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Want More Endurance? The ONLY 3 Ways to Build StaminaGut health and digestion for endurance athletes -
But why does this happen, and is there something to do about it? In this blog post, I will dive in to the what, the why and the how of gut issues in sports and give you some solutions for the problem.
Gut issues, or gastrointestinal problems, are present in many sports but particularly in endurance sports. The symptoms range from mild to severe and depend on many factors like the type of event, environmental conditions and the level of athlete.
The symptoms or a fear of them can also create anxiety, ultimately compromising performance. The gut is an important organ for athletes since it is responsible for the delivery of nutrients and water to our bodies.
If the gut does not function optimally and the delivery of water and nutrients especially carbohydrates is compromised, then so is performance and also recovery.
The main reasons for gut issues during physical activity can be divided into three categories: physiological, mechanical and nutritional. Foods that delay gastric emptying can also cause a shift of fluids into the intestinal lumen and cause trouble.
An example is highly concentrated carbohydrate solutions like sports drinks with high osmolalities. Although anyone can be the victim of these issues, there are some athletes who are more at risk than others according to literature:.
Even though these issues are common, there are things you can do to minimize the risk of having your gut ruin your race. Thankfully our GI-system is highly adaptable and can be trained. Lastly, if you feel like nothing is helping and your gut issues keep ruining your training and racing, there are other causes like IBS irritable bowel syndrome , coeliac disease, lactose intolerance or other gut-related medical conditions that could be to blame.
In this case it is best to seek care from a health care professional to rule out anything more serious. Emma Juslin is a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist currently living in Norway.
She can be found at her website , at tridietitianemma on Instagram and on nutritionconsultingemma gmail. Emma has recently released her first e-book about building your own fueling plan, which can be found here. Henkilön Emma. de Oliveira EP, Burini RC, Jeukendrup A.
Gastrointestinal complaints during exercise: prevalence, etiology, and nutritional recommendations. Sports Med. de Oliveira EP, Burini RC. The impact of physical exercise on the gastrointestinal tract.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. doi: PMID: Jeukendrup AE. Training the Gut for Athletes. One of them follows two initially unfit volunteers during 6 months while undertaking progressive exercise training During this training period, fitness and body composition improved.
In parallel, α-diversity increased as well as the concentration of some physiologically-relevant metabolites. Figure 2. Ecosystem level adaptation of gut microbiota in athletes.
Recent research indicates that unique gut microbiota may be present in elite athletes, and special and unique species can positively impact the host, providing metabolites from the fermentation of dietary fiber.
Ecosystem level syntrophy: gut bacterial species can hydrolyze fibers and subsequently ferment the sugar monomers into SCFA, while other fermentative species depend upon the hydrolytic ones.
Such a syntrophy have been described between Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium strains. Elite athletes can also be used as a paradigm of the limit of the trained human body.
After several years of intense training, elite athletes have special features in terms of athletic performance but also in terms of morphology and metabolic adaptations.
A human study among elite rugby players vs. controls provided evidence of a beneficial impact of exercise on gut microbiota diversity: athletes had a higher diversity, representing 22 distinct phyla However, the results indicated that these differences between the elite and control groups were associated with dietary extremes that could represent confounding factors.
In terms of the proportions of different bacterial populations and their inherent metabolic activities, a study conducted on elite rugby players demonstrated that athletes had relative increases in specific pathways e. These pathways were associated with enhanced muscle turnover and overall health when compared with the control groups.
Differences in fecal microbiota between athletes and sedentary controls showed larger differences at the metagenomic and metabolomic levels than at the compositional levels and provided added insight into the diet-exercise-gut microbiota paradigm.
Another study in international level rugby players showed differences in the composition and functional capacity of the gut microbiome, as well as in microbial and human derived metabolites The use of food frequency questionnaires reinforced the validity of these results.
Focusing on cycling, another study compared professional and amateur athletes At baseline, it was possible to split the gut microbiomes of the 33 cyclists into three taxonomic clusters: one with high Prevotella , one with high Bacteroides or one with a large set of genera including Bacteroides, Prevotella, Eubacterium, Ruminococcus , and Akkermansia.
