Foods such as wheat, onion, banana, garlic, and leek can act as prebiotics and fertilize the terrain of our gut to increase populations of beneficial bacterial strains in kids’ guts, research says.

There are more than 100-trillion microorganisms in the gut of each human. They aid digestion, nutrient production, immunity, metabolism, hormone balance, and are universal in their impact. They are also thought to control appetite to some extent. Bifidobacterium breve is known for producing short-chain-fatty-acids that aid in fat burning and appetite regulation.

A combination of the Mediterranean diet and the probiotic bacterium Bifidobacterium breve can super charge kids’ weight loss, according to study results presented at the 22nd meeting of the European Congress of EndocrinologyCE 2020. The study involved 100 children and teens, age six to eighteen. All suffered obesity and insulin resistance, a condition in which the body resists the signal hormone, insulin, and muscle, fat, and liver cells fail to take up the glucose in the bloodstream. The pancreas goes into overdrive to produce adequate insulin, a futile gesture, but it becomes exhausted; sugar builds up in the bloodstream. If uncontrolled, the condition will often progress into type 2 diabetes.

PROBIOTICS SYNERGIZE DIET

All of the children went on the Mediterranean diet. The diet regimen emphasizes olive oil, seafood, lean flesh foods, leafy-green vegetables, walnuts, and fresh fruits.

One group of kids received the bacterial strain and other placebo for eight weeks. Both groups lost body-mass index, waist size, lowered their blood pressure, normalized insulin resistance, and reduced harmful bacterial strains, such as E. coli, in the gut, the study's lead author, Dr. Flavia Prodam, an associate professor in clinical nutrition in the department of health sciences at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Italy, told CNN. The probiotic group experienced even better results in weight loss, insulin sensitivity, and reduced E. coli concentrations.

The effects of the probiotics continued for a few weeks after children stopped taking it. Parents can also put more whole-food probiotic sources in their kids’ diets.