The effect of using probiotic on weight loss, body fat percentage and anthropometric measures in obese women

Obesity, which causes many diseases, is an important public health problem. Studies on the use of probiotics in the treatment of obesity have gradually increased in recent years. This is a randomly controlled, synchronously done, single-blind study which aims to investigate the effects of probiotic use on anthropometric measurements. The study is carried out in İzmir Tepecik Education and Research Hospital starting from January, 2016 with 61 sedentary women(control group:31, working group: 30) aged between 18 and 48 (control group: 35.42±9.07, working group: 36.73±6.34) who are followed by at least three months of dietary suggestions, do not achieve adequate weight loss and their BMI are between 30-40 kg/m2 (control group: 34.25±3.06 kg/m2, working group: 33.10±2.42 kg/m2). Participants are followed for six weeks with probiotics (3 × 109 cfu Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum + Prebiotics: 159.45 mg Fructooligosaccharide) and placebo (1735 mg maltodextrin 7. 0 mg ascorbic acid) without changing the ongoing nutritional program [22 kcal /kg (actual weight)]. Anthropometric measurements (body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist / hip ratio and body fat ratio) are done at the beginning, in the middle (week 3) and at the end of the study (week 6). Also, 24 hours of their food consumption are recorded at the beginning of the study and once a week during the study. Repeated measurements of body weight, body fat ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, and the calculations of body mass index and waist/hip ratio are analyzed with mixed effect linear model and therefore, the interaction terms with group and time effects are not found significantly (p> 0.05). No difference (increase or decrease) are observed in energy intake of participants in two groups at the beginning and during the study (p> 0.05). Further studies are needed to indicate the effects of probiotic use in obesity treatment.