However, based on these taxonomic clusters, it was not possible to distinguish between professional or amateur cyclists. Methanobrevibacter smithii transcripts abundance was also increased among a number of professional cyclists compared to amateur cyclists.
A study in elite race walkers also reported that at baseline, the microbiota could be separated into the same distinct enterotypes with either a Prevotella- or Bacteroides -dominated enterotype Rodent studies can be used to assess certain conditions that are difficult to test in human studies, particularly without use of overly invasive methods.
Living conditions and diet are also easier to control in such studies. Rodent studies can help distinguish the effects of each of these factors distinctly. Rodents are also good models for imitating human physiology. Indeed, in rodent studies, both the diversity and specific taxa of the gut microbiota have been shown to be impacted by exercise.
Nonetheless, some bacteria generally appear to respond to exercise, including increased Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium , and Akkermansia and decreased Proteobacteria. Finally, butyrate-producing taxa as well as SCFA production have been consistently shown to increase in response to exercise 61 , 73 , while the majority of studies also showed increased α-diversity following exercise.
Interestingly, some studies have investigated the effect of the gut microbiome on performance. The effect of the presence of the microbiome has been addressed by comparing germ-free GF to specific pathogen-free SPF mice and showing a higher exercise capacity in SPF mice Moreover, exercise capacity improved in mice colonized with individual bacterial taxa compared to their GF counterparts.
However, differences were observed between bacteria in the degree of impact This suggests that if the gut microbiome may have a global positive impact on performance, its effect may depend on its composition.
Interestingly, regardless of the bacterial species used to monocolonize GF mice, SPF mice always showed the greatest performance in a test of endurance swimming, suggesting that a more diverse microbiome may be necessary to exert beneficial effects. Recent studies have also shown that gut microbiota may be critical for optimal muscle function.
Indeed, depletion of the microbiota using antibiotics led to a reduction in running capacity and in muscle contractile function 75 , Interestingly, similar results were obtained using a low-microbiota accessible carbohydrate diet that lowered SCFA production.
Finally, restoration of the microbiota 75 or infusion of acetate 76 reversed the loss of endurance capacity and muscle contractile function.
An interesting aspect of animal studies is the possibility of performing fecal microbiota transplants FMT. A few studies established that the beneficial health effect of exercise may be mediated through gut microbiome changes. Indeed, high-fat diet-fed mice receiving FMT from exercised donors not only showed markedly reduced food efficacy but also improved metabolic profiles The transmissible beneficial effects of FMT were associated with the bacterial genera Helicobacter and Odoribacter , as well as an overrepresentation of oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis genes in the metagenome.
Similarly, it has been shown recently that the gut microbiome determines the efficacy of exercise for diabetes prevention. Exercise was first shown to improve glucose homeostasis only in a fraction of pre-diabetic individuals responders.
The microbiome of responders exhibited an enhanced capacity for the biosynthesis of SCFAs and catabolism of branched-chain amino acids. Moreover, the baseline microbiome signature could predict individual exercise responses. Remarkably, following FMT, gut microbiota from responders conferred the metabolic benefits of exercise to recipient mice Rodent studies have recently produced interesting new results, indicating that each exercise modality causes its own alterations of the gut microbiome First, both voluntary wheel running and forced treadmill running altered many individual bacterial taxa, including Turicibacter spp.
In mice fed a high-fat diet, exercise was proven to increase the Bacteroidetes phylum, while it decreased Firmicutes proportionately to the distance the mice ran The high-fat diet component in this study is an important parameter to consider as it has been shown to cause modifications in mouse gut microbiota at nearly the same magnitude as exercise alone As in animal models, exercise and diet may together impact the composition of the human gut microbiota.
For example, a study investigating the gut microbial response in amateur half-marathon runners observed some changes in 40 fecal metabolites and some shifts in specific gut bacterial populations. However, the authors concluded that these observed differences might have been the shared outcome of running and diet As reviewed by Mitchell et al.
In particular, the amount of fiber consumed should be taken into account before drawing any conclusions when comparing the results of different studies. Their bulking effect on transit time, stool frequency, and gut health 84 comes from the fact that some fibers are not absorbed in the small intestine and are thus fermented in the large intestine.
