Provitalize is one of the leading probiotic supplements on the market right now. Billed as a comprehensive weight management and fat loss supplement, Provitalize is a very unusual probiotic. Most probiotics focus solely on rebalancing your gut microbiome and promoting the growth of healthy bacteria. Provitalize instead promises to specifically promote weight loss and healthy weight management, as well as helping with the side effects of menopause!
Needless to say, a probiotic supposedly designed for women struggling with weight loss and menopausal symptoms is pretty unique!
But these are just words. It is easy for a supplement manufacturer to say that their probiotic can speed up weight loss, reduce food cravings, and accelerate lipolysis (fat burning). But it is quite another thing for them to deliver a probiotic which actually does this in a safe, sustinable way. The question we therefore need to answer is, can Provitalize really speed up fat loss and help you manage your weight?
Is Provitalize a good supplement for people who are struggling with weight management? Should obese people take Provitalize? Does Provitalize really work for weight loss in menopausal women?
To answer these questions properly, we need to take a look at the ingredients in Provitalize and see whether they have been shown to promote weight loss or help with weight management in real scientific studies. Let’s get stuck in!
What is in Provitalize?
To find out if Provitalize is effective for promoting weight loss – particularly the weight loss associated with menopause – we need to examine the Provitalize ingredients list in detail.
Here is the Provitalize ingredients list as it appears on the bottle:
As you can see, Provitalize isn’t a standard probiotic. Along with a rather unusual probiotic blend of bacteria strains, we have a handful of ingredients in Provitalize which are not probiotics. These ingredients are herbal extracts which, according to Better Body Co., help accelerate fat loss and support better weight management during menopause; something many women struggle with. We will now go through each part of the Provitalize formula in more detail and examine if the ingredients in question can actually help you lose weight faster.
Probiotic Blend – 68.2 Billion CFU
The Provitalize probiotic blend is somewhat unusual for a probiotic supplement. The use of B. breve bacteria is not typical of probiotic supplements. The use of L. gasseri and B. lactis is much more normal for probiotic supplements. All of these bacteria strains are powerful probiotics; they promote a healthy gut microbiome, and with it, healthy digestion. The use of L. gasseri has actually been found to promote weight loss. B. lactis is perhaps the single most studied probiotic bacteria, and it has been found to have a wide range of benefits, including better digestion, reduced bloating, and better weight management.
On the whole, the Provitalize probiotic blend will definitely help with weight loss. The probiotic bacteria in this blend have been found to contribute to better digestion, increased satiety, better appetite control, and enhanced lipolysis. However, the Provitalize probiotic blend is nothing special, and it is not particularly set up to promote weight loss. Of the bacteria strains in this blend, only one has been found to be particularly effective for promoting weight loss. Of course all probiotics will support weight loss in some way, but there are strains which appear to be especially effective for helping with weight management. They are not the strains we see in Provitalize.
Turmeric Root Extract – 350mg
Turmeric is added to just about every supplement under the sun at the minute. Sure, turmeric does have some impressive health benefits when used correctly. We know for certain that the curcumin in turmeric has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it one of the best natural joint supplements in existence. Large doses of turmeric, when combined with black pepper, can reduce inflammation throughout the body, promote a robust immune response, and help protect against oxidative stress and free radical damage. However, there is very little evidence to support the claim that turmeric helps with weight loss in any way. We therefore have no idea why turmeric has been added to Provitalize, other than to make the probiotic seem vaguely more “healthy”.
Moringa Leaf – 350mg
Moringa Leaf is a staple of “traditional medicine”. Like most staples of traditional medicine, people claim that Moringa Leaf has dozens of different benefits, ranging from promoting healthy hair and nails to protecting against edema. However, there are no suggestions anywhere that moringa leaf effective helps with weight loss. There is no hard clinical evidence that morgina leaf, or even potent moringa leaf extracts, can help with appetite control, food cravings, blood sugar management, or fat storage. I have no idea why 350mg of the stuff has been included in Provitalize probiotic!
Curry Leaf – 150mg
As we explained in our full review of Provitalize probiotic, we have absolutely no idea why curry leaf has been included in a supplement which claims to promote gut health and help with weight loss. Curry leaf has never been shown to do either of these things in an independent, robust clinical trial using human subjects. Curry leaf tastes good, and that’s all! Even if curry leaf had potent fat burning properties, then simply cooking more into your food would be a much more cost-effective approach than paying top dollar for a supplement which provides 150mg of ground up leaves!
Lecithin – 50mg
Lecithin is a fat. It is a vital component of your cell membranes. Fortunatelty, lecithin is abundant in many fat-rich foods, especially egg yolks and soy products. A single egg and some tofu will give you all the lecithin you need each day to maintain your cells properly. However, once again I have no idea why this ingredient is in Provitalize, and in such a tiny quantity. Not only does consuming lecithin have no bearing on weight loss – it may even be a hindrance – but it 50mg of basic lecithin from sunflower oil isn’t going to do anything at all to your body! Lecithin is a common ingreident in foods, wher eit is used as an emulsifier and lubricant. Adding 50mg to your diet isn’t going to melt the pounds off you, or do anything for your gut microbiome.
Black Pepper Extract – 3mg
Black pepper extract is used ot enhance the bioavailability of turmeric, or rather the curcumin in turmeric (the active ingredient). Black pepper also aids digestion, reduces bloating, and increases nutrient absorption across the board.
Does Provitalize really help you lose weight?
Having examined the ingredients in Provitalize in some detail, I can say that while this supplement may help with weight management, it is not better for weight loss than any other probiotic. In fact, most standard probiotics would be better for supporting weight loss than Provitalize. This is true regardless of the cause of the weight loss, be it menopause, overeating, or poor gut microbiome health.
Every good probiotic which provides a range of healthy bacteria strains will help with weight control. Much of your propensity to store and burn body fat is decided in the gut by your gut bacteria. To a large degree it is your gut bacteria which control your appetite, your energy levels, your food cravings, and your energy levels. It is also your gut bacteria which partition and absorb nutrients, manage the hormone system, and control cognitive function. A good probiotic will enhance all of these aspects of health and performance. And while Provitalize may deliver some good bacteria, it is not the best probiotic on the market by any means.
The fact that Provitalize claims to be a specially formulated probiotic for weight loss seems like a complete joke to me. None of the added ingredients help with weight loss in any way at all! The Provitalize ingredients list looks more like a recipe for curry paste than a potent weight management supplement!
If you are struggling with weight gain due to the menopause, or any other reason, I strongly recommend you try a high quality prebiotic supplement. Prebiotics promote the growth of your existing healthy gut bacteria. Unlike probiotics, they do not introduce weird external bacteria to the gut. Instead, they help the friendly bacteria already in your gut to thrive. This makes them safer and less prone to side effects than probiotics like Provitalize.