Research
Hormonal
Probiotics improve lipid profiles, reduce blood pressure, and lower glucose levels in patients with metabolic disorders (obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance).
If you have high cholesterol or blood sugar, adding specific probiotics to your diet may offer modest improvements in lipid profiles and glucose control. However, these effects are smaller than those of prescription drugs, so do not stop your medications without consulting your doctor.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Improvement in lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, and decrease in CRP. Reduced fasting blood glucose and antioxidant status. TC and LDL-C improvement.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple studies, but the paper notes 'more extensive studies are needed'.
Source
Effects of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics on Human Health
Paulina Markowiak‐Kopeć et al. · Nutrients · 2017
DOI 10.3390/nu9091021
narrative_reviewCited 2,324×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Administration of specific probiotic strains (e.g., L. gasseri SBT2055, L. plantarum) for 6-12 weeks significantly reduces body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and visceral fat area in overweight or obese adults.Good
- Probiotics significantly reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and Clostridium difficile disease (CDD) when specific strains (S. boulardii, L. rhamnosus GG) are used.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →