New Research Shows Why Athletes Should Take Probiotics

​Recent research is discovering an unexpected relationship between exercise and gut health. If you are an athlete, or you workout, taking probiotics may improve your athletic performance and your health.

Exercise is good for you. So, it is no surprise that it is good for your gut microbiota, the microorganisms, friendly and unfriendly, in your gut. But high intensity and endurance exercise can have a negative effect on the intestinal microbiota that can lead to GI symptoms, psychological symptoms and poorer athletic performance.

Probiotics improve your gut microbiota and have been shown to correct negative changes in the gut caused by exercise and to improve endurance performance in athletes.

This just published double-blind study gave 19 marathon runners either a placebo or a probiotic supplement containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum for 5 weeks.

They all ran the 12-minute Cooper Running/Walking test before and after. The test measures aerobic endurance and cardiovascular and physical fitness. It is a good predictor of long-term health.

After 5 weeks, the runners who took the probiotics had significant increases in total distance in the 12-minute Cooper test. There was no improvement in the placebo group.

The athletes on probiotics also had significant improvement on the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale and on Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index scale.

This intriguing study shows that taking probiotics can significantly improve exercise endurance performance and gastrointestinal health and its related quality of life.
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J Exerc Sci Fit. 2024 Oct; 22(4): 297–304.