The athlete ’s main goal is to optimize their performance.
Nutrition helps athletes to feed their brains, bones, muscles and cardiovascular system to foster peak performance.
In addition, it has been also suggested that nutrition may play a role in athletic performance by affecting gut microbiota.
How do sports impact our gut microbiota?
Recent reviews have suggested a bidirectional relation between sport and the gut microbiota.
The effects of exercise on the gut microbiota depend on the type, intensity and exercise duration. Cardiorespiratory exercise cause immediate effects on the gut microbiota composition. In contrast, resistance exercise shows no effect.
Exercise has been suggested to increases diversity and the growth of some specific groups of bacteria (such as Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Akkermansia) and the production of SCFAs.
The gut microbiota may also influence exercise performance and health by producing SCFAs.
“Fueling gut microbes” should be considered as a strategy for athletes to improve their health and performance.
Dietary Strategies for Sport and the Gut
Sports-centric dietary strategies (protein supplements, carbohydrate loading) as well as gut-centric dietary strategies (probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics) should be considered as opportunities to impact both the gut microbiota and athletic performance.
- High-protein diets and use of protein supplements appear to have greater impact on microbial metabolites than on the gut microbiota composition. The gut microbiota may contribute to muscle protein anabolism and function by modulating protein absorption and utilization.
- High-fat, especially saturated fat, intake is associated with a pro-inflammatory gut microbiota composition and reduced capacity to produce SCFAs. In contrast, ɷ-۳ fatty acids promote SCFA production and reduce gastrointestinal permeability.
- High refined carbohydrates and low-fiber dietary pattern has harmful effects on the gut microbiota. Whereas, increased SCFAs production by the gut microbiota due to high fiber diet are positively linked to muscle function.
- Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics can change the gut microbiota composition and beneficially affect athletic performance and recovery.
- The gut microbiota influences the absorption of certain micronutrients, such as calcium, that are important for athlete performance and health. Micronutrient deficiencies can impact the gut microbiota. However, excessive intake of some micronutrients may also increase infection susceptibility.
- Energy deficiency or excess both influence the gut microbiota.
References: Hughes RL, Holscher HD. Fueling Gut Microbes: A Review of the Interaction between Diet, Exercise, and the Gut Microbiota in Athletes. Adv Nutr. 2021 Jul 6:nmab077. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmab077.
