Probiotic supplementation improves body composition, lipid profiles, and fatty acid metabolism in combat sports athletes during the weight reduction phase
Study Details
This new study examined whether 4 weeks of multi-strain probiotic supplementation influenced body composition and lipid metabolism during pre-competition weight reduction in 32 high-level combat-sport athletes 🔍
Athletes from boxing, judo and wrestling completed the same 4-week energy-restricted weight-loss programme 🥋
Key Findings
⚖️ Body weight and BMI decreased significantly in both probiotic and placebo groups
📉 Body fat % also fell in both groups, but the reduction was significantly greater with probiotics
💪 Muscle mass decreased during weight loss in both groups, with no significant between-group difference
🍽️ Changes in energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat and fibre intake were similar between groups, reducing the likelihood that dietary differences explained the findings
🩸 Triglycerides and LDL cholesterol decreased significantly within the probiotic group, although between-group differences in lipid profiles were not significant
🦠 Probiotic supplementation increased several fecal short-chain fatty acids, particularly acetate, propionate and butyrate
📈 Acetate increased with probiotics while tending to decrease with placebo, producing a significant group × time interaction
🔥 Circulating free fatty acids generally increased during weight loss with placebo, consistent with greater mobilisation of stored fat
↔️ This rise was substantially attenuated in the probiotic group, with mean FFA responses differing significantly between groups
🧬 The authors suggest altered SCFA production and fatty-acid metabolism as possible mechanisms, but gut microbiota composition and fatty-acid oxidation were not directly measured
Conclusion
Only four women were included, the intervention lasted just 4 weeks, and the proprietary multi-strain formulation means effects cannot be attributed to individual probiotic strains ⚠️
Strength, power and sport-specific performance were not measured, so it is unknown whether the body-composition differences improved performance 🧐
Probiotic supplementation during a short combat-sport weight cut may help shift weight loss slightly more toward fat while modifying gut-derived metabolites and circulating fatty acids, but evidence that this improves performance or preserves muscle is still lacking ✅
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42702994/
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