5 Best Probiotics for Weight Loss and Why You Need Them

If you have been trying to lose weight and you feel like you’re eating all the right foods but still not losing weight, your gut health could be at fault. These 5 best probiotics for weight loss can help you heal your leaky gut and break through that plateau!

Your belly gets plenty of help with digestion. Every time you eat, trillions of tiny little microbes nosh on your food and break it down so the body can better absorb its nutrients and energy.

Most of the microbes in your gut are good bacteria, also known as probiotics, that have your best interests at heart. A healthy balance of intestinal flora should be made up of at least 90% probiotics, but stress, poor diet, illness, and medications can mess this ratio up.

When your gut health isn’t balanced, your body can become a rave for bad bacteria, which can cause immune system issues, inflammation, diarrhea, constipation, weight gain, and many illnesses and diseases.

When you introduce new probiotics into your gut, it shuts the party down so everyone can get back to the business of digestion, which is good for both your health and your waistline.

While we naturally have probiotics in our digestive system, we can increase the amount by eating them or taking supplements. The problem is that not all probiotics are created equal and finding the right one for your body can be a challenge.

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Probiotics Influence Your Weight in Many Ways

A study was done on twins, one thin and one obese, to figure out if gut health affects weight, and the results were a resounding YES. The thin twins had healthier gut flora than their obese counterparts. (1)

If your body isn’t breaking down nutrients properly, you’ll have difficulty processing or storing fat and carbohydrates. You can also forget about trying to digest fiber because it’s just not happening.

Some strains of not-so-nice bacteria produce chemicals called lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which can cause inflammation, which can cause weight gain. In a study, mice given LPS with a healthy diet gain as much weight as mice fed a high-fat diet. (2)

Good bacteria have the opposite effect and get rid of these pesky chemicals that cause us so much trouble.

Gut bacteria can also affect how hungry you feel. Hormones that are responsible for telling your body when you’re hungry are decreased when good bacteria break down fiber. (3)

An overabundance of yeast can cause weight gain and belly bloat, and over 75% of women will have this problem at least once in their life. (4) A healthy dose of good gut bacteria will starve out yeast organisms and stop them in their tracks.

Natural Foods That Contain Probiotics

Eating foods rich in probiotics is going to keep your digestive system running healthy, but if it’s already a hot mess, taking supplements will help you get it back on track. It’s important to take them and also eat a diet that promotes a healthy gut, and not just one for weight loss.

Here are a few foods that are packed with probiotics:

• Fermented vegetables like kimchi and sauerkraut
• Kefir
• Plain yogurt
• Natto
• Kombucha
• Apple cider vinegar
• Miso
• Gherkin pickles
• Tempeh

Choose a Probiotic That’s Right for You

Many companies that sell probiotics like to brag about how much bacteria are in their product, but what kind of strains are as important as the amount. When you have multiple strains of bacteria, they work synergistically to promote digestive health.

The three most important are L. acidophilus, which supports nutrient absorption, B. longum, which helps maintain the lining of the intestinal walls, and B. bifidum, which breaks down complex carbs, fats, and proteins into smaller parts.

The best probiotics for weight loss have at least five billion CFUs (colony forming units) and a minimum of seven strains.

Living microbes quickly die when they’ve been processed or aren’t stored in a cool, dark place. Make sure the packaging is good quality and that you put it in the fridge or a cupboard as soon as you get it.

One common misconception concerning probiotics is that the “good ones” must be refrigerated. While they should NEVER be stored anywhere that they are in the sunlight, most brands are shelf-stable and don’t need to be refrigerated. This by no means is an indicator of whether a particular brand of probiotics is more effective than others.

If the label of the package says, “viable at time of manufacture,” don’t bother buying it unless they tell you how much bacteria they guarantee is in it at the time of expiration. What that means is that they only guarantee that the bacteria were alive when they manufactured the supplement.

Don’t buy something just because it’s cheap, either. The FDA doesn’t regulate probiotic supplements, so get something that’s been certified by an independent third party.

Here are the 5 best probiotics for weight loss!

