Are Performance Enhancing Probiotics The New Frontier?
SoccerToday’s nutrition columnist, Nancy Clark, discusses whether the bacteria in your gut can enhance running performance!
Sports Nutrition Update: Microbes!
Do you know the bacteria in your gut might enhance running performance on the soccer field?
Do you know your ability to run in the heat depends on how well you hydrate? Or that the soccer you play when as a youth player impacts your bone health as an adult?
At the annual sports nutrition conference hosted in March 2021 by SCAN (the sports nutrition practice group of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics; SCANdpg.org, the speakers offered updates on these topics of interest. 
Nutrition Information for Soccer Players: Performance-enhancing probiotics: A new frontier?
Elite athletes have endurance, strength, strong minds, and the ability to recover from injuries. Could these positive traits be connected to the kinds of microbes in their guts (their microbiome)?
Are the gut-brain and the gut-muscle connections in elite soccer players comparable to those of non-players?
COULD SPECIFIC GUT MICROBES MAKE ELITE PLAYERS BETTER?
To discover the impact of the microbiome on exercise performance, FitBiomics, a biotechnology company, is studying the microbiome of top athletes, looking for performance-enhancing microbes.
For example, marathon runners (compared to non-runners) have a higher amount of the bacteria Veillonella that efficiently eats lactic acid and reduces inflammation.
Mice fed Veillonella improved 13% in endurance running.
What if marathoners consumed Veillonella supplements? Would that help them run longer? Faster? How could this supplement help youth soccer players run faster and have more endurance? More research is needed, but the information to date seems promising. Stay tuned!
Recent research suggests that probiotics may enhance certain aspects of athletic performance, indirectly contributing to improved speed in soccer players. For example, a 2024 study found that probiotics, particularly when combined with casein supplementation, improved aerobic capacity in male soccer players by delaying fatigue and increasing time to exhaustion.
Additionally, probiotics have been associated with enhanced endurance performance, potentially due to improved immune function and reduced oxidative stress.
While these findings are promising, more research is needed to directly link probiotic supplementation to increased running speed in soccer players.
