Gut Health for Active Lifestyles: How Can Taking Tribiotik Help?

Introduction

The number of people participating in sport and recreational activity in the UK is at an all-time high, according to the Active Lives Adult Survey Report, with 63% of the adult population is meeting the exercise guidelines.

The latest Irish Sports Monitor also shows that 48% of adults participate in sports and exercise. There’s a mixture of exercise modalities across these figures, while personal exercise leads the way.

It’s important for these populations to understand the impact that nutritional health has on their exercise and how gut health and immune function can help to lay the foundations for healthy habits.

What is gut health?

The main function of the gut is to digest food and absorb nutrients, however, we now know that human health and performance can be affected by the gut microbiota (Jager et al., 2019). Many factors can influence the environment within the gut, including infection, mode of birth, use of antibiotics, nutritional intake, genetics and living conditions (Cryan et al., 2019).

The gut microbiota is considered one of the key elements associated with health. It is linked to diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancers, hepatic steatosis and IBD (de Vos et al., 2022). It suggests that our immunity and energy metabolism is influenced by our gut health, and therefore a key aspect to understand for recreational and higher performing exercisers.

The gut microbiome is a complex system of bacteria that can affect and influence almost all other organisms including the brain and reproductive system. The ‘gut brain axis’ has helped to uncover the link between the gut microbiome and a myriad of mental and physical health conditions (Verma, Inslicht and Bhargava, 2024).

Gut health and exercise

Gut health and exercise have a bidirectional relationship, where it appears that exercise can help to promote beneficial bacteria within the gut, and a healthy gut microbiome can positively affect exercise performance through various mechanisms (Varghese et al., 2024).

About 70% of immune tissue resides in your gut (Vighi et al., 2008). A healthy person makes a high performing athlete. Therefore, to perform well during your exercise, it is important that exercisers maintain a healthy status. A healthy gut is a major component in this.

After exercise, athletes can develop distinct microbiome profiles indicated by beneficial species and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (O’ Brien et al., 2022). Swimmers that participated in a 7-week intense training programme showed greater diversity in their microbiota, while endurance exercise can have a positive impact on the gut microbiota (Mach & Fuster-Botella, 2016). The combination of exercise styles may have the greatest impact on the gut microbiome (Varghese et al., 2024).

However, doing strenuous exercise for long periods can lead to a temporary rise in inflammation in muscle and can lead to an imbalance of bacteria within the gut (Varghese et al., 2024, Wegierska et al., 2022).

When balance within the gut is disrupted, it can lead to a condition known as dysbiosis, with symptoms often seen in active exercisers, due to heavy training loads (Mitrea et al., 2022, Clarke & Mach, 2016).

What is Tribiotik?

Kinetica Sports Tribiotik is a batch-tested, all-in-one food supplement that is designed to support gut and immune health. It provides a combination of prebiotic, probiotic and postbiotic elements to combine all three pillars of gut health in a daily capsule.

Prebiotics

A prebiotic is a non-digestible food ingredient that selectively stimulates the growth of a limited number of bacteria in the colon with a benefit for host health, as defined by Gibson et al in 2010. Prebiotics are naturally occurring in foods and the most common form of prebiotics is found in carbohydrate-based foods, particularly dietary fