BB-12 Improves the State Anxiety and Sports Performance of Young Divers Under Stress Situations: A Single-Arm, Prospective Proof-of-Concept Study.

2021-01-13
Frontiers in psychology 11
- Weizhong Dong
- Ying Wang
- Shuaixiong Liao
- Wei Tang
- Li Peng
- Gang Song

PubMed: 33519585
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.570298

Background

Athletes will increase their state anxiety under stress situations, which will lead to the decline of sports performance. The improvement of anxiety by probiotics has been reported, but there is a lack of research in the athlete population. The purpose of the current study is to explore the effectiveness of probiotics in improving athletes' state anxiety and sports performance under stress situations.

Methods

We conducted this single-arm study in Chongqing Institute of Sports Technology. In the 8-week study, 21 Chongqing young divers (mean age: 9.10 ± 1.80) were given probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 (1 × 10⁹ colony-forming units/100 g) daily. The state anxiety and sports performance of athletes were measured before, during, and after the intervention, and the gut microbiota of athletes was measured before and after the intervention.

Results

The intervention results showed that cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety, and anxiety emotion were improved (cognitive: Z = -3.964, P < 0.001; somatic: Z = -3.079, P = 0.003; anxiety: Z = -2.973, P < 0.001). In terms of gut microbiota, the intervention did not change the gut microbial composition (such as α diversity and β diversity) but increased the abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae. At the 8th week, the performance of athletes under stress was significantly improved (χ² = 7.88, P = 0.019).

Limitations

First of all, due to the restriction of the number of subjects in this study, there was no control group. Secondly, although the athletes' diet was recorded in this study, the influence of this factor on gut microbiota was not eliminated. Finally, the anxiety level of the athletes in this study was obtained through a self-report, lacking physiological data in state anxiety.

Conclusion

The results show that probiotics intervention can improve the state anxiety of athletes under stress situation and improve the performance of athletes under stress situation.

Research Insights

Supplement	Health Outcome	Effect Type	Effect Size
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12	Improved Sports Performance	Beneficial	Moderate
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12	Increased Bifidobacteriaceae Abundance	Beneficial	Small
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12	Reduced Anxiety	Beneficial	Moderate