Naturalpath

Q: I have heard that "bad" bacteria in my stomach may contribute to “weight loss resistance”, so I started taking probiotics (good bacteria). The problem is I continue to gain weight.

Should I continue to take probiotics?

If not, what else can I do?

A: One of the most fascinating areas of weight loss resistance is gut bacterial overgrowth. You might be surprised to learn that we have more bacteria then cells in our body. If this is predominantly good bacteria, this is a good thing as these help keep our immune system functioning optimally and help us extract and make necessary nutrients.

Unfortunately, there is an epidemic of bacterial overgrowth in our country. This means not only too much of the bad types of bacteria, but too much bacteria overall. What has been uncovered in recent research is that these bacteria have an additional function in our bodies which is to help us survive in times of famine by extracting extra calories from our food (calories that would normally be burned off during normal digestion) and storing them as FAT. Since our times of famine are long over, this is not a desirable mechanism to have!

What this means to you if you are struggling with your weight and also suffering from some of the common gut issues -- for example, bloating, gas, indigestion, constipation and/or diarrhea, feeling full yet hungry, or chronic skin problems is -- you could be suffering from this overgrowth of bacteria. Until you resolve this bateria overgrown you will struggle to lose an ounce of fat weight.

This bacterial overgrowth can arise from a variety of factors, including stress, poor diet, repeated antibiotic use, low stomach acid, medications, caffeine and alcohol. Your treatment protocol will depend on the type and severity of overgrowth you have. Mild cases may respond well to probiotics, but in severe cases, probiotics can actually make you worse. Often you will need to eliminate the overgrowth through targeted nutrients and then replenish your good bacteria with probiotics.

To really identify if this is an issue and how to treat it you should ideally have an integrated Health Care Professional test for it using stool analysis or organic acid testing. Metametrix Clinical Laboratories recently launched the most cutting edge, comprehensive stool test commercially available, GI Effects, that looks at these “fat bugs” and gives the patient an “adiposity index” based on the ratio of two types of bacterial species. The test can tell if you will be more likely to store fat or burn it off and help your Health Care Professional design the perfect gut healing program for you.

Just to see how dramatic this is, I’d like to share a story of a client who came to me about a year ago with chronic gas and bloating. By the end of each day she looked like she was pregnant whether she ate or not! She couldn’t lose a pound despite the fact that she was eating a balanced diet and doing cross training exercise. She had been to a variety of doctors who had diagnosed her with everything from liver problems to perimenopause. Each one had also given her probiotics and she had been taking them for quite some time. We ran an organic acids test and a stool test and identified that she had severe gut bacterial overgrowth. It took 3 solid months of using targeted nutrients to attack the overgrowth before she started consistently losing weight. Now she is down 40 pounds, at her ideal weight and having no trouble maintaining it.

If you'd like to ask JJ a question, contact us and we may feature it in the coming weeks!