Probiotics significantly improve the symptoms of pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting and constipation.
The findings were published in the journal Nutrients.

"The cause of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is unknown to this date. Various theories have been proposed, but none of them is conclusive. Nausea, vomiting and constipation during pregnancy can significantly diminish the quality of patients' lives. Once nausea and vomiting during pregnancy progress, they can become difficult to control, and sometimes the patient even needs to be hospitalized." Albert T Liu, Study Lead Author and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California - Davis Health

Nausea and vomiting affect about 85% of pregnancies and can significantly impact quality of life, particularly during early pregnancy. During pregnancy, hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase, bringing about many physical changes.

These increases can also change the gut microbiome, which likely affects the digestive system functions and causes unwanted symptoms like nausea, vomiting and constipation. The researchers set out to determine whether supplementing with a probiotic could be beneficial for gastrointestinal function during pregnancy.

The probiotics were available over-the-counter and mainly contained Lactobacillus., a type of good bacteria. This is usually found in most probiotics, including Lactomin / Lactokids. Each capsule contained approximately 10 billion live cultures at the time of manufacture. What the researchers found was that taking the probiotic significantly reduced nausea and vomiting.

Nausea hours (the number of hours participants felt nauseous) were reduced by 16%, and the number of times they vomited was reduced by 33%. Probiotic intake also significantly improved symptoms related to quality of life, such as fatigue, poor appetite and difficulty maintaining normal social activities, as scored by questionnaires.

Probiotics were also found to reduce constipation significantly. "Over the years, I've observed that probiotics can reduce nausea and vomiting and ease constipation. It's very encouraging that the study proved this to be true," said Liu. "Probiotics have also benefited many of my other patients who weren't in the study," said Liu.

Another finding was that vitamin E levels increased after taking probiotics. Higher levels of vitamin E were associated with low vomiting scores.
"This research provides key insights about the impact of gut microbes on gastrointestinal function during pregnancy."

Our gut microbiota explains why we are what we eat, and why bacteria-generated metabolites and products have a huge impact on our health," said Wan. "They affect the gastrointestinal tract as well as skin health and neurological function."

Source: University of California - Davis Health