The potential for the microbiome to impact sports performance and recovery is a really exciting area scientifically - and it’s gathering pace rapidly.
We know how the gut microbiome plays a vital role in our health and wellness in general - and previous studies have shown that this translates to an athletes wellbeing and potentially their performance by impacting metabolism, inflammation, immune functioning, mood, sleep, and of course GI disturbances.
All of these areas can have a dramatic impact on how an athlete trains and competes.
However, a recent groundbreaking study focusing on professional cyclists during a Grand Tour race has shed new light on this intricate relationship, offering unprecedented insights into the interplay between diet, the microbiome, and athletic performance.
🚴Study Breakdown 🚴
The study explores the effects of how a gruelling Grand Tour race (the 2019 La Vuelta 2019: 21 stages) impacts the gut microbiome and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profiles of professional cyclists - and investigates who shifts in bacterial populations were related to diet and performance in the race.
It's a fascinating study that really provides some groundbreaking insights - revealing significant shifts in microbial populations and SCFA content throughout the race. Notably, the study found specific bacterial families — Bifidobacteriaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, and Sutterellaceae — not only shifted in abundance but also held predictive value for the athletes' final performance outcomes.
This is a really vital finding for those of us interested in the role of the microbiome in sports ... because it shows a direct association between shifts in the microbiome and how well athletes performed.
A second super interesting finding was that the consumption carbohydrates had dramatic effects on the microbiome too - though these differed depending on the time and type of carbs used.
Consumption of complex carbs before the race had a direct positive relationship to the abundance of beneficial gut bacteria, such as Erysipelotrichaceae at the start of the Tour. On the other hand, the use of simple carbohydrates from supplements like carbohydrate gels during the race itself negatively affected the abundance of performance-related bacterial families like Bifidobacteriaceae during the competition.
🔑Prebiotics are the key🔑
A final take-away from the study is that prebiotics were suggested to be more advantageous than probiotics for athletic applications.
"Future strategies to enhance the performance of high-level athletes could include the selective growth of specific targeted bacterial taxa using à la carte prebiotics instead of the current ineffective probiotic supplementation, which usually cannot maintain stable populations in the gut ecosystem. In fact, we have been unable to detect any of the strains included in the probiotic supplements or in the probiotic foods used. Therefore, although the cyclists were taking probiotic supplements containing bifidobacteria during competition, the relationship between bifidobacteria abundance and performance appears to be modulated by diet in a way that is apparently more relevant to performance than the use of probiotic supplements." Fernandez-Sanjurjo, et al. Nutrients. 2024.
This is a crucial point that underscores the efficacy of prebiotics in supporting the natural ecosystem of the gut microbiome, aligning with the broader nutritional philosophy of fostering health from within.
It is also very telling that although the cyclists were taking a probiotic supplement, the microbime sampling in the study failed to detect any of the strains present in these supplements.
This new understanding hints at the potential for dietary strategies, particularly those leveraging prebiotics, to favourably modulate the gut microbiota in ways that could enhance athletic performance and recovery.
🚨Implications🚨
It my view, it also shows a clear opportunity to use supplements rich in prebiotics to potentially mitigate the clear negative impact that carbohydrate gels have on the gut microbiome during a race.
For companies like Advanced Biotics, which prioritise prebiotic approaches, these findings not only validate the significance of the microbiome in sports nutrition but also highlight the massive potential of prebiotic-based supplements to aid sporting performance in addiiton to potentially reducing the well-known side-effects of things like carbohydrate gels.
By tapping into the intricate relationship between diet, the microbiome, and physical performance, there's an exciting opportunity to advance the frontier of sports nutrition, offering athletes tailored solutions that support their gut health and, by extension, their athletic achievements. At Advanced Biotics, we aim to be at the very front of these innovaitons.
Summary
- Significant changes in the gut microbiota and SCFA levels were directly correlated with the cyclists' performance metrics.
- Specific bacterial families, notably Bifidobacteriaceae and Coriobacteriaceae, emerged as strong predictors of final performance outcomes.
- Carb loading with complex carbohydrates before the race was linked with increases in beneficial bacteria that are predictive of performance.
- Use of simple carbohydrate gels throughout the race was linked to a reduction in abundance of performance-related bacterial families like Bifidobacteriaceae.
- Although cyclists were taking probiotic supplements, none of these strains were found in stool samples.
- Leveraging prebiotics to favourably modulate the gut microbiota could have impacts on athletic performance, and may also mitigate effects of simple carbohydrate gels.
- Advanced Biotics Daily Microbiome Booster combines two world class prebiotics, alongside collagen and a next-gen postbiotic to help athletes improve their gut health.
Study URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/5/661
