Performance nutrition science is filled with promising data on the positive effects of food and certain supplements to enhance an athlete’s power, endurance, and focus.

As the body of research on athletes grows, it’s becoming clear that trainers, coaches, and athletes themselves should take a broader approach to sports performance. After all, athletes are humans first!

What do probiotics do?

In case you need a refresher, your gut is teeming with trillions of bacteria species, and it is constantly working to maintain a balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria! Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that your body needs to function at its best.

Some research suggests that having too many of the "bad" and not enough of the "good" bacteria can wreak all sorts of havoc on your body’s systems, even in parts of your body that might not seem related to the gut.

When you take a probiotic, you can think of it as adding more good bacteria to your gut as opposed to prebiotics, the similarly named counterpart. Prebiotics are the food that the bacteria eat. 

When should you take probiotics? 

While there’s still research being conducted on the performance-enhancing benefit of probiotic use for athletes, the data is showing that there are ancillary benefits that probiotic use can have on an athlete’s overall health. This in turn helps to keep the athlete training, competing, and recovering according to their optimal schedule.1

Although often overlooked, optimal intestinal health is essential for many reasons. Good gut health supports a healthy inflammatory response, optimal immune health (as over 70% of active immune tissue resides in the gut),2 and digestion and absorption of food.

Here are some reasons athletes of all ages and life stages can benefit from a daily probiotic:

  • For training: Probiotics provide support for gut health during training, especially in hot, high-intensity training environments.*
  • For travel: Having a healthy gut can help combat the exposure to pathogens athletes inevitably encounter while traveling. For example, probiotics help provide beneficial bacteria to overshadow the less desirable bacteria associated with traveler's diarrhea that can increase the risk of dehydration, missed training sessions, and suboptimal performance. Whether athletes are traveling internationally or within their home country, they may be skipping time zones. This means they could struggle with getting a good night's rest, making them more prone to getting sick.
  • For comforting digestive upset: Perhaps the most obvious reason to take a probiotic would be to offset GI discomfort, like gas, bloating, or occasional diarrhea or constipation.* Athletes, particularly endurance athletes are susceptible to gut complaints, partly because during a long-distance event like a marathon, the blood and oxygen are being shuttled to the most important places – brain, heart, and muscles.
  • For filling a gap in diet: Probiotics are especially important when food intake variety is low. Young athletes who don’t eat a variety of fiber-rich food sources can especially benefit from a daily probiotic.

Support your health with Thorne

Ready to support your gut health? Look no further than Thorne’s FloraSport 20B®, a probiotic that supports GI health, bowel habit frequency, and occasional diarrhea or constipation.*

Specifically designed to support the unique needs of athletes, FloraSport 20B benefits exercise recovery so you can get back to your game.* Finally, the formula is a great option for any fitness enthusiast who travels. That’s why it’s a major player in Thorne’s Travel Bundle.

It’s also worth noting some of FloraSport 20B’s other specific benefits for athletes. For example, what do probiotics do for women athletes? A specific ingredient in this formula has been shown to support a healthy body composition in female athletes.* For more information regarding the question “What do probiotics do for women?”, read An Inside Look at Your Vaginal Microbiome and the Helpful Bacteria There and check out Women’s Daily Probiotic. 

But what do probiotics do for men athletes? A specific bacterial strain in FloraSport 20B have been shown to support a balanced inflammatory response in male athletes.*

 And if you’re still wondering, “Can probiotics help with bloating?” the answer is yes! Several of our products address problems with gas and bloating, including FloraSport 20B, Women’s Daily Probiotic, and Bacillus Coagulans. Still not sure if probiotics are right for you and still wondering about the signs probiotics are working? Learn more and explore Thorne’s wide variety of probiotic product offerings here. And if you need help determining which probiotic might be right for you, take Thorne’s Probiotic Quiz.