Probiotics Article WLS

The study (J Gastrointest Surg. 2009 Jul;13(7):1198-204) examined 44 patients *****ceived either a daily supplement of 2.4 billion colonies of Lactobacillus or a placebo after Roux-en-Y gastric-bypass surgery. Both groups were allowed to eat yogurt, a natural form of probiotics.

After six weeks, the probiotic group attained significantly greater percent weight loss than that of control group. The weight loss trend continued at three months with the probiotics group losing 47.6 percent of their weight, compared with a 38.5 percent reduction for the control group, but was not significant six months after the surgery. At three months, significantly higher vitamin B12 levels were achieved in the probiotic group (1,214 picograms per milliliter in the probiotic group vs. 811 pg/mL in the control group). At six months, a statistically significant reduction in bacterial overgrowth was shown in the probiotic group as well.