Athletes looking for a competitive edge may find it in their gut microbiome

When milliseconds can mean the difference between silver and gold, endurance athletes in sports like marathon running, cycling, rowing and swimming optimize every aspect of their physiology for a competitive advantage.

Many of these efforts result in improved mitochondrial performancethe tiny but mighty powerhouses of energy within your cells. Carefully calibrated exercise doses combined with beneficial stress—altitude, cold And heat—and optimized recovery in the form of nutrition, meditation And sleeppositively affect the number and health of mitochondria in your cells muscles, heart And brain.

But there is another aspect of endurance training that has perhaps been largely overlooked by athletes and coaches: the role of intestinal microbiome to optimize your mitochondrial health and fitness.

I am a physician-researcher and gastroenterologist who has been studying for more than 20 years how diet affects the role of the gut microbiome in health and disease. While research evaluating The effects of foods on the microbiome and mitochondria improves our understanding of conditions such as obesity, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis And Alzheimer’s diseaseIt could also help athletes reach new levels of performance through innovative approaches to nutrition.

Microbiomes and mitochondria

The gut microbiome, a hidden factory of highly collaborative microorganisms in your gut, keeps your metabolism, immune system, and brain running smoothly. Some researchers compare it to another organ which detects nutritional intake, makes signaling molecules and prepares your body to respond appropriately.

Research has shown that endurance athletes have different gut microbiomes than the general population. microbiome composition and a function, such as increased production of a short-chain fatty acid called butyrateare associated with an increase in VO₂ max, a fitness benchmark that measures your ability to consume oxygen during intense exercise. One organism in particular, Veillonelle is found in some elite runners and may help increase lactate threshold, a measure of fitness closely related to mitochondrial function and how long an athlete is able to sustain intense effort.

A healthy microbiomecommunicates with mitochondriathe tiny structures inside your cells that convert calories into raw cellular energy needed for muscle contraction and other essential functions. It does this by converting undigested food components from a Balanced diet—like fiber, polyunsaturated fats And polyphenols—in molecules that increase the number and health of your mitochondria.

Some of these metabolites—butyrate, conjugated linoleic acid And urolithin A Among them, they have been shown to specifically improve muscle strength and endurance. Combining exercise with a diet rich in fiber, polyphenols (a chemical compound from plants), and healthy fats can thus increase mitochondrial capacity and improve physical performance.

Nutritional errors and gaps

A healthy diet is essential for microbiome and mitochondrial health. Conversely, ultra-processed diets have been linked to diseases ranging from obesity And cancer has autoimmune disease And Alzheimer’s diseaseSome people think that athletes are protected from Adverse health effects of ultra-processed diets because of beneficial effects of exerciseWhile this may be partially true, it is important to consider other factors in diet beyond just calories burned.

Additives used to improve the taste and appearance of foods, as emulsifiersmay negatively affect the gut microbiome, compromising the intestinal barrier and causing systemic inflammation, an unhealthy state linked to metabolic disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases And neurodegenerative diseasesUltra-processed foods also removed key factors like fiber, polyphenols, and healthy fats found in whole foods that support gut health and signal to the mitochondria that there are calories to metabolize.

Drinks, shakes, bars and gels used for endurance sports are processed foods formulated to provide concentrated, accessible energy during intense exercise. Although unhealthy in other contexts, they can be essential for improve performances during long-duration endurance events, when your body depletes its own version of accessible carbohydrates called glycogen.

But it’s important to complement these energy supplements with a healthy diet in the recovery hours following exercise. The combination of an unhealthy base diet and high-intensity exercise could compromise your gut barrier and increase inflammation. This has been linked to a variety of workout-related issues, including: gastrointestinal disorders, musculoskeletal injuries And respiratory diseases.

Performance-enhancing microbes

Reintroduce a diet rich in Foods That Positively Affect Your Microbiome—beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—during the recovery phase of training can help most people prevent the adverse effects of high-intensity exercise and optimize performance.

However, due to antibiotic abuse And processed dietsSome people lack key microbes and metabolic machinery needed to convert fibers And polyphenols into useful molecules that the body can use. This shortage may explain why some healthy foods and diets might not be beneficial or tolerated by all.

Healthy diets could then benefit from reintroducing key microbes into the gastrointestinal tract. Research has shown that probiotic bacteria strains may improve barrier function, reduce systemic inflammation, and potentially improve athletic performance by mitigate side effects high-intensity exercise. An alternative approach is to increase consumption fermented foodssuch as yogurt and pickled vegetables, which can increase microbiome diversity and decrease systemic inflammation.

In some cases, healthy foods can also be supplemented by directly providing the body with key metabolites produced by microbes. Research shows that these metabolites, also called postbiotics Or exercise mimicry-improve muscular strength and physical performanceSome postbiotics also function as prebiotics which promote the growth of healthy microbes And help restore a damaged microbiome.

From research to podium

While the benefits of nutritional targeting your microbiome and mitochondria for general health are becoming increasingly clear, this approach is still in the early days of exploration in endurance sports.

For the casual athlete and weekend warrior, integral nutrition strategies who support the microbiome and mitochondria These strategies could prove very useful. They have the potential to improve performance, protect against the adverse effects of training, and prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

For elite athletes looking to make even small improvements to an already well-oiled training program, further research into how the gut microbiome influences performance could prove invaluable. In a highly competitive field where nothing can be left out (or shelved), such interventions could be the deciding factor in whether or not they finish on the podium.

This article is republished from The conversation under Creative Commons license. Read more original article.