An active lifestyle contributes to your overall health. A strong, robust body allows you to achieve peak physical performance when coupled with a healthy diet (such as vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian). When your body is your most valuable tool the importance of taking care of it increases. A daily probiotic supplement is the perfect addition to your training regime for both men and women alike!
Anti inflammatory probiotic strains have shown they can help improve recovery from muscle damage caused by exercise. Athletes often want to build muscle. Proper diet and strength training are important but so are probiotics as they can aid in digestion and protein absorption. For an athlete’s body (or anyone’s body) to get the most out of the protein they eat it needs to be properly broken down. Then the small intestines are able to absorb it and put it to use within the body. Athletes may take in enormous quantities of protein at once. Probiotics also aid the body in producing digestive enzymes that digest proteins that might otherwise be difficult to break down and absorb. Therefore, if protein shakes, powders and bars are combined with probiotics the protein can be better absorbed and more beneficial to the athlete. Nova probiotics can help the with the body’s absorption of vitamins and nutrients into the bloodstream and are allergen free (gluten, dairy/lactose free). By absorbing the most nutritional value possible from food you are able to have more energy, improved recovery and increased stamina. Probiotics also aid in turning food into hard working fuels making them a great way to maximize your workout.
Studies have shown evidence of the role of a healthy microbiome in althletic and sport performance with elite runners having a greater abundance of Veillonella (part of the flora) that seems to confer a metabolic advantage for endurance exercise by converting exercise-induced lactate to propionate. A 13% increase in endurance performance was found in pre-clinical studies with Veillonella.
Athletes who have immune depression often find that it gets worse. This is because their lifestyles involve extravagant amounts of training, stress, interrupted or weird sleep schedules, and environment extremes. This can contribute to a greater risk of respiratory tract infections. Other factors which may impact some athletes include exposure to crowds, travel, and not being vigilant with their hygiene which may increase how much they are subjected to pathogens, thus also increasing infections. Since about 70% of the immune system is found in the gut probiotics can help to strengthen the immune system and help ward off infections. Probiotics have been shown to reduce the number of instances where athletes end up with upper respiratory tract infections as well as reducing the severity and duration.
Vigorous, prolonged exercise particularly in the heat can increase gut permeability which can possibly result in systemic toxemia. Certain strains of probiotics are able to better the integrity of athlete’s gut barrier function.
Physical assertion requires energy. Studies have found that probiotics can produce B vitamins which are integral to energy production. Probiotics are also beneficial in increasing the absorption of minerals like iron, copper, magnesium and manganese which are all important in the production of energy process. Also, by repairing your gut and minimizing inflammation using a daily probiotic you are able to boost your energy levels.
If you find that you are stressed a lot and then do high-intensity interval training repeatedly it does not allow time for the gut to relax. This can cause digestive issues. If you have GI issues add a daily probiotic and consider trying more restorative exercise such as Pilates and walking.
Whether you are training to go pro or just look and feel your best and have fun taking part in sports and physical activity probiotics can aid in optimizing health and performance. They are beneficial for recovery, immunity and decreasing inflammation.
