Probiotics up gastric-bypass weight loss

Published: July 14, 2009 at 7:49 PM

STANFORD, Calif., July 14 (UPI) -- Using the dietary supplement probiotics after gastric-bypass surgery can help obese patients lose weight more quickly, U.S. researchers have learned.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics also said combining Roux-en-Y gastric-bypass with probiotics -- the so-called "good" bacteria found in yogurt -- helps avoid deficiency of a critical B vitamin.

The researchers tracked 44 patients on whom gastric-bypass surgery had been performed in 2006 and 2007. Patients were randomized into either a probiotic or a control group.

Both groups received the same bariatric medical care and nutritional counseling, as well as the support of weight-loss study groups. Both groups also were allowed to consume yogurt.

The probiotic group consumed one pill per day of Puritan's Pride, a probiotic supplement.

"Surprisingly, the probiotic group attained a significantly greater percent of excess weight loss than that of control group," Dr. John Morton, an associate professor of surgery at the medical school, said in a statement.

The study was published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
NHL: San Jose 5, Pittsburgh 0
NHL: Anaheim 4, Phoenix 3
NHL: Calgary 3, New York 1
NBA: L.A. Clippers 113, Memphis 110
NBA: Dallas 129, Toronto 101
fark
Just 1 of 248 reasons why you never take your wife with you to a strip club
Photoshop two movie posters into one
The best reproductions of famous art masterpieces using coffee instead of paint you'll see, well......
Identical twins will celebrate their 100th birthday on 12/24. Pic bonus: The one on the left dyes...
Prized mushroom collection returns to China. Wait, is that wall moving?
Can a boy wear a skirt to school?