1. Dr. Tobias Probiotics with Spore Forming Strains

Most bacteria die after they’ve been exposed to oxygen and outside of a refrigerator for too long. That’s why it’s always important to make sure that you have a shelf-stable brand if they are not refrigerated.

The makers of Dr. Tobias brand added two strains to their probiotics that are spore-forming, so they don’t need refrigeration.

This is good news for those of us who have a hard time remembering to take their probiotics that are in the fridge and not in the cabinet with the rest of their supplements. Out of sight, out of mind.

It’s been clinically tested and found that, unlike other probiotics, there was virtually no loss of colony-forming units when stored at a temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

The only downfall of this seemingly perfect probiotic is that the pills are manufactured in a factory that may also process dairy, wheat, peanuts, and other known allergies. Go for another brand if you’re super sensitive.

Click here to see Dr. Tobias Probiotics.

2. Gut-13 Probiotics by Avocadu

Yes, these are our probiotics!

At least we were modest enough to not put them at the #1 spot (although we do actually believe that they are #1!).

Because weight loss and gut health are so closely related, we created our own probiotics supplement specifically with our 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge clients in mind.

Our fast weight loss program helps our clients lose an average of 10-21 pounds in just 21 days with a healthy diet full of whole foods.

The deal with proper dieting though is that if you have an unhealthy gut, your body can’t actually process even the healthy foods properly anymore. You need a detox from carbohydrates to help reset your hormones and get your gut health back on track, but adding in a premium probiotic supplement can also greatly help to speed up this process.

We named our probiotics Gut-13 because they contain 13 different gut-healing strains of bacteria. They also…

• Are vegetarian
• Contain 50 Billion CFU’s Per Serving 
• Have Delayed Release for Deeper Support 
• and are Made in the USA  

While our probiotics are not available on Amazon at this time, we do offer free shipping to our customers in the U.S.!

Take back your digestive health, immune function, ability to lose weight, and get balanced flora with Avocadu’s premium probiotic, Gut-13!

3. Hyperbiotics Pro 15

While Hyperbiotics capsules only have 15 billion CFUs per pill, they claim that it’s the equivalent of 225 billion in any other brand. This is due to their patented LiveBac manufacturing process.

Most probiotics come in either a capsule that breaks down too quickly in stomach acid, which kills the bacteria, or they are enteric coated, which causes most of the bacteria to self-destruct. Hyperbiotics claims to have the only patented delivery system that protects the beneficial flora as it makes its way down to the intestines.

It “consistently delivers as many as 15 times, or more, the number of live, viable probiotic organisms past simulated stomach acids than (plain/standard) capsules as repeatedly demonstrated through in vitro lab testing.”

Click here to see Hyperbiotics Pro 15.

4. Vitamin Bounty Pro 50 Probiotic

A lot of probiotic supplements never make it past your stomach acid, so they never get to the lower intestines where they belong. Vitamin Bounty uses a special time-release capsule that’s sturdy enough to deliver the probiotics where they’re needed, which is in the gut.

This well-researched, well-loved probiotic has 50 billion live CFUs and 13 strains. They don’t use fillers in the capsules, so you don’t need to take a bunch of them to get the best results.

What they do add is fermented greens like wheatgrass, barley grass, and alfalfa, which are great for weight loss. It’s a gluten-free product, but if you’re allergic to any of these greens, steer clear.

Click here to see Vitamin Bounty Pro 50 Probiotic.

5. Renew Life Ultimate Flora Biotic Extra Care

If you’re looking for a gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free probiotic that’s free of any other ingredients, then this is the product for you.

It’s got over 50 billion live cultures per capsules, and 12 probiotic strains, so there’s lots of variety. They’ve selected the strains to help balance digestive issues and support immune health.

A nice thing about this product is that it’s time-released and extremely potent, so you only need to take one capsule once per day. With many brands, you feel like you’re constantly shoving pills down your throat.

They also guarantee potency until it expires.

Click here to see Renew Life Ultimate Flora.

If you enjoyed this article on the best probiotics for weight loss or have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

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