Journal of Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics

Effect of the Use of Probiotics and High Fiber Diet in Patients with Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: This investigation was carried out in order to verify, in a specific sample (women, from the Northeast of Brazil), the effect of probiotics with multiple strains associated or not with a diet rich in fiber with prebiotic action on weight and the metabolic markers investigated in cases of metabolic syndrome, in order to compare what the literature has been describing for more than ten years, based on studies carried out with animals or humans, whose population has never been so selected, in order to be able to safely apply the use of probiotics for the aforementioned purpose in the tested population.

Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the effect of the use of probiotics with multiple strains associated with a diet rich in fiber with prebiotic action and reduced in sugars and fats with the effect of the same diet alone, in the control of dysbiosis, weight and metabolic markers in overweight women.

Introduction: Many animal studies have shown that obesogenic mechanistic pathways can be modulated by probiotics and prebiotics. This study aimed to compare the effect of the use of probiotics with multiple strains associated with a diet rich in fiber with prebiotic action and reduced in sugars and fats for three months, with the effect of the same diet alone, in the control of dysbiosis, weight and of metabolic markers in overweight women.

Methods and Findings: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted with 72 patients in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Patients were divided into two groups and received either probiotic strains or placebo once daily. Both groups received dietary guidelines for increasing fiber. Anthropometric and laboratory assessments were performed before and after the intervention, a questionnaire was applied to screen the risks for dysbiosis and food frequency.

Results: We evaluated 72 low-income women, with a mean age of 55 years. There was adherence to the diet by approximately 39% of the sample. In both groups there was improvement in dysbiosis, significant weight loss in the test group and slight gain in the placebo group. There was an improvement in the lipid profile in both groups, with significance only in the placebo group. There was no change in the glycemic profile. The analysis of the results showed efficiency of probiotics in weight control, probable efficiency of fibers per si and of probiotics in controlling dysbiosis and lipid profile, with no significant difference between GT and GP, as there was an improvement in both, and no better pattern was identified on glycemic control in both groups.

Conclusion: Confounding factors were identified during the development of the research and, therefore, new studies aimed at comparing the effectiveness of the use of probiotics with or without prebiotics in controlling the variables investigated here, aiming to contribute with evidence that is sufficient to recommend the treatment of intestinal dysbiosis, controlling for the possible biases identified here.

Author(s): Maria De Lourdes Lima De Souza E Silva and Renata Oliveira Dos Santos Menezes

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