There is more and more evidence that your gut health can impact more than just your digestive system. The bacteria in your intestines have been shown to influence our mood, our hunger and satiety, and our immune function.
But one area of emerging research has also shown that these bacterial species can affect our performance during exercise. This has led to studies looking at whether probiotic supplements can lead to improvements in performance and used as an endurance supplement.
A recent review (1) of all probiotic studies to date found that, from 24 studies, while only 7 reported significant improvements in performance following probiotic supplementation, there were big differences in study design and it was suggested that effects may be specific to individual probiotic supplements - they are not all the same.