Probiotics and weight
There is an excellent article up over on Science Blog on the role beneficial bateria play in the digestive system. I have known for some time that probiotics support digestive health and can improve immune function. What I was unaware of was their role in weight control:
Another emerging topic of research examines a possible link between probiotics and obesity, and a number of researchers around the country are starting to look at this connection.
“We should have known that probiotics and the gut microflora play a role in metabolism – it’s a connection that’s been known in the agriculture industry for years,†Huffnagle says.
Agriculture experts quickly noted that sick livestock gained weight when dosed with antibiotics, leading to the industry practice of routinely rotating various low-dose antibiotics in livestock feed. Huffnagle says the antibiotics actually change the metabolism of the animals, creating something called “enhanced feed efficiency†– an improved ability to retain fat.
“We take the antibiotics to recover from a microbial illness, but the trade-off is that fat we eat may be staying with us instead of being metabolized and converted to energy,†Huffnagle says.
This research raises an interesting question regarding previous studies that show a connection between weight loss and a higher intake of dairy products: Is it the just the calcium, as most people assume, or is it the probiotic content?
[tags]science,digestion,probiotics,weight loss,antibiotics[/tags]