According to a new study, the key ingredient in a multi-award-winning, 44p per day prebiotic from Bimuno® could hold the key to supporting your sports performance.
Brainboxes at Bimuno® insist sports nutrition remains one of the most exciting areas of exploration in the prebiotic field. And the good news is – they don’t just mean elite sport. They also mean those juggling family life and parenting with daily exercise rituals.
A brand-new study conducted by Dr Neil Williams of Nottingham Trent University and prebiotic industry leader Clasado Biosciences, found that prebiotic Bimuno GOS, the ingredient found in the Bimuno line of prebiotic supplements, could in multiple ways play a fundamental role in improving training and playing availability.
How the gut impacts your sports performance
“Nutrition has long been acknowledged as a crucial ingredient in sporting success but taking care of your gut – alongside a nutritionally optimised diet – should be a feature in every athlete’s health arsenal,” said Bimuno® Research and Development Director, Dr Lucien Harthoorn.
“The relationship between prebiotics and athletic health is not yet fully understood, which underlines the significance of this new study. While the study focuses on top-flight rugby players, the findings of the study reveal core benefits that apply to all levels of sport and physical activity, from recreational exercise to top-flight athletics.
“So, if you’re scratching your head about why you still haven’t quite managed to get back into the swing of things where the gym’s concerned or find getting—and staying—on track to be daunting, these latest findings could be big news for you and your faltering fitness.”
Prebiotics and exercise performance:
Previously, there haven’t been studies assessing the specific benefits of prebiotic consumption for exercise performance. Still, there was a widely held assumption that athletes consuming prebiotics would experience the same health benefits as non-athletes. One such benefit is improvement in the gut microbiome, which ultimately benefits the brain via the gut-brain axis and may hypothetically benefit cognitive function and help manage the stress response to exercise.
But this week, a brand-new study revealed that prebiotic fibre GOS, a nutritional powerhouse that fuels good gut bacteria, could prove key to supporting better sporting performance.
The study explored the effect of prebiotic supplements on elite rugby players from the Gallagher Premiership and used Bimuno® GOS, the ingredient in the Bimuno® line of prebiotic supplements.
“Bimuno GOS stands out in the market as the most studied ingredient of its kind,” explains Dr Harthoorn. “It’s backed by over 110 published scientific studies, including more than 20 clinical trials.”
Should athletes be supplementing with prebiotics?
The research centred on supporting immune health and increasing availability for training and competitions. The findings show a new potential avenue in athletic health supplementation, delivered through better gut health. Measured over the course of a competitive season, the double-blind study showed that the duration of cold or flu-like symptoms in players was reduced by an average of 2.4 days, a 24% improvement.
The results also found that those players taking prebiotic supplements had an increase in salivary lgA secretion rate, an antibody the body uses to ward off potential illness and diseases.
Gut health and immune health
Dr Neil Williams, study lead and Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition at Nottingham Trent University’s Department of Sport Science, comments: “Through our latest study and the wider, rapidly advancing field of gut health science, we are enhancing our understanding of how gut microbiota can support gastrointestinal immune function. This research provides interesting indications on how prebiotic Bimuno GOS, which nourishes beneficial bacteria, could be key in the future of sports nutrition product development.
“From the study results and the biomarkers we measured, we can see fascinating mechanisms at work. For example, we saw a slight increase in the secretion rate of salivary lgA, a biomarker of immune health. It’s important to note that with a prebiotic intervention, we are not putting up a ‘force field’ against illness or disease; what we’re doing is improving the body’s tolerance and ability to fight off potential illnesses. We’re uncovering the important role of the gut microbiome, but studies such as this enable us to turn that understanding into action.”
What makes Bimuno GOS different?
“Bimuno GOS stands out in the market as the most studied ingredient of its kind,” added Dr Harthoorn. “It’s backed by over 110 published scientific studies, including more than 20 clinical trials. Consumers are looking for products they can trust, and this latest study is further evidence of its benefits. With prebiotics providing such a great opportunity for sports nutrition brands, we look forward to supporting the future of sports nutrition product development through prebiotic-powered gut microbiome modulation.”
Shoppers can pick up one-off boxes or sign up for monthly subscriptions online at bimuno.com. Enjoy your first three-month subscription from £39.99.
Find out more about how the gut microbiome impacts your fitness
