BioFit Review: Can Probiotic Pills Cause Weight Loss?

BioFit Review: Can Probiotic Pills Cause Weight Loss?


| |
| |

BioFit is a weight loss supplement made with probiotics that's manufactured by a company called Vitalina. There are also a number of weight loss supplements sold on third-party retailers like Amazon branded "BioFit."

But which BioFit supplement is the official one? Does BioFit contain ingredients shown to cause weight loss in research studies? Does the brand use any questionable additive ingredients? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of BioFit?

In this article, we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in BioFit based on clinical studies to give our take on whether or not this supplement is likely to be effective for weight loss, and whether or not it's healthy.

We'll share our concerns about purchasing BioFit on Amazon, feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand, and provide an update on BioFit's manufacturer.

We'll also discuss the potential for side effects.

UPDATE: At the time of updating this article, BioFit may be off the market.

Ingredient Analysis

BioFit ingredients list

The ingredients in BioFit are shown above.

This ingredient list was sourced from the product's Amazon listing, which has since been taken down, and the total dose (but not the individual ingredient doses) are included.

BioFit contains 172.5 billion colony-forming-units (CFU) of probiotics per serving. This is a very high dose that may cause gastrointestinal distress in some consumers.

According to the American Family Physician journal, the typical probiotic dosing range for adults is around 10 billion to 20 billion CFU per day.

Lactobacillus acidophilus is a strange choice for a weight loss formulation.

As we documented in our Floraspring review article, this probiotic species is clinically shown to cause weight gain.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus was shown in a 2014 clinical trial to cause weight loss, but BioFit only publishes the probiotic species and not the specific probiotic strain.

The strain shown to cause weight loss in the above-linked clinical trial was Lactobacillus rhamnosus CGMCC1.3724. This doesn't necessarily mean that all probiotic strains of the Lactobacillus rhamnosus species cause weight loss.

We can't find any clinical evidence suggesting that the remaining probiotics in BioFit cause weight loss.

We consider it to be a sign of a low-quality supplement manufacturer when the probiotic strain is not published, because this is important information. Different probiotic strains can have significantly different biological effects, even within the same species.

One good thing about BioFit is that it has no unhealthy inactive ingredients.

Overall, we consider BioFit unlikely to cause weight loss, because we can't find any supporting evidence for its active ingredients, and because one of the active ingredients is clinically shown to cause weight gain.

Real People Try BioFit

A YouTube creator named "RealLifeReviews" shared her experience taking BioFit: 

A TikTok creator named Joanna Meza claims to have lost six pounds in a week by incorporating BioFit into a healthy lifestyle:

@joannamezq #smothie #mealreplacement #biofit #pinacolada #secure #procaps #andrewlessman #lowfat #lowsodium #healthy #healthymeal #yumm #yummyfood ♬ Magic In The Hamptons - Social House

Does BioFit Cause Side Effects?

BioFit doesn't appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, which makes it more challenging to determine whether or not the supplement is likely to cause side effects.

However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.

We don't consider BioFit likely to cause serious side effects in otherwise healthy individuals.

We do consider BioFit likely to cause mild side effects such as gas, bloating and nausea in some individuals, especially those who aren't used to taking probiotics.

High doses of supplemental probiotics can cause short-term gut issues, as we documented in our article on Bio Complete 3, and BioFit contains more than eight times the typical upper-range probiotic dose, as documented in the previously-cited American Family Physician resource page on probiotics.

We recommend that patients with digestive conditions speak with a doctor before taking such a high dose of probiotics on a regular basis.

The Risks of BioFit on Amazon 

As we referenced in the intro to this article, it appears that the original manufacturer of BioFit (Vitalina) went out of business since we initially published this article.

According to OpenCorporates, Vitalina LLC was shut down in Q4 of 2022.

There are still a number of supplement retailers selling products branded as "BioFit" on Amazon and other marketplaces, as shown below:

BioFit Amazon listings

We recommend that consumers be extremely wary when considering supplements sold under a failed company's trade name. It's a sign of a low-quality manufacturer in our opinion.

In our nearly 1,000 Illuminate Health reviews, we have never come across a supplement trying to capitalize off another company's trade name that we considered to be well-formulated and likely effective.

Our Clean Weight Loss Picks

Ceylon cinnamon was described as "an effective anti-obesity agent" in a 2022 meta-analysis. The study authors concluded that effects were greater at doses at or over 3 grams daily.

Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our standardized Ceylon cinnamon supplement which is third-party tested to ensure purity and potency.

Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).

MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ is our top fiber pick because it's certified organic, provides 7 g of fiber per serving and costs under $1.85 per serving at the time of updating this article.

Both of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.

Pros and Cons of BioFit

Here are the pros and cons of BioFit in our opinion:

Pros:

  • No unhealthy additives
  • One active ingredient is similar to an ingredient that's clinically shown to cause weight loss
  • Unlikely to cause serious side effects

Cons:

  • Original manufacturer appears to have shut down
  • Extremely high probiotic dose
  • May cause digestive distress
  • Probiotics aren't typically used for weight loss
  • Contains an active ingredient shown to cause weight gain
  • Challenging to determine official manufacturer at this point
  • Supplements sold under "BioFit" trade name today on Amazon seem low-quality
  • Hard to find unsponsored customer reviews
Stay up-to-date on our research reviews

Conclusion

BioFit is a low-quality weight loss supplement formulation, and it's unsurprising to us that its original manufacturer (Vitalina) appears to have gone out of business.

This supplement contains a very high dose of probiotics, but we can't find any clinical evidence that the probiotic species included cause weight loss.

One of the probiotic species used in BioFit is actually shown to cause weight gain.

While there are still supplements branded as "BioFit" and sold on third-party retailers like Amazon, we recommend that consumers be cautious when considering these supplements, because they don't appear to have the original formulation.

Further, we consider it to be a major red flag of brand quality when a company is willing to sell under a failed competitor's trade name.

We do not consider BioFit likely to cause serious side effects, as it has no dangerous ingredients, but we consider the supplement somewhat likely to cause mild side effects, because such a high dose of probiotics can cause digestive issues like gas and bloating.