Endomune

You will see this product contains 10 different strains of bacteria. This diversity will give you the most benefit without doing an in-depth, rather costly microbiome test to determine your dominant bacteria strains. Most importantly, the quality of the probiotic is crucial.

Other factors that positively impact gut health include:

- decreasing stress levels

- increasing sleep quantity and quality

- eating slowly and listening to hunger and fullness signals

- staying well hydrated

- eating a healthy diet with high fiber and less highly processed foods

- avoiding foods that you may have an intolerance for

- eat more fermented food (like yogurt and sauerkraut)

This week, my challenge to you is to check your habits and your diet to ensure you are supporting your healthy gut bacteria. I also recommend looking into a probiotic supplement as we discussed above.

For specific recommendations on probiotics, feel free to reach out at miranda@lifeinbalancenutrition.net and I'm happy to give your some suggestions!

I'm here for you and I believe in you!

- Miranda Castillo, RD, LD, CDE