The study, conducted by Increnovo, a Milwaukee, WI-based consulting and contract research firm, used Ganeden’s propriety strain branded as Ganeden BC30. The study, presented by Increnovo’s Ralf Jäger, PhD, used 30 trained, young male athletes divided into two groups. The participants received two daily doses of either 20 grams casein alone or the protein in combination with 500 million CFU of Ganeden BC30. The subjects went through a routine of heavy weight lifting designed to stress principally the quadriceps muscle. Peak power and vertical jump power was measured pre and post workout. The results were striking, Jäger said.
“We found that the addition of the probiotic reduces muscle damage and it increases recovery. We measured performance and power and we saw a significant decrease in the protein group, and the probiotic was able to prevent the decrease in performance and was actually able to increase performance,” Jäger told NutraIngredients-USA.
Jäger said the results fit with other tests his research group and others have done with probiotics and sports performance and in dealing with the suppression of immune function that athletes experience post exercise. The research direction is an interesting one, as it shows the many connections between movement, exercise, diet and overall gut health.
Studies point to immune, gut benefits for athletes
For example, a comparison done in 2014 of male rugby players on an international team with average and overweight non athletes in Ireland showed that the athletes had significantly greater diversity in their gut microbiomes, with 22 phyla, 68 families, and 113 genera compared with just 11 phyla, 33 families and 65 genera for controls with a low BMI, and 9 phyla, 33 families and 61 genera for controls with a high BMI.
A number of researchers have investigated whether supplementation with probiotics can support immune function among athletes, which can be stressed during and post heavy exercise. During his talk at Probiota Americas, which was hosted by NutraIngredients-USA, Jäger detailed the results of 25 different tests on probiotics in athletes, most of which were looking at endpoints dealing with respiratory infections and gastrointestinal symptoms. While some of the studies were inconclusive, overall the ingredients have shown a trend toward reducing duration and severity of URTIs and gastrointestinal symptoms, Jäger said.
Performance results more elusive
Fewer studies have gathered data on how probiotics might affect performance, but even with this smaller data set, the results are intriguing, he said. A study conducted in 2013 with female endurance swimmers showed as a subsidiary endpoint that probiotic supplementation both reduced 400 meter swim times and increased the subjects’ VO2 max measurement.
Jäger’s most recent study built on an earlier pilot study he had done via TNO’s TIM-1 in vitro gut model with Ganeden’s ingredient in conjunction with whey protein, which showed that the ingredient improved the absorption of certain amino acids. The most recent study is the first that links probiotic supplementation with an improvement in sports performance directly, Jäger said. It opens up both a new research direction for the field and a significant market opportunity, he said.
“This protein we have tested seems to have a significant effect on protein utilization,” Jäger said. “Because protein is the No. 1 ingredient that is used by all athletes around the world, if you can make the protein you are using more effective, then that’s a huge market potential for probiotics.”