Pregnant women They are less likely to develop obesity after giving birth if they take probiotics during pregnancy, according to a new study.
Obesity is defined as a body mass index greater than 30 points or a waist circumference of more than 80 centimeters.
The study in question was conducted with 256 pregnant women who were divided into three groups. In one of the groups the pregnant women received probiotic capsules and dietary advice, in another only advice and no advice or pills in the third group.
One year after delivery, 25% of women who had received probiotics were obese, compared with 43% of women who had only received nutritional advice and with 40% of those who had not taken any treatment or received any advice. Probiotic capsules, which contained Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, were taken from pregnancy until six months after delivery, when women stopped breastfeeding exclusively.
The consumption of probiotics "Together with a balanced diet it would offer a reasonably economical, practical, safe and potentially successful method to be used with other lifestyle factors in obesity control", said the study author team, which also stated that more studies are required to verify the results.
I personally do not know if probiotics during pregnancy can cause a secondary problem to the mother or the baby, but considering that ESPGHAN suggests that milk formulas with probiotics for premature babies may not be indicated until further studies are done, this Type of treatments could affect the baby in gestation more directly.
This is only a personal hypothesis, but I agree that more studies on this subject are necessary to avoid risks.
On the other hand, obesity can be solved with less pharmacological measures. A proper diet, breastfeeding and a little exercise help the mother to regain weight before giving birth.
If then it was already obese, the same measures can help to lose weight without resorting to treatments during pregnancy, let us not forget that it is a critical stage in the development of the baby.
