Don't Understand the Probiotics Thing at all...Probiotics for Dummies

Okay, I feel like I need probiotics for dummies.  I have read multiple posts where people are saying take them.  I also get that it is helpful.

What I don't understand...

• Is it helpful to everyone?  
• Do you only take it if you're having diarrhea?  
• Do you take it at the beginning and then stop and wait until you get diarrhea again?  
• What if you don't take them at all ever, how will that affect you?  
• Does it assist with weight loss?

My understanding is that you take it for diarrhea.  I'm not having diarrhea or pooping enough in comparison to everyone I'm reading.  I am freaking out already because I don't understand how I'm going to have sufficient weight loss if I'm not able to release the fat into the bowl like others.  

If I don't have diarrhea and, am not going a lot, will taking the probiotic cause even less "bowl time"?  

So confused....

Also, where do you buy them?  Which one has worked best for you?

Frustrated in Texas

Do you think you have to have diarrhea to lose weight?

That was my understanding..... that via the pooping, you lose the stored fat. Is that wrong?

Yes, that is wrong.

 

The fat you'll sometimes see in the toilet is undigested dietary fat, NOT the fat that's been stored in your body and you're trying to get rid of. THAT fat 'goes away' by being metabolized and burned for energy.

The combination of restriction---taking in far fewer calories than we've been accustomed to---and malabsorption---not fully digesting/absorbing a significant per centage of the calories we are taking in---causes our bodies to be in a calorie deficit. I'm sure you've been told at some point in your life that diets work because it's all a matter of calories in versus calories out. (Not entirely true, but that's another topic.) Think of the DS as a surgically-induced 'diet' that actually works. When you've dieted in the past and lost weight, you didn't have constant diarrhea, did you? In fact, you well might have been constipated.

I honestly believe that probiotics are food for everybody but especially people who have taken antibiotics or have had major rearranging such as ourselves. Antibiotics kill every thing in the intestinal tract- good and bad. In order to maintain a good balance in our gut we need good bacteria. probiotics restore and keep those little critters in balance for us. Thats one of the reasons we have less gas and less diarrhea. There are so many bacteria in our foods these days that is doesn't take much to set our intestinal tract off. I double up on probiotics when I feel like I am getting the flu and my symtoms decrease a lot faster than if I were to just let it go on its own.Hope this helps a little.

Sharon

Probiotics add good bacteria to the intestinal tract.  Some folks need to do this all the time and others don't.  The only time I have bothered with this was when I took heavy duty antibiotics for an infection.  Otherwise it seems to be a waste of money for me.

I have never had diarrhea in the 7 months since my surgery, and I've lost 60 plus pounds.  I actually fight with constipation most of the time, and I think probiotics are one of the things that helped me to become more "regular".  I have one large poo in the mornings, and it's usually pretty solid.  As long as you're eating the right things, you'll lose the weight - don't wish for loose stools!!!

I tried probiotics at the suggestion of this board about four months out from surgery.  I tried it for about two weeks, and couldn't tell a big difference in....well, anything.  Those are the only probiotics I have ever taken.  Some people are very insistent about probiotics.  I really think its a YMMV thing.  I do try and eat greek yogurt every day, but will go through long periods, say a month, where I realize I havent been eating my yogurt.

You do not need diarrhea to lose weight.  That is NOT how you lose weight.  Your bowels will reflect what you eat, with a few other things added in.....like calcium, how far out you are from surgery, and for some, probiotics.  But I don't want to get off topic of your thread.

I think you better do some reading on dsfacts.com.  You need to know HOW this surgery is going to work.