Best Probiotics For Weight Loss
Many people are catching on to the fact that a good gut equals good health and a way to a good gut is through the use of probiotics. Probiotics are now being used for weight loss as a way to restore the good bacteria in your gut which helps with digestion, increased energy, metabolism and loosing weight. A study done at Stanford University suggested that the gut bacteria differed in those who were obese via those who're at a normal weight, meaning the stabilization of gut bacteria could affect your waistline.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are essentially bacteria, good bacteria that we need to keep us healthy. This bacteria helps absorb nutrients, fights off infection, boost vitamin production, and controls the spread of bad bacteria. Your gut can hold anywhere from 500-2000 species of micro-organisms in the form of yeast, parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Our bodies are actually more bacteria than anything. Probiotics are naturally occurring but can also be found in supplements and the food we eat. When our soils were nutrient dense we were Able to easily obtain probiotics in our food but the over use of antibiotics, pesticides, and industrialized farming techniques has led our bad bacteria to over populate. That is why it is a good idea to take some sort of Probiotic Supplement and eat a well balanced diet.
How Do Probiotics Help?
Probiotics help in a multitude of ways, Not only are they good for your immune system but they improve digestion and increase energy which can help aide in weight loss.Your Good Bacteria uses more calories to survive than bad bacteria and the bad bacteria can also interfere with insulin receptors which can make you fat. Research is showing that having too much bad bacteria in your gut can make it extremely difficult to lose weight and can even fuel fat production. By balancing your gut with the use of probiotics and decreasing that fat producing bacteria you'll be sure to kick start your fat burning abilities.
Types of Probiotics
There are many different types of bacteria but they are normally classified into 2 groups. The most well known being Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium. They are both part of the lactic acid bacteria group which converts sugars to lactic acid. Lactobacillusis the most common strain of bacteria and is normally found in yogurt, kefir, and fermented foods. Bifidobacterium is not commonly found in foods but is one of the first to inhabit your gi tract as an infant. Breast fed infants in particular secrete this bacteria in their feces. It is said that the amount of Bifidobacterium decreases with age so it is very important to be sure you have enough Bifido to Balance out your gut.
Do Probiotics boost your metabolism?
The Microflora located in your gut helps to aide the hormone productions of your thyroid. Your thyroid controls the hormones that regulate your cells and organs and turn the nutrients that you eat into energy. Thyroid cells are the only cells in the body that can absorb Iodine and the Iodine is used to create T4 or Thyroxine. Your microflora in your gut converts Thyroxine to its active form T3 which is used to regulate and boost your metabolism, so a slow metabolism could be the result of an imbalance of good bacteria and bad bacteria in your gut. Speeding up your metabolism will help convert your food to energy quicker instead of it being stored as fat.
What to look for when choosing a Probiotic
There are many ways to decipher what probiotic is best for you. There are also many important questions you must ask in order to choose the right one. Here are the top questions you should ask yourself when choosing a probiotic. If you want to take the guesswork out of it I've listed my choices for probiotics below.
Quality- Whenever you are buying a supplement you want to be sure you are buying from a reputable source. Many supplements are now being tested for quality and assurance. You want to be sure you are getting a 100% pure product, meaning no additives, fillers, GMO's, pesticides, etc.
CFU- CFU means Colony Forming Units and the higher the CFU the better. You want to look for a probiotic that contains anywhere from 1 billion to 100 billion CFU.
Strain- A study that was done showed that one strain of bacteria wasn't enough to produce results along a group of individuals who were trying to lose weight. It seemed as though weight loss only occurred when more than 1 strain was used. I would look for a Probiotic that contains anywhere from 10-30 different strains of bacteria.
Production- Since Probiotics are alive they need to be refrigerated so look for a Probiotic that stays chill not one that has been over processed for shelf life, Although there are some very credible un-refridgerated versions it is best to stick to one that has been temperature controlled.
What is the most effective Probiotic?
Garden of Life Raw Probiotics Colon Care is probably one of my top picks if not my top pick for probiotic supplements. This product is Harvested, blended, encapsulated, stored and transported at controlled temperatures which is great for making sure that the live cultures stay alive. It also has 33 different types of probiotic strains (high Bifido) and 50 Billion CFU. This product does need to be refrigerated to stay alive, hence all the hard work the company goes through to get it to you that way.
Mega Food Mega Flora would be my next choice for a viable and trusted company and product. This probiotic will also require refrigeration. It has 14 different Probiotic Strains including the core 5 and boasts 20 Billion CFU. This product is Farm Fresh from family owned farms and was designed in collaboration with scientists from the University of New Hampshire to ensure maximum benefits.
Probifia Pearls By Nature's Way is a great product if you are looking for the convenience of a shelf stable product. It's not my top pick but It requires no refrigeration which is great for someone who might forget to take one before leaving the house each morning. These soft gels are 100 % Bifidobacterium strains and has 1 Billion CFU. They also have a special coating that is built to sustain stomach acid making sure the probiotic isn't broken down until it reaches it's beneficial place in your intestines.
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