Consequently, differences in fiber consumption impact the type and amount of SCFAs produced by the microbiota For example, the gut microbiota of children from Burkina Faso, whose diet contains a large amount of fibers compared to European children, was significantly enriched in Bacteroidetes and depleted in Firmicutes Furthermore, significantly more SCFAs were found in Burkina Faso children's feces compared to in European children's feces.
Species from the Bacteroidetes phylum mainly produce acetate and propionate, whereas butyrate-producing bacteria are found within the Firmicutes phylum The increasing fiber consumption resulted in higher microbiota stability associated with higher microbiota richness.
Table 2. The different types of dietary fiber [modified from 83 ]. Fiber intake is often low in the diet of athletes. Several studies, involving female artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and ballet dance athletes 88 , or competitive American adolescent swimmers 89 reported that athletes' fiber consumption was often below the nutritional guidelines of 25 g per day based on a 2,calorie diet Only a few studies reported fiber consumption above the nutritional guidelines, and one of the few examples is female and male Dutch ultramarathon runners Athletes may be reluctant to adopt such dietary habits because of higher satiety sensation or digestion and gastrointestinal discomfort issues In parallel, to avoid gastrointestinal symptoms associated with exercise, some athletes turn to a low FODMAP Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols diet to limit the presence of highly fermentable carbohydrates in their digestive tract Indeed, undigested carbohydrates may increase the osmotic load in the small intestine and contribute to increased osmotic water translocation, volume, and physiological issues such as loose stool or diarrhea 94 , Particular attention must also be paid when comparing elite athletes with sedentary controls.
Indeed, dietary protein intake differs largely in elite athletes and sedentary controls diets A recent study dealt with the effects of protein supplementation on the gut microbial composition Protein supplementation increased the abundance of the Bacteroidetes phylum and decreased the presence of health-related taxa, including Roseburia, Blautia , and Bifidobacterium longum.
The authors concluded that long-term protein supplementation may have a negative impact on gut microbiota.
Likewise, a study comparing fecal microbiota characteristics among healthy sedentary men as controls , bodybuilders, and distance runners found that daily protein intake negatively correlated with diversity in distance runners.
This implies that a high quantity of protein in the diet may negatively impact the gut microbiota. Moreover, there was no difference in microbial diversity, but subject populations differed in terms of their gut microbial composition: Faecalibacterium, Sutterella, Clostridium, Haemophilus , and Eisenbergiella were the highest in bodybuilders, while Bifidobacterium and Parasutterella were the lowest.
Some intestinal beneficial bacteria Bifidobacterium adolescentis group, Bifidobacterium longum group, Lactobacillus sakei group, Blautia wexlerae and Eubacterium hallii were the lowest in bodybuilders and the highest in controls.
Thus, bodybuilders demonstrate a decrease in SCFA-producing commensal bacteria compared to controls Historically, probiotics have been used to mitigate intestinal issues linked to antibiotic treatment, travel, or illness Until very recently, the beneficial effects demonstrated after probiotic consumption were immune modulation and strengthening of the gut mucosal barrier.
The mechanisms included 1 modifications of gut microbial composition, 2 dietary protein modifications by the microbiota, 3 modification of bacterial enzyme capacity, 4 physical adherence to the intestinal mucosa that may outcompete a pathogen or inhibit its activation, and 5 influence on gut mucosal permeability , There are also effects through interactions with immune intestinal cells or altering cytokine production, especially in the upper part of the gut, where probiotics may transiently dominate Compared to hundreds of commensal species inhabiting the human gut microbiota, probiotics are limited to specific bacterial strains, mostly within the genera Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium , and Saccharomyces for yeasts, for regulatory reasons.
Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei Shirota have the longest history among known bacterial strains for application.
In present-day commercial probiotic products, Lactobacillus spp. are well-represented, followed by Bifidobacterium spp. There is today a high degree of consensus that the clinical effects of probiotics are strain-dependent, meaning that probiotic properties should be defined not only at the species level but also at the strain level Probiotics have been tested for different potential health effects on athletes.
