As someone who’s dealt with digestive issues for years, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by probiotics. Wherever I look, there are probiotic products—from capsules and powders to gummies and fizzy sodas—that claim to boost your immune system, fix your gut, and even improve your mood.
There are many different probiotic strains, but common ones include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces. They can be found in fermented foods—like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha—or grown in laboratories and packed into supplements.
A wealth of research is coming out about how the microbiome—the mixture of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live on the skin and inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract—boosts immunity, aids digestion, and energizes us. As a result, probiotic supplements, which are designed to optimize the overall health of the microbiome, have exploded in popularity. The probiotic supplement market is projected to reach a value of nearly $24 million by 2034, especially among competitive athletes looking to up their game.
But can probiotic supplements actually improve athletic performance? The truth: while some studies seem promising, the three experts I interviewed have no intention of recommending them to athletes anytime soon.
The Appeal of Probiotics for Athletes
We are surrounded by microorganisms. There are pathogenic bugs that cause infections and diseases and harmless ones that don’t really affect us. Then, there are the good guys, known as probiotics, which are living microorganisms that confer health benefits when ingested.
According to Mahmoud Ghannoum, a microbiome researcher at Case Western Reserve University, probiotics diversify your microbiome, which provides protection against pathogens that can make you sick and improves your intestinal lining’s ability to absorb nutrients better. And some evidence suggests they play an important role in the prevention of chronic and infectious diseases, too.
Athletes are already very attuned to their bodies and want to do everything possible to optimize their health, says Dr. Michael Fredericson, a sports medicine physician at Stanford Medicine. It’s no wonder so many are experimenting with probiotics in hopes of achieving a faster race time or, like me, a nice long jog sans bloating.
Besides, even if you’re in tip-top shape, vigorously working out can mess with your gut health. A 2023 systematic review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that super intense workouts like HIIT may decrease the thickness of the protective mucus that lines and lubricates the intestines, potentially allowing gut bacteria to seep into the bloodstream. HIIT may suppress the immune system, making athletes more susceptible to illnesses such as upper respiratory infections; it can also trigger diarrhea and heartburn. Naturally, you’re not going to compete well if you’re feeling sick.
Ghannoum says we’re starting to see evidence that probiotics could mitigate these negative effects and improve athletic performance. Here’s what we know so far.
Probiotics May Reduce GI Discomfort
About the mid-run…runs. Gastrointestinal problems (like bloating or loose stools) can impair an athlete’s physical performance and mental wellbeing. It’s a common problem athletes face—and one that may (one day) be solved with probiotics.
A small study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology examined how taking probiotic supplements every day for 28 days before a marathon (and two hours before the race start time) impacted runners’ performance. Out of the 24 participants, 20 men and 4 women, one group was given a probiotic capsule, and the other received a placebo.
Per the study’s findings, probiotic supplementation significantly reduced the incidence and severity of GI symptoms, like diarrhea and stomach aches, in marathon runners. While it’s unclear why probiotics have this effect, the researchers suspect probiotics may help runners maintain their pace, giving them a competitive advantage.
Supplements Might Improve VO2 Max, Mood, and Help Athletes Recover From Exhaustion
Another perk: probiotics may help your muscles extract oxygen from your blood, enabling them to lengthen and contract more efficiently.
A 2019 study published in Nutrients concluded that Lactobacillus supplementation boosted aerobic capacity, which refers to how much oxygen your muscles use while exercising (otherwise known as VO2 max). Out of 30 university badminton players between the ages of 19 and 22, half consumed a probiotic drink daily for six weeks, and the rest were given orange juice as a placebo. To assess VO2 max, participants were asked to perform a 20-meter shuttle run test. Results showed that probiotics increased VO2 max by 5.9 percent. The greater your VO2 max, the more power you’ll be able to generate and the longer you’ll be able to do high-intensity activities.
Furthermore, subjects in the probiotic group reported lower anxiety and stress levels. As Nyree Dardarian, a registered dietician and director of the Center for Nutrition and Performance at Drexel University, says, “Mood is a big part of athletics.”Athletes who report lower levels of tension, depression, and anger tend to have more competitive success, research shows.
And one person’s mood can directly affect how their teammates feel, too. “Low energy and low mood in a team is contagious,” says Dardarian. Probiotics could also help athletes bounce back after an intense workout or competition.
Another 2019 study published in the Journal of Functional Foods discovered that long-distance runners who took probiotics felt less mental and physical exhaustion after completing their usual training regimens. According to the researchers, probiotics could potentially help competitors recover faster and, better yet, avoid injuries. “Proper recovery allows for restoring energy stores, repairing muscle tissues, and normalizing physiological functions, which are critical for sustaining high-performance levels and preventing burnout,” says Fredericson.
