What You Need to Know About Weight Loss & Gut Health

It's that time of year: as 2017 has given way to 2018, self-improvement is on everyone's mind--and for many people, "lose weight" tops their list of New Year's resolutions. The challenge of this resolution, however, often lies in the execution. Eating better and exercising more are always important, but the key to reaching your weight loss goals might lie with supporting your gut health with high quality probiotic supplement. 

To understand the important role that a healthy gut plays in weight loss, let's take a closer look at the make-up of your gut at the microscopic level. Your digestive tract contains trillions of microorganisms that together make up your gut microbiome. This microbiome plays a key role in regulating digestive function, promoting a healthy immune system--and maintaining your metabolism and supporting a healthy weight. That means that turning your attention to boosting your gut health can help you shed those extra pounds, even as it also promotes your whole-body health and well-being.

The Scientific Explanation for the Link Between Your Gut Health and Your Weight

Before we turn to how you can promote your gut health (and thus boost your weight loss efforts), it's important to understand why a healthy gut can make it easier to shed excess pounds. The truth is that a healthy gut microbiome--that is, one that is well-balanced with the right amount of "good" bacteria"--supports reaching and maintaining a healthy weight in several ways.

One role that your gut health plays in weight loss is through its influence on your metabolism; for example, researchers have uncovered evidence that a shift in the gut microbiome's metabolic activity can contribute to a person's risk of becoming obese.1 Studies also suggest that the bacterial populations in the gut can change how a person's body regulates insulin, which in turn can have significant effects on weight gain.2

Certain strains of bacteria in particular play an important role in promoting healthy weight loss. One Dutch study found that participants who had a high ratio of the Prevotella strain compared to the Bacteroides strain lost about 50 percent more weight while on a high-fiber diet than those with a low ratio.3 Other research indicates that slender individuals are more likely to have a high population of Christensenellaceae in their gut than those battling obesity.

Clearly the health of your gut plays an important role in achieving your weight loss goals--but what steps can you take to bolster your gut health (and reap the positive whole-body side effects of a well-balanced gut microbiome)?

Tips for Improving Your Gut Health and Boosting Your Weight Loss Efforts

Avoid Processed Foods - Eat Fresh

It's no secret that processed foods tend to be loaded with sugar, fat and empty calories, making it a smart idea to switch to natural and unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains when trying to lose weight. A diet that supports gut health with a high quality probiotic supplement and is diverse in unprocessed foods has another benefit that indirectly supports weight loss: it can help bring balance to your gut microbiome. Researchers have discovered that a varied and healthy diet can quickly charge gut microbiome composition for the better.

Increase Your Fiber Intake

Upping the amount of fiber in your diet is an often-cited secret to losing weight as high-fiber diets can help promote a feeling of fullness throughout the day, making it easier to cut your caloric intake. Increasing your fiber intake can also support your gut health and help lay the foundation for long-lasting weight loss success. Fiber has been shown to help promote further growth of good bacterial strains such as Bifidobacterium as well as providing an important source of fuel for all of the beneficial microorganisms in your gut.

Reduce the Amount of Artificial Sweeteners in Your Diet

Replacing the sugar in your diet with artificial sweeteners may seem like a smart move when trying to lose weight--but a growing body of scientific research suggests that artificial sweeteners may do more harm than good. For example, one study found that rats who consumed non-calorie artificial sweeteners actually ended up at greater risk for weight gain and obesity than those who were given sugar due to the artificial sweeteners interference with key physiological processes. Consumption of artificial sweeteners has also been demonstrated to cause changes in gut microbiotic makeup, leading to greater risk of metabolic disease and other negative health side effects.

Take a Daily Probiotic Supplement

Many of the important changes that can help improve your weight loss efforts and boost your digestive tract health are challenging to implement--but not one. Taking a daily probiotic supplement is a simple change that can lead to big results. Besides helping to improve digestive tract function, boost immune system response and more, studies have shown that a high quality probiotic supplement can contribute to sustainable weight loss efforts --all from taking one little pill!

Losing weight can help boost your self-image and your physical health, but finding an effective weight loss program can be difficult. By focusing on improving your gut health, you can set yourself on the path to realizing your weight loss goals as you improve your whole-body wellness.

Sources

Sanmiguel C, Gupta A, Mayer E. Gut Microbiome and Obesity: A Plausible Explanation for Obesity. Curr Obes Rep. 4(2): 250–261. 2015.

Caricilli A, Saad M. The Role of Gut Microbiota on Insulin Resistance. Nutrients. 5(3): 829–851. 2013.

Hjorth MF, Roager HM, Larsen TM, Poulsen SK, Licht TR, Bahl MI, Zohar Y, Astrup A. Pre-treatment microbial Prevotella-to-Bacteroides ratio, determines body fat loss success during a 6-month randomized controlled diet intervention. International Journal of Obesity. 2017.

Goodrich JK, Waters JL, Poole AC, Sutter JL, Koren O, Blekhman R, Beaumont M, Van Treuren W, Knight R, Bell JT, Spector TD, Clark AG, Ley RE. Human genetics shape the gut microbiome. Cell. 159(4):789-99. 2014.

David LA, Maurice CF, Carmody RN, Gootenberg DB, Button JE, Wolfe BE, Ling AV, Devlin AS, Varma Y, Fischbach MA, Biddinger SB, Dutton RJ, Turnbaugh PJ. Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 505(7484):559-63. 2014.

Martínez I, Lattimer JM, Hubach KL, Case JA, Yang J, Weber CG, Louk JA, Rose DJ, Kyureghian G, Peterson DA, Haub MD, Walter J. Gut microbiome composition is linked to whole grain-induced immunological improvements. ISME J. 7(2):269-80. 2013.

Swithers SE, Davidson TL. A role for sweet taste: calorie predictive relations in energy regulation by rats. Behav Neurosci. 122(1):161-73. 2008.

Suez J, Korem T, Zeevi D, Zilberman-Schapira G, Thaiss CA, Maza O, Israeli D, Zmora N, Gilad S, Weinberger A, Kuperman Y, Harmelin A, Kolodkin-Gal I, Shapiro H, Halpern Z, Segal E, Elinav E. Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. Nature. 514(7521):181-6. 2014.