Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Sport Performance and Gut Damage in Females CrossFit Athletes

One week before the initiation of the study participants will be required to avoid consuming drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, probiotics, and any other food or liquid which could modify gut microbiota composition. For the baseline values, height, weight and sports performance test, of the participants will be collected. The same day, a strenuous exercise session will be performed in order to observe the variation of the intestinal damage marker (blood sample extraction just after finishing the strenous exercise session). 24 hours after that session sport performance tests will be conducted. Participants will then be randomly divided into two groups, one of which will take one probiotic capsule per day containing 10 billion colony-forming units (CFU) of Lactobacillus plantarum, and the other group will take one placebo capsule per day consisting of dextrose. The supplementation period will last 4 weeks.

After the supplementation period, the same process will be followed, with the same strenuous exercise session and immediate blood sampling to determine the effects of probiotics on the intestinal damage caused by exercise. 24 hours later, performance tests will be conducted to assess the effects of probiotics on sport performance.