‘Poop Doping’ Has Been a Problem in Elite Sports for Years. Now, Scientists Want to Democratize It

In 2019, a team of scientists from Harvard University monitored the bacterial flora of 15 Boston Marathon runners during the week before and the week after the race. They made several interesting discoveries, but one stood out. After the competition, all runners experienced a significant increase in the bacteria of the genus Veillonella.

Scientists already knew that exercise alters the microbiota. As such, it wasn’t particularly surprising that these bacteria, which break down lactic acid and reduce fatigue, were present. However, Harvard researchers wanted to discover something else.

The team took samples of bacterial flora and introduced them into mice. The result was a significant increase in the mice’s physical endurance. Since then, there has been an interest in harnessing this finding.

A treasure in the gut. More recently, a French team further explored the gut microbiota of elite athletes with high aerobic capacity, specifically focusing on footballers and cyclists. The main goal was to determine whether there were differences in the composition and functionality of their microbiota compared to non-athletes.

One surprising finding was that the more exercise the subjects engaged in, the lower the diversity of their microbiota. Notably, lower diversity is typically associated with an unhealthy condition. However, experts say this decrease in diversity could be justified by the specialization of these bacteria in the intestine. In other words, given that the microbiota is exposed to more demanding environments, it self-regulates to optimize itself.

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The study. Researchers took both sedentary and highly athletic individuals and transplanted their feces into mice for several days. The results indicate that the aerobic capacity in the mice is influenced by their microbiota.

Why? Although research is still in its early stages, it appears that this impact is primarily due to glycogen consumption, effective sugar control, and the production of short-chain fatty acids.

What are the implications? For years, anti-doping agencies have been working to combat microbiological doping. In fact, it seems that fecal transplants are a common practice in certain elite sports environments.

The key question remains: Can the recent study’s findings be scaled up? Is it possible to intervene in the microbiota on a large scale to improve the health of broad segments of the population? The probiotic boom has already surprised major pharmaceutical companies and flooded the market with pseudoscience.

The possibilities are promising. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the gut microbiome plays a very important role in our health.

Image | Nicolas Hoizey

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