When you think about the benefits of probiotic supplementation, things like improved gut health, digestion, and immune function likely come to mind. The probiotic dietary supplement market is currently valued at $10.5 billion, and is projected to grow even more in the coming years.
A new meta-analysis checked to see if there are additional benefits to probiotics beyond what is typically advertised. Researchers looked at 21 studies consisting of 685 participants to determine if probiotic supplementation aided in physical performance.
The clearest benefits came with endurance. Cycling-based VO2 max showed a particularly large improvement. VO2 max is a measure of the body’s ability to utilize oxygen and is considered one of the best markers of conditioning. Overall aerobic endurance showed an improvement under the researchers’ endurance model used to analyze the data. By contrast, muscle strength, agility, sprint speed, and change-of-direction tests showed no significant benefit.
Considering this was a meta-analysis looking at a number of studies, there is going to be variety in the probiotic dosages used. Only doses of roughly 1 billion to 100 billion CFU/day showed benefits. But almost all supplements you find will be within that range anyway.
The probiotic products used varied as well. Different probiotic supplements contain different strains. Both single-strain and multi-strain products worked, with multi-strain trending slightly better. Among individual strains, only Lactobacillus plantarum showed a clear, statistically significant benefit, so you probably want to make sure your probiotic supplement has it on the label.
Benefits appeared by around 30 days, with the largest predicted gains around 90–110 days of supplementation.
This meta-analysis suggests that the appeal of probiotics extends further than gut health and digestion alone. A probiotic supplement, particularly one featuring Lactobacillus plantarum, may be a worthwhile addition to your routine if you are looking for an added bonus in athletic performance.
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