Prebiotic supplements can help with your digestive health, your immune function, and even your cognitive performance. But can prebiotics help you lose weight?
Prebiotic supplements are becoming more popular all the time. For the last few years, probiotics have dominated the gut health market. But recently prebiotics have become more widely-used; people are finally realising that the best prebiotics can help you way more than probiotics can, and that they cause far fewer side effects.
The main reason people use prebiotic supplements is to maximize digestive health.
By promoting the proliferation of beneficial gut bacteria, you can more easily digest certain foods while increasing nutrient absorption.
Some people also use prebiotics to enhance mental performance. The gut and mind are closely linked (via the Vagus Nerve). Fixing your gut microbiome has a profound effect on your mental functioning.
But a small number of people are now using prebiotics to promote weight loss.
If you read our detailed PrebioThrive review, you’ll see that this is a major selling point of this popular prebiotic.
Is this a good idea? Do prebiotics help you lose weight? Let’s take a look at the science.
Prebiotics and weight loss
There is a lot of evidence supporting the idea that prebiotics help you lose weight.
We certainly have troves of evidence showing that prebiotics help with weight management.
A study published in Gastroenterology in 2017 (153:711-722) found that the consumption of oligosaccharide-enriched inulin “normalizes childhood weight gain, reduces total and trunk body fat”, and positively affects gut microbiota.
Other studies have turned up similar findings – across age groups and demographics, the consumption of prebiotics positively affects body fat and inhibits weight gain.
So yes, prebiotics can help you with weight management. Prebiotics can help you lose weight, and help you keep the weight off once you’ve lost it.