Probiotics for Performance: How Gut Health Boosts Recovery and Athletic Results

A healthy gut that contains the right balance of probiotic bacteria enhances digestive function¹, helping our bodies digest food and supplements and absorb the nutrients needed to fuel our training and racing efforts and support tissue repair and recovery after training.

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Studies also show that probiotics can improve insulin sensitivity², which makes your body more sensitive to circulating glucose from ingested carbs. The resultant energy efficiency will help power your training or racing, delivering more benefits from every gram of carbohydrates you ingest.

As the gut houses a significant portion of the immune system³, probiotics play a supporting role in the recovery process by fortifying immune function⁴.

A study⁵ published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism affirmed the multiple roles that probiotic bacteria play in our overall immune response. 

After uncovering a host of beneficial effects on the immune system, the researchers concluded that probiotic bacteria “have significant effects on the functionality of the mucosal and systemic immune systems through the activation of multiple immune mechanisms”.

The enhanced immunity associated with a healthy gut indirectly benefits performance by reducing the risk of infections and illnesses, which can disrupt training, while directly impacting tissue repair through its role in inflammation regulation to speed up recovery and support performance at subsequent training sessions.

As the immune system initiates an inflammatory response after exercise to repair damaged tissues, immune cells like white blood cells and cytokines migrate to the injured area to clear debris, remove damaged cells, and promote tissue regeneration using the amino acids and collagen we get from digested food and supplements. 

Importantly, probiotics play a role in cytokine and white blood cell production⁶, including interleukins, important cell-signalling molecules in the immune system. In this regard, research links the administration of selected anti-inflammatory probiotic strains to improved recovery from muscle-damaging exercise⁷.

Once the repair process is complete, the immune system down-regulates the inflammatory response. In this process, research⁸ shows that probiotics have anti-inflammatory effects, which could potentially help control the chronic inflammation that can negatively affect performance and recovery.

From a mental standpoint, a healthy gut contributes to improved focus and cognitive function through the interconnectedness of the gut-brain axis, which involves the intricate communication between the digestive system and the central nervous system. 

According to one study⁹, the bidirectional communication of the gut-brain axis “is essential for maintaining homeostasis, with pre-, pro-, and symbiotics potentially affecting various cognitive functions” including attention and perception, which can directly impact your physical performance during training and racing.

With the growing body of research backing the exercise benefits offered by probiotics, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) released its position stand⁷ on these gut health supplements, affirming that “probiotics can provide some clinical benefits in athletes and other highly active individuals.”

According to the ISSN stand, preclinical and early human research has also shown potential probiotic benefits relevant to an athletic population that include: 

• Improved body composition and lean body mass.
• Normalising age-related declines in testosterone levels.
• Reductions in cortisol levels indicating improved responses to physical or mental stressors.
• Reduction of exercise-induced lactate.
• Increased neurotransmitter synthesis, cognition and mood. 

However, these potential benefits require validation in more rigorous human studies, particularly in athletic populations.

Additional research also shows performance benefits for power and endurance athletes. For instance, a systematic review¹⁰ of research conducted on endurance athletes found nine studies that met the quality criteria. 

“Of these, three reported direct benefits on sports performance. The remaining six articles found improvements in the reduction of oxidative stress, increased immune response and decreased incidence of URTIs.”

Another systematic review¹¹ found benefits across diverse sporting codes, from endurance athletes to rugby, badminton and baseball players.

Based on the evidence, the research team concluded that “the integration of athletes’ diets with some bacterial strains and also the consumption of multi-strain compounds may lead to an improvement in performance and can positively affect performance-related aspects such as fatigue, muscle pain, body composition, and cardiorespiratory fitness.”

As excessive stress, including the physical stress we experience during hard training, can destroy the probiotics in our gut, along with various other lifestyle and environmental factors, supplementing with a suitable probiotic product serves as a sensible approach to support our gut health and physical performance. 

Products like Biogen Supreme Probiotic 4-Strain may help to improve and restore the microbial balance in the intestines when ingested on a regular basis by repopulating the gut with a diverse range of beneficial bacteria. A product like Biogen Supreme Probiotic 9 Strain that offers a CFU count of 5 billion or more is ideal for regular use. 

The Biogen Platinum range includes a diverse range of probiotic products that athletes can consider, including Biogen Supreme Probiotic For Her,  Biogen Supreme Probiotic 4-Strain, with Biogen Travel Biotic 9-Strain Acute offering a convenient product for athletes travelling to compete.

Athletes and those who train hard can also support their gut function to boost digestion and aid absorption for enhanced recovery and better energy utilisation with digestive supplements like Biogen Digesti Gast Drops and Biogen Digestive Enzymes.

1. Bodke H, Jogdand S. Role of Probiotics in Human Health. Cureus. 2022 Nov 9;14(11):e31313. doi: 10.7759/cureus.31313. PMID: 36514580; PMCID: PMC9733784.
2. Salles BIM, Cioffi D, Ferreira SRG. Probiotics supplementation and insulin resistance: a systematic review. Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2020 Nov 11;12(1):98. doi: 10.1186/s13098-020-00603-6. PMID: 33292434; PMCID: PMC7656736.
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8. Jäger, R., Mohr, A.E., Carpenter, K.C. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 16, 62 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-019-0329-0.
9. Fekete M, Lehoczki A, Major D, Fazekas-Pongor V, Csípő T, Tarantini S, Csizmadia Z, Varga JT. Exploring the Influence of Gut-Brain Axis Modulation on Cognitive Health: A Comprehensive Review of Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Symbiotics. Nutrients. 2024 Mar 10;16(6):789. doi: 10.3390/nu16060789. PMID: 38542700; PMCID: PMC10975805.
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