Figure 3 summarizes the reported effects of probiotic ingestion by athletes or subjects practicing moderate physical exercise.
Figure 3. Reported effects of probiotic ingestion by athletes or subjects practicing moderate physical exercise. However, the effects differed between males and females, the latter group being less studied. Until recently, probiotic supplementation effects on sports performance have seldom been tested.
For example, Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain ATCC , when tested in marathon runners, demonstrated no effect on the number of GI symptom episodes, but their duration was shorter in the probiotic group In competitive cyclists, the number and duration of mild gastrointestinal symptoms were ~2-fold higher in the probiotic group Lactobacillus fermentum PCC However, in males, there was a substantial reduction in the severity of gastrointestinal illness as the mean training load increased.
Noticeably, the burden of lower respiratory illness symptoms decreased in males but increased in females. When sprint athletes consumed Bifidobacterium bifidum , their IgA, IgM, lymphocyte and monocyte percentages and CD4 counts were significantly higher than those of the control group Lactobacillus helveticus Lafti ® L10 supplementation for 3 months in a population of elite athletes triathletes, cyclists, and endurance athletes showed, in the probiotic group, a decrease in the main markers of oxidative stress and antioxidative defense, such as malondialdehyde, advanced oxidation protein products and superoxide dismutase In male runners, multistrain probiotic supplementation Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium bifidum , and Streptococcus thermophilus significantly increased running time to fatigue.
In addition, probiotic supplementation led to small to moderate reductions in intestinal permeability and gastrointestinal discomfort In 24 recreational runners, probiotic supplementation for 28 days prior to a marathon race [ Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL60 and CUL21 , Bifidobacterium bifidum CUL20 , and Bifidobacterium animalis subs p.
lactis CUL34 ] was associated with a significantly lower incidence and severity of GI symptoms and limited decrease in average speed in the probiotics group compared to the control group However, there were no significant differences in finish times between the groups.
Probiotic supplementation Streptococcus thermophilus FP4 and Bifidobacterium breve BR03 was reported to likely enhance isometric average peak torque production, attenuating performance decrements and muscle tension in the days following a muscle-damaging exercise , where subjects performed 5 sets of 10 maximal eccentric contractions.
In a similar study design, Bacillus coagulans GBI , significantly increased recovery at 24 and 72 h and decreased soreness at 72 h post exercise Probiotic supplementation correlated with a maintained performance and a small increase in creatine phosphokinase.
Finally, Bacillus subtilis consumption during offseason training in female collegiate soccer and volleyball players, in conjunction with post-workout nutrition, had no effect on physical performance However, body fat percentages were significantly lower in the probiotic group.
Altogether, these results show that probiotics may improve oxidative or inflammatory markers but have no proven effect on performance. Nonetheless, potential new generation probiotics, first identified in elite athletes' microbiome undergoing exercise, have recently shown promising results in mouse performance models These bacteria belonging to the Veillonella genus feed on lactic acid and produce propionate, which may increase endurance capacity.
In endurance sports, the effects of exercise on the microbiome depend upon exercise intensity and its duration. Training can also reinforce some of these effects or develop new effects.
In return, changes in the gut microbiota diversity and composition can translate into a reduction in inflammation and gastrointestinal symptoms as well as the modification of hundreds of metabolites.
Many of them are beneficial for the organism SCFAs, secondary bile acids, etc. and can allow endurance athletes to conduct huge volumes of training or to improve their sports performance.
Probiotics can be used, in addition, to further potentiate these adaptations. However, research is still needed to identify the best bacterial strains and their methods of administration. In addition, in a number of studies, it is very difficult to distinguish between the effects of exercise and diet on the gut microbiome variations.
They could both act synergistically. The different types of fiber, protein and supplements are usually not documented. However, the genome content of species with highly similar rDNA 16S sequences can differ. So, the correlation between 16S rDNA taxonomy and functions does have limits.
Besides 16S rDNA, other methods should be used to decipher the functions of microorganisms of interest. To overcome these limitations, Table 3 summarizes our main suggestions for future studies. Table 3. Recommendations for more integrated studies in order to understand the interplay between exercise and gut microbiota in recreational athletes and elites.
