Major metabolic and metabolomic aspects of nutrition in the gut microbiota and sports performance: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: In the context of sports performance, nutrition has been used to improve the health of the brain, bones, muscles, and cardiovascular system of athletes. However, recent research suggests that the gut microbiota (GM) may also play a role in athlete health and performance. Objective: It was to carry out a systematic review of the main clinical findings, involving the metabolic and metabolomic aspects, of the relationship between gut microbiota and sports performance under control and nutrological modulation. Methods: The systematic review rules of the PRISMA Platform were followed. The research was carried out from January to March 2023 in Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar databases. The quality of the studies was based on the GRADE instrument and the risk of bias was analyzed according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: A total of 328 articles were found, and 132 articles were evaluated in full and 108 were included and developed in this systematic review study. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 52 studies with a high risk of bias and 74 studies that did not meet GRADE. It was concluded that athletes must feed, train and utilize the entire supraorganism, including the GM, implementing gut-centered dietary strategies to achieve optimal performance. Current evidence suggests that the GM may contribute to sports performance through the production of dietary metabolites (short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids), influence on gastrointestinal physiology (e.g. nutrient absorption), and immune modulation (inhibition of pathogens). Dietary strategies common in athletes, such as a high intake of protein and simple carbohydrates and a low intake of nondigestible carbohydrates, may adversely affect the GM and predispose athletes to gastrointestinal problems and thus impair performance. However, adequate dietary fiber intake, a variety of protein sources, and an emphasis on unsaturated fats, especially ɷ-3 fatty acids, as well as supplementation with pre, pro, and synbiotics, have shown promising results in optimizing the health of the athletes and their GM with potential beneficial effects on performance.