Probiotic supplementation enhances athlete performance

2024-11-11

Athletes will lead to physiological fatigue, reduced immunity, upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal discomfort, etc., in long-term, heavy-load exercise training and competition. And which may lead to a decline in athletes' physical functions. In addition, strenuous and long-term exercise can cause organ ischemia and increased intestinal mucosal permeability, leading to local or even systemic inflammation, affecting athletes' performance. Many studies have showed that probiotics can play a positive regulatory role in intestinal barrier function, intestinal microbiota, etc., reduce the adverse effects caused by heavy-load exercise, restore physical fitness and muscle endurance, and thereby improve athlete’s performance.

 

The mechanisms by which probiotic supplementation improves athletes' endurance and performance include the following: (1) Probiotic supplementation can reduce fatigue. Martarelli et al. found that supplementation of Lactobacillus paracasei IMC502 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC501 (1×109 CFU/d) for 4 weeks could reduce the amount of serum creatine kinase (CK) in cyclists after strenuous exercise, reduce fatigue , and improve athlete’s performance. (2) Supplementing probiotics increases energy supply during exercise. Chen et al. found that supplementing of Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 to mice can increase muscle quality and grip strength, reduce blood lactic acid and glucose levels after exercise, and improve glucose utilization, indicating that Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 may be beneficial to energy supply during exercise. (3) Supplemen of probiotics can improve the absorption of nutrients and iron. A randomized, double-blind, crossover trial in healthy men to evaluated the effects of probiotic supplementation (Lactobacillus paracasei LPC-DG) on blood amino acid level. The results showed that probiotic supplementation significantly increased the levels of methionine (increased 16.3%), histidine (increased 49.2%), valine (increased 24.7%), leucine (increased 25.2%), isosine Leucine (increased 26.1%), tyrosine (increased 11.6%), and these amino acids can help athletes recover physical fitness after exercise. (4) Probiotic supplementation can change body composition. Supplementing Lactobacillus plantarum TWK 106 for 6 weeks can reduce body fat and increase muscle mass percentage in healthy men. (5) Supplementing probiotics can improve immune function. Clancy et al. found that the T cell immune function of elite athletes was suppressed after heavy-load exercise, and the amount of INF-γ in the blood was significantly reduced. After supplementing with Lactobacillus acidophilus for 4 weeks, the T cells of fatigued athletes were significantly reduced and IFN-γ production is increased. (6) Supplementing probiotics can increase antioxidant capacity. Excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during fatigue exercise can easily cause oxidative reactions, lead to cell damage and inflammation, and is related to the occurrence of fatigue. Reducing the oxidative reactions caused by exercise can help relieve fatigue and improve physical function. Hsu et al. found that compared to germ-free mice, specific pathogen-free mice had longer endurance swimming times and had higher serum glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase levels. high. These results suggest that gut microbiota may affect exercise performance via the antioxidant enzyme system. (7) Probiotic supplementation can reduce gastrointestinal discomfort symptoms. Gastrointestinal discomfort caused by exercise is a common problem in athletes. About 30% to 50% of athletes will experience in gastrointestinal discomfort symptoms. Pugh et al evaluated the effects of multi-strain probiotic supplementation on gastrointestinal symptoms, gastrointestinal permeability, and immune response markers during marathon running and found that it reduced the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms during and after the marathon in marathon athletes.

 

The impact of probiotics on the performance of endurance athletes is a comprehensive result from multiple effects. Generally, supplementing specific probiotics can be used as one of the nutritional strategies to ensure the athlete's functional status. However, most studies have not evaluated sports performance. High-quality, long-term, appropriately scaled studies are still needed in the future to determine the causation of probiotic intake on exercise performance.

 

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