One of the most exciting frontiers in medical research is on the gut microbiome, the population of “good bacteria” inside your body.
Newer discoveries are increasingly linking the health of gut mircrobiome to everything from gastrointestinal health to the function of your immune system.
Supplements that boost the population of these good bacteria are known as probiotics and they’ve rapidly become incredibly popular.
Beyond overall health, there’s an increasing amount of research that shows that a healthier gut could promise fewer gastrointestinal problems during training and racing, a stronger immune system during heavy bouts of training and more.
So, in this article we’re going to dig into the latest scientific research on…
- What probiotics actually are and how they work
- What the research says about probiotics and running performance
- And what to look for when it comes to a probiotic that will help your running
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body and that can be used to change or re-establish the intestinal flora and improve your health.
Probiotics directly repopulate the intestinal tract with beneficial organisms. These beneficial organisms can improve intestinal health in the following ways:
- Good bacteria can inhibit the overgrowth of bad (pathogenic) bacteria by competing for attachment sites and life-supporting nutrients.
- Good bacteria produce organic compounds that decrease the intestines’ pH level and inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, which are sensitive to acid.
Probiotics are mainly found in fermented dairy products, like live-culture yogurts and kefir.
Probiotics can also be found, to a lesser extent, in other fermented foods like unpasteurized sauerkraut, miso and tempeh.
Remember that high temperatures are more likely to destroy bacteria. If the food has been heated, it has probably lost the bulk of its cultures and health benefits.
Probiotics can also be taken as supplements in capsule, tablet, liquid or powder form.
What the Research Says About Probiotic Supplementation for Runners
New research that is specifically focused on probiotic supplements in runners suggests some very promising applications.
Let’s take a look at some of the scientific evidence.
Reducing risk of getting sick
Specifically, probiotics could help reduce the risk of getting sick during tough training blocks and during the taper, when you’re more susceptible to picking up illnesses.
A study published in 2010 by a team of researchers at the Australian Institute of Sport tested the effects of a probiotic supplement in 20 elite distance runners.
Half the runners received a placebo, while half received a probiotic supplement. After two months, the groups were switched, so all of the participants took both the placebo and the probiotic.
When the runners were on the placebo, they racked up a total of 72 days of symptoms from respiratory illnesses like the cold and the flu, but when they were on the probiotic supplement, they only experienced a total of 30 days of symptoms.
These results suggest an over 50% reduction in the chances of getting sick.
This is pretty impressive and suggests that probiotics could be a useful way to avoid illness in the lead-up to a big race or during a tough training block.
Improving stomach issues
Scientific evidence also indicates that probiotic supplementation could help reduce gastrointestinal problems like bloating, nausea, and diarrhea.
One study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism in 2007 studied nearly 150 marathon runners over the course of a three-month training period.
Gastrointestinal tract symptoms were lower in the probiotic group both before and after the marathon.
Probiotics might help you out on race day, too, at least according to a study published by a team of researchers in the UK.
The study gave 24 recreational runners either a placebo or a combination of three probiotic bacteria strains in the months leading up to a marathon.
The runners were polled on the incidence of gastrointestinal problems both leading up to the marathon and during each third of the race itself.
The researchers also tracked how much the runners slowed down in the final third of the race to get an objective measurement of whether the probiotic supplement had a performance benefit.
The runners who were taking the probiotic supplement reported fewer gastrointestinal problems in the two weeks leading up to the race, and fewer problems in the final third of the race.
Moreover, the runners in the probiotic group slowed down less than the runners in the placebo group—perhaps because of fewer bathroom-related interruptions.
There is also some evidence that the bifidobacteria strain of probiotics can improve carbohydrate absorption and metabolism during endurance exercise, potentially sparing muscle glycogen during prolonged activity.
Improved Nutrient Uptake
Many runners knowingly or unknowingly suffer from stomach issues from difficult to digest foods such as legumes, lactose, soy, various grains, and meats.
Usually, this is caused by not producing enough of the enzymes that help break down these foods.
Probiotics help your body naturally digest these foods by stimulating the production of digestive enzymes and improving gut microbiota.
This creates a more favorable environment for your stomach to properly digest all the foods you need to eat to fuel your training and recovery.
Bifidobacteria is specifically targeted to digest fiber and other complex carbs your body can’t digest on its own.
Reduces “leaky gut” syndrome
You may have heard the term “leaky gut” thrown around before, but never really knew what it meant.
Well, basically what happens is that stress in the gut (from things like poor digestion and training in the heat) causes intestinal damage and increases intestinal permeability.
In layman’s terms, this is like developing tiny holes in your gut lining that allow things like endotoxins to pass through that normally shouldn’t.
When these endotoxins leak into your bloodstream, they trigger an acute-phase inflammatory response, including the release of interleukin-6 in response to an increasingly endotoxic environment [citation].
This inflammatory response is part of what causes the cramping, nausea, and urgent bathroom needs you experience during runs.
When the gut barrier is supported by probiotics, it becomes stronger, less inflamed, and more efficient at digestion and nutrient absorption.
Using Probiotic Supplements to Help Your Running
The results we’ve seen so far are promising, but there’s a huge variety of potential probiotic strains (i.e. types of different bacteria) you could take, and wildly varying dosages too.
Some guidance comes from a review article published in 2015 in the European Journal of Sports Science by David B. Payne and other researchers, which provides some much-needed practical tips from experts [5].
When it comes to the strains of probiotic bacteria that help runners the most, the lion’s share of the research conducted on athletes thus far has used strains from the Bifidobacterium family, so make sure you’re taking this strain.
My recommendation for probiotics is MAS Flush because it’s formulated specifically for the needs of runners.
- It uses the most well-researched strain of Bifidobacterium
- It has cutting-edge probiotics, like ProbioSEB Duo, which has been specifically formulated to withstand the heat stress caused by running
- It also contains cutting-edge ingredients like New Zealand blackcurrant which has been shown to reduce gastric distress when training and racing in hot conditions
- And contains psyllium husks, which help eliminate runners trots
While almost any probiotic will help improve your gut health, you have unique challenges and needs as a runner that generic probiotics just don’t address.
That’s why I recommend MAS Flush.
Some other helpful tips
- First off, it’s important to remember that probiotics contain living bacteria, which could be killed if you are careless with your supplement.
- Keep the bottle in a cool, dark place, out of direct sunlight and away from heat. The best place to keep a probiotic supplement would be your refrigerator (and the worst place would be your car on a hot summer day).
- According to Payne and his colleagues, you should start taking a probiotic supplement at least two weeks before a race or the start of a serious block of training—it can take at least 14 days for changes in your gut bacteria to appear.
- Moreover, you shouldn’t be surprised if you have some transient gas or stomach rumbling in the first few days after you start taking a probiotic, as your body adjusts.
There’s still quite a lot we don’t know about probiotics, health, and performance in runners, but so far, the scientific research indicates that they could be useful for reducing training time lost due to illness, and lowering the rate of gastrointestinal problems, both in training and during long races.
