Probiotics During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Help Women Lose Weight

Women given supplements containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium from their 1st trimester of pregnancy until they stopped exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months were associated with less central obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of >30 or a waist circumference of >80 cm. Previous research from 17th European Congress on Obesity in Netherlands May 6-9 2009 found that microbial populations in the gut are different between obese and lean people and that when obese people lose weight their microflora changes. Microflora in obese people are much more efficient at extracting calories from food, thus contributing to weight gain. Research shows probiotics given in pregnancy and infancy help protect babies from developing eczema, prevent childhood allergies, optimize infant's weight later in life, reduce colic (decreasing crying times by 75%), reduce risk of premature labour. To read more, http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/30/The-Newfound-Link-Between-Probiotics.aspx