Probiotics could help women lose weight.

ISLAMABAD -- Researchers have found that certain probiotics could help women lose weight and keep it off.

Studies have already demonstrated that the intestinal flora of obese individuals differs from that of thin people, Medical Xpress reported.

Professor Angelo Tremblay and his team tried to determine if the consumption of probiotics could help reset the balance of the intestinal microbiota in favor of bacteria that promote a healthy weight.

To test their hypothesis, researchers recruited 125 overweight men and women. The subjects underwent a 12-week weight-loss diet, followed by a 12-week period aimed at maintaining body weight.

Throughout the entire study, half the participants swallowed 2 pills daily containing probiotics from the Lactobacillus rhamnosus family, while the other half received a placebo.

After the 12-week diet period, researchers observed an average weight loss of 4.4 kg in women in the probiotic group and 2.6 kg in the placebo...