[Soothiechins]

Hi.
I'm new to the forum and i wonder if anybody experienced (unwanted) weight loss after taking probiotics? In approx 4 months i lost 7 kilos after taking a daily pill of vegetarian acidophilus pill from holland and barrets (i am male - 43). I chose this one because is diary free and apparently i have lactose intolerance. Overall I must confess that my IBS symptoms have improved, my bloating episodes dont last very long, i dont have regurgitation feeling any more and a bad taste in my mouth. Also - strangely enough - I have to go to the bathroom twice in the mornings at 1 or 2 hours interval only to empty my bowels satisfactory. I dont have constipations either but as i mentioned at the begining, I am concerned about the weight loss. I sleep ok and have 30min walk everyday at lunchtime but my muscle mass is gone...

Can anybody give me some advise, please? should i go to the doctor or take vitamins?

many thanks.

soothie

[IanRamsay]

Hi

you should go to the doctor mate. even if you where taking acido bacteria at 100 billion cultures and above per day, you would not experience weight loss, and in teh amounts of bacteria that are actually effective in any probiotic from holland and barrat, i would be surprised if they are actually benifiting you at all. (holland and barrat are notorius for unstable probiotics.) you may want to switch to a brand from your local health food store. a probiotic of any strain will not cause weight loss to any degree.

BUT if you are taking in less calories than you are using up in any 24 hour period, you will loose weight, also if you are suffering from a metabolic disorder that you are not aware of, you can loose weight without even trying. there are many reasons why you may be loosing weight, so it is best to go to your doctor to discuss it. did you start taking the probiotic at the same time that you went dairy free?

cheers

Ian

[Kathleen M.]

Probably worth going to the doctor, especially if you are very sure your dietary intake and exercise levels have been exactly the same.

However most of the time people do tend to be more active when they feel well and may be doing less stress eating than when they felt bad.

It would be nice if you had a body fat percentage from before to really see if it is muscle that is gone or fat. Although you will lose a little muscle when you don't have to carry all the fat around. If you want to rebuild muscle add strength training. Vitamins or protein/amino acid supplements really don't change your muscle mass all by themselves.

There is some research that different bacteria in the colon may effect weight by a small amount (a couple of percentage points in total calories absorbed). So it may be a change in the bacteria may cause some small changes in weight over time that do eventually add up. http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/6196857.stm has some info on that.

[Soothiechins]

Thanks for the reply.

I went diary free last year around summertime; I dont exercise to be honest due to lack of time and willpower but what's interesting is that now, with this weight loss i am ideal for my height... before i had 84-85kg for a height of 1.79m.

I eat almost same stuff but very little vegetables as they give me acid reaction and very uncomfortable bloating. I was on centrum vitamins for 2 months but i didnt noticed any energy or dynamism improved.

I also get low blood sugar when i'm not eating for more than 3 hrs and then i either take a calcium tablet or eat a nibble, dark chocolate or similar.

Before going on the vegan bacteria probiotics i was for three months on a chinese medicine treatment with herbal teas. they were different every week depending on the status of my pulse reading. I started loosing weight then and they told me it is normal as these teas helped me eliminate the water surplus and fat deposits.

Even so, I may decide to see the GP if i dont gain anything in the next week or so.

cheers.

Soothie

[overitnow]

Soothiechins, on Mar 24 2009, 06:09 AM, said:

I was on centrum vitamins for 2 months but i didnt noticed any energy or dynamism improved.

Nothing surprising there. Most of those minerals will pass right through and create a large amount of oxidized free radicals in the process. At least use something with chelated minerals. The vitamins will help but the dosage of B12, which is often used for energy issues, will be insufficient. Some of the dosages, like Lutine, are at insufficient levels to accomplish much.

Mark

[IanRamsay]

Kathleen M., on Mar 24 2009, 12:54 PM, said:

There is some research that different bacteria in the colon may effect weight by a small amount (a couple of percentage points in total calories absorbed). So it may be a change in the bacteria may cause some small changes in weight over time that do eventually add up. http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/6196857.stm has some info on that.

The above BBC linked quote has only been suggested where weight gain is appropriate, and the types of bacteria in the study are not currently widely available in any form in over teh counter preparations available to teh general public. (At least not in teh UK or as far as i am aware in teh US either). commonly available pro biotic bacteria in OTC preparations will not directly affect a loss of weight unless a metabolic disorder is present, and even then the bacteria would have to be matched up extremely carefully in very accurate amounts. (This is still not an exact science as this type of therapy is still in its infancy and may never be pursued to to a level of full understanding).

cheers

Ian

[Kathleen M.]

I wasn't suggesting you could buy any preparation for them.

Just that it is possible that if one changes the bacteria in the colon you can by a small amount change whether you absorb 99% or 96% of all total calories from food.

I don't know if we really know how adding in a probiotic alters the other normal flora of the gut either in any given individual or in general. It sounds like altering the diet might alter which species predominate so tossing in a bunch of probiotics may also effect the balance.

It is one possible mechanism where if all things were 100% totally equal that changing the bacteria in the colon could alter weight over time (either up or down depending on which kind you had more of in the after condition).

I think it may be that even without adding exercise someone that isn't in pain moves around more in the day than someone in a lot of pain. Just day to day stuff adds up over the course of several months. There could be a combination of factors.

In any case unexplainable weight loss when you don't think you are eating less or getting more activity during the day of any kind should be run past the doctor as there are a number of metabolic things that may need to be checked out (like diabetes, for a common cause of unexpected weight loss).

[IanRamsay]

Hi Kathleen

Im sooo sorry if it came across that i was having a go! i honestly wasnt, its just bacteria are to me like oxygen. i live, breathe and dream of them. (Its sad i know, but i am fascinated by them, and working with them just fans the flames!)

cheers

Ian

[Soothiechins]

It's interesting to read your comments about these probiotics but i wonder if they are actually regulating the intestinal flora and burning fat and helping eliminating residual un-digested food, this may have a contribution to the overall loss in weight,. like cleaning the body of unwanted stuff?

Again, I'm not a fit person and dont exercise but i also dont eat very varied food and in large quantities either.

My "surprise" was to notice this slimming down without actually keeping any diet - as we know it. Also, maybe the process started with the herbal teas that cleansed my gut. I don't know..

This is why i wanted to see if anybody else experienced something similar.

By-the-way, I'm not diabetic nor thyroidian and my last blood tests - in nov.08 were good. I also eat the same three main daily meals, sleep well and work as normal but i didn't planned to loose mass. I have an appointment with the GP next week.

Cheers

Soothie