Reduce Inflammation and Increase Muscle Mass
Finally, probiotics may clear inflammation from the body. For context, athletes tend to have more inflammatory markers in their bodies compared to non-athletes. Left unchecked, chronic inflammation can dampen performance, recovery, and competitiveness. Sore muscles aren’t exactly a key to endurance.
Probiotics may have a potent anti-inflammatory effect. One study found higher levels of anti-inflammatory proteins in the blood and urine samples of athletes taking probiotics after a triathlon. According to Fredericson, some researchers suspect probiotics may strengthen the intestinal lining, thereby preventing harmful substances from leaking out and triggering inflammatory immune responses and prompting the body to produce short-chain fatty acids that fight inflammation. “Reducing inflammation has been shown to influence athlete’s performance by allowing for quicker recovery between workouts, reducing pain and discomfort, preserving muscle mass, and allowing athletes to train at higher intensities for longer periods,” Ghannoum says.
Even more, a 2022 review proposed that probiotics could increase the amount of amino acids absorbed into the bloodstream, potentially building muscle mass. Muscle mass helps athletes generate force quickly and efficiently, says Fredericson, which lets them perform powerful movements. “Essentially, stronger muscles mean better ability to jump, sprint, change direction, and execute sport-specific skills with greater power and control,” he says.
Despite Promising Studies, Doctors Say It’s Too Early to Cosign Athletes Taking Probiotics
Though the body of literature surrounding probiotics and athleticism is growing, it’s still in its infancy, and there’s a lot scientists don’t know yet.
We Don’t Know Exactly How Different Probiotic Strains Affect People
Most studies have been conducted in tiny groups of people, making it tough to apply the findings to the general population or mice (which doesn’t translate to human health), says Fredericson.
The biggest issue is that scientists don’t fully understand what an ideal microbiome looks like or how probiotics affect people differently. The probiotics that benefit one person can differ from the type that helps another.
It’s also unclear if the probiotics inserted into capsules and gummies even survive the journey from the manufacturing plant to the truck onto the shelf at the store and through your intestines. “The supplements might have about 10 million colony-forming units (CFUs) of probiotics, but the number of them that live to make it through the various acidic stomach environments is few,” says Dardarian. And if the probiotics die off, there won’t be enough of them to have the intended health effects.
As a result, the medical community widely agrees—although there are a couple of outliers—that it’s too soon to recommend athletes add probiotic supplements to their diet. “We need larger studies to prove the benefits are real,” says Ghannoum. But that could change in the future as we learn more about probiotics. “The research is changing, and in a couple years from now, we’ll know a lot more,” says Fredericson.
The Best Way to Get Probiotics? Food.
The experts I interviewed are in agreement that the best way to get probiotics—and improve your microbiome—is through food. Why? Foods contain a more diverse mix of microorganisms (unlike supplements, which are usually rich in one or two very specific probiotics that may not even be beneficial for your specific microbiome). Research tells us, after all, that what we eat significantly shapes and changes our microbiome.
To get the most out of your probiotics, you also need to load up on prebiotics or non-digestible foods that come from beans and whole grains, which feed microorganisms and help them grow and thrive in your gut. The best way to load up on prebiotics? Fiber. Dardarian recommends eating 35 grams of fiber daily (which, she adds, many people don’t do).
Probiotic Foods to Try
Here are some probiotic foods you can start adding to your diet:
- Aged cheese
- Pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi
- Kefir juices
- Kombucha
- Yogurt
- Miso and tamari sauce
If You Decide to Try Supplements
If you still want to give supplements a shot, go ahead. For most people, there’s little risk in taking them (the exception being people who are immune-compromised because they can, in rare cases, cause infections).
Verify the Supplement Is Safe, and Start with a Low Dose
Try to find a product that’s been evaluated in clinical trials and has the NSF stamp of approval, which confirms via third-party testing that the supplement is contaminant-free and contains the ingredients it says it does.
Dardarian, who works with professional athletes, says that if you choose to go the supplement route, gradually increase your dosage to let your body adjust to the probiotics and fiber. To do so, Ghannoum suggests taking the probiotic every other day for the first week. If you feel good, increase that to every day—specifically, at the same time every day and, ideally, 30 minutes after a meal, as this will help with absorption.
Finally, test the supplements out in your pre-season or well before a big competition, says Dardarian. Probiotics and fiber can cause uncomfortable symptoms, like diarrhea and bloating, that can wreck performance. As such, it’s wise to experiment when the stakes are low to see how you react.
Other than that, taper your expectations. Sure, they may improve your health—but will they help you suddenly set a new personal record? As Dardarian says, “The jury is out.”
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