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The Willner Window Product Reference Catalog, Spring 2017
Since 1911
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Willner Chemists: The Nutritional Supplement Professionals
Probiotics and Prebiotics Help Athletes Recover
After Strenuous Exercise
Probiotics and Muscle
Recovery
P
robiotics do more than boost the immune
response and improve digestion. They
have been shown to reduce inflammation
after exercise, for example, which enhances
recovery.
There is little information about the effects
of probiotics on post-exercise inflammation,
but this new study changes that. In the study,
15 healthy resistance-trained men took a
placebo or S. thermophiles and
Bifidobacterium breve at 5-billion live colony-
forming units (CFUs) each, daily for three
weeks prior to muscle-damaging exercise.
After the exercise, while there were no
changes for placebo, those in the probiotics
group had lower levels of an important
inflammatory factor, interleukin-6 (Il-6), which
reduced recovery time. Doctors saw the anti-
inflammatory benefit through two days after
the test. Also during recovery, the probiotics
group saw muscle strength increase from 8 to
12 percent, and reported less fatigue than
placebo.
(Reference: Nutrients; 2016, Vol. 8, No. 10,
642)
Prebiotic and Probiotic
Supplementation Reduces
Post-Exercise Toxins and
Inflammation.
After rigorous exercise, the gut can become
more permeable, allowing waste products
and infectious organisms to cross this barrier
into the bloodstream, triggering an
inflammatory response.
In this study, 30 recreational athletes took a
placebo, or 400 mg of the prebiotic
fructooligosaccharides (FOS) plus 30 billion
CFUs total of four probiotics per day, or this
combination plus 200 mg of alpha lipoic acid
and 300 mg of N-acetyl carnitine per day.
After 12 weeks, participants swam 1.1
miles, biked 111 miles, and ran 26.2 miles in
a triathlon. Both before and after the race,
levels of toxins and inflammatory molecules
were lower in both supplement groups while
increasing for placebo. After the race, gut
permeability had increased for placebo but
remained stable in the two supplement
groups. Those taking the prebiotics (FOS) and
probiotics also tended to have faster race
times.
Doctors concluded a multi-strain pre-and-
probiotic can help maintain gut stability and
reduce inflammation after heavy exercise.
(Reference: Nutrients; 2016, Vol. 8, No. 11,
733)
The Willner Chemists web site is a
valuable resource for information
on nutritional supplements
how to choose them,
and how to use them.
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