Effects of Probiotics and Synbiotics on Weight Loss in Subjects with Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Intestinal microbiota has been shown to be a potential determining factor in the development of obesity. The objective of this systematic review is to collect and learn, based on the latest available evidence, the effect of the use of probiotics and synbiotics in randomized clinical trials on weight loss in people with overweight and obesity. A search for articles was carried out in PubMed, Web of science and Scopus until September 2021, using search strategies that included the terms “obesity”, “overweight”, “probiotic”, “synbiotic”, “Lactobacillus”, “Bifidobacterium” and “weight loss”. Of the 185 articles found, only 27 complied with the selection criteria and were analyzed in the review, of which 23 observed positive effects on weight loss. The intake of probiotics or synbiotics could lead to significant weight reductions, either maintaining habitual lifestyle habits or in combination with energy restriction and/or increased physical activity for an average of 12 weeks. Specific strains belonging to the genus Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were the most used and those that showed the best results in reducing body weight. Both probiotics and synbiotics have the potential to help in weight loss in overweight and obese populations.
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Systematic reviews show that consuming probiotics causes overweight and obese people to lose weight, but the weight loss and reduction in waist circumference and visceral fat is small.
“Systematic reviews have shown that by consuming probiotics [137,138,139,140], overweight and obese people lose weight, but the weight loss and reduction in waist circumference and visceral fat is small [137,138,139,140].”
From The Potential Impact of Probiotics on Human Health: An Update on Their Health-Promoting Properties (2024) · cites this paper as [140]
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The Potential Impact of Probiotics on Human Health: An Update on Their Health-Promoting Properties
Maftei, N.-M., Raileanu, C. R., Balta, A. A., Ambrose, L., Boev, M., Marin, D. B., & Lisa, E. L. (2024) · Microorganisms · doi:10.3390/microorganisms12020234 · Cited by 381 · see citing works
- Authors
- Álvarez-Arraño, V., & Martín-Peláez, S.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-10-17
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 3627
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8540110
- OpenAlex
- W3207070418
- Cited by
- 136
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
- Keywords
- probiotics, synbiotics, weight loss, obesity, overweight, gut microbiota, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, caloric restriction, physical activity, lifestyle intervention
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Weight Loss, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome, Probiotics, Overweight, Young Adult, Synbiotics
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