Strenuous training can affect the immune system and make athletes vulnerable to coughs and colds, but Australian researchers have found that probiotic supplements reduce the number and length of infections suffered by long-distance runners, in fact, taking probiotics more than halves the days that runners show symptoms.
The study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine was conducted at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on 20 top-level endurance runners during their intensive winter training programme, when colds and other respiratory infections can be disruptive. All 20 received two month-long courses of pills, one containing the bacterium Lactobacillus fermentum, and the other containing no active ingredients.
There was a total of 72 days in which people taking the “dummy” pills complained of symptoms. When the same number of “probiotic” days was examined, only 30 were hit by illness.
Source: “Probiotics protect top athletes” BBC, 14 February 2008
Chapter: Probiotics :: 10 March 2008