Similarly, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics microbiota analyses can help to i explain some of the sports-induced modifications and ii find new key targets to act on. We suggest adding longitudinal sportomics studies to microbiome monitoring through omics methods, together with dietary and well-being questionnaires.
It could lead to microbiome-based solutions for health or performance by helping in the design of new supplements and also probiotics that would not necessarily be a unique strain but rather a consortium of species for a given metabolic outcome. In addition to new monitoring applications, this strategy could lead to optimized diets through personalized nutrition based on an individual's microbiome make-up and workout intensity.
MC wrote the first draft of the manuscript. ML coordinated the work. PG focused on animal models. AM on clinical context. MC, PG, AM, and ML revised the original manuscript.
All authors approved the final manuscript. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Gastin PB. Energy system interaction and relative contribution during maximal exercise.
Sports Med. doi: PubMed Abstract CrossRef Full Text Google Scholar. Jeukendrup AE, Moseley L. Multiple transportable carbohydrates enhance gastric emptying and fluid delivery. Scand J Med Sci Sports.
Jeukendrup AE. Training the gut for athletes. CrossRef Full Text Google Scholar. Rivera-Brown AM, Frontera WR. Principles of exercise physiology: responses to acute exercise and long-term adaptations to training. Drossman DA. The functional gastrointestinal disorders and the Rome III process.
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Microbiome definition re-visited: old concepts and new challenges. Helander HF, Fändriks L. Surface area of the digestive tract — revisited. Scand J Gastroenterol. McHardy IH, Goudarzi M, Tong M, Ruegger PM, Schwager E, Weger JR, et al. Integrative analysis of the microbiome and metabolome of the human intestinal mucosal surface reveals exquisite inter-relationships.
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Gut microbiota diversity across ethnicities in the United States. Li J, Jia H, Cai X, Zhong H, Feng Q, Sunagawa S, et al. An integrated catalog of reference genes in the human gut microbiome. If your diet is too heavily weighted towards simple sugars and starches, which are absorbed more quickly, you rob your gut of the good microbes that develop from slower digesting foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Whole fruits are better than juice, because they contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. So, just like in the rainforest, the more species you have, the more stable your ecosystem will be.
I like to think of my gut as a garden, and the encourage growth of the right species. Look for new fruits and vegetables at your local market and try to shop seasonally. A healthy gut community enhances the way we absorb nutrients and vitamins, and converts some of the food we eat into more valuable byproducts.
For example, take the recent beet juice craze for performance enhancement. Nitrate is converted to nitrite by the microbes in your mouth and gut for use in the nitric oxide NO system, a cardiovascular signaling molecule.
A healthy gut is critical to getting the most benefit of a healthy diet. Gut microbes also prime the immune system and keep it running well. Eating lots of plant polysaccharides will shift the balance back from the changes caused by eating the western diet.
Gut microbiota uealth exercise atjletes recently been shown to be interconnected. Both ath,etes and Gut health and digestion for endurance athletes exercise are sthletes part endutance the Gut health and digestion for endurance athletes regimen of Hydration and sports athletes, digestjon they exert different effects on health. Moderate Resveratrol and fertility has positive effects on the health of average athletes, such as a reduction in inflammation and intestinal permeability and an improvement in body composition. It also induces positive changes in the gut microbiota composition and in the microbial metabolites produced in the gastrointestinal tract. Conversely, intense exercise can increase gastrointestinal epithelial wall permeability and diminish gut mucus thickness, potentially enabling pathogens to enter the bloodstream. This, in turn, may contribute to the increase in inflammation levels. Fitness Sports Performance Workout Gut health and digestion for endurance athletes Nutrition. Exercise-related healtu symptoms are inconvenient, can adversely affect performance and emdurance some cases, may Metabolism optimization long-term health consequences. Causes of exercise-induced gastrointestinal complaints are multifactorial and can include:. Also read : A Gut Check on Gut Health. Hypoperfusion reduced blood flow of the gut during exercise can range from mild circulatory changes to ischemia.
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