A probiotic a day helps women lose weight after giving birth.
A probiotic or yogurt a day can help women lose a significant amount of weight after
giving birth, a study finds.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent in Amsterdam
7:00AM BST 08 May 2009
Researchers found that women who took the food supplement during and after pregnancy
saw a bigger reduction in both their waistline and overall body fat.
They found that six months after pregnancy the women taking the probiotic were half as
likely to have a pot belly.
After a year the gap narrowed slightly but those taking the food additive remained
significantly slimmer.
The researchers believe the probiotics could help people in general lose weight and also
give babies the best possible start to life.
"We were surprised at how big the reduction was," said Dr Kirsi Laitinen, a nutritionist at
the University of Turku in Finland.
"One year after childbirth, they had the lowest levels of central obesity as well as the
lowest body fat percentage.
"We know how difficult it is to lose weight and every little helps."
The research, at the European Congress on Obesity, comes after laboratory studies
suggest that probiotics may reduce the body's ability to produce fat and distribute it
around the body.
The study of 256 Finnish women found that after six months only a quarter of women on
the probiotics were classed as obese with a body mass index - a person's weight in
kilogrammes divided by their height in metres squared - by of 30 or more and had waist
sizes above 31.5 inches (80cms).
This compared with around half of those who were not taking the supplements.
After a further six months - after the probiotics had been halted - the gap had narrowed
but still remained significant. Only 25 per cent of those who had taken the supplements
remained obese with more than 40 per cent of those in the other two groups.
The researchers said that the findings were particularly significant as the probiotic
seemed to have the most effect on central obesity - the most unhealthy form of being
overweight.
Dr Laitinen said she and her team will continue to follow the progress of the women and
their babies to see whether giving probiotics during pregnancy has any influence on the
health of the child.
"The advantage of studying pregnant women to investigate the potential link between
probiotics and obesity is that it allows us to see the effects not only in the women, but also
in their children," she said.
"Particularly during pregnancy, the impacts of obesity can be immense, with the effects
seen both in the mother and the child.
"Bacteria are passed from mother to child through the birth canal, as well as through
breast milk, and research indicates that early nutrition may influence the risk of obesity
later in life.
"There is growing evidence that this approach might open a new angle on the fight against
obesity, either through prevention or treatment."