Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Pregnant women with gestational diabetes, who took probiotics for 6 weeks, significantly improved their fasting blood sugar by 5% and, in addition, experienced a 14.2 % lower weight gain compared to the control group.
Gestational diabetes affects approximately 7% of all U.S. pregnancies, with 200,000 cases each year (1) at a cost of more than $636 million in 2010 (2). In addition to causing health problems in the mother, gestational diabetes can raise blood sugar levels in newborns and cause “macrosomia”, a newborn that is larger than average, weighing more than 8.8 pounds (3).
Now a new study (4) suggests that taking a probiotic during pregnancy may benefit blood sugar health and weight gain during pregnancy. In the study, 56 pregnant women with gestational diabetes received either a probiotic containing 4 billion colony-forming units of the 4 different bacteria (L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus thermophiles, and L. delbrueckii bulgaricus = 27 women) or a placebo (29 women) capsule along with dietary advice for 8 weeks.
After 6 weeks, 2 significant improvements were noted regarding blood sugar health in the probiotic group compared to the placebo group:
| Probiotic | Placebo | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fasting blood sugar (mg/dL) | 12.3% decrease (103.65 to 88.57) | 7.3% decrease (100.89 to 93.59) | 0.02 |
| HOMA-IR | 27% decrease (1.52 to 1.11) | 1.5% increase (1.38 to 1.40) | 0.03 |
No statistical significance was seen with insulin sensitivity between the groups (p = 0.09).
Regarding weight gain, study participants experienced similar weight gain during the first 4 weeks in the probiotic (3.98 lbs.) and placebo (4.004 lbs.) (p = 0.60) groups. But by the end of 8 weeks, total weight gain in the probiotic group was 14.2% lower than the placebo group (15.24 versus 17.76 lbs.) (p 0.004).
For the researchers, “The probiotic supplement appeared to affect glucose metabolism and weight gain among pregnant women with gestational diabetes.”
Source: Dolatkhah et al. Is there a value for probiotic supplements in gestational diabetes mellitus? A randomized clinical trial Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (2015) 33:25
DOI 10.1186/s41043-015-0034-9
© 2015 Dolatkhah et al. Open Access Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Click here to read the full text study.
Posted June 8, 2016.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.
References:
- Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 103S-105S
- Dall TM. The Economic Burden Of Diabetes. Health Affairs,Supplement2010; 29(2): 297-303
- “Gestational Diabetes” posted on the American Diabetes Association Website
- Dolatkhah N. Is there a value for probiotic supplements in gestational diabetes mellitus? A randomized clinical trial. J Health Popul Nutr 2015 Nov 25;33(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s41043-015-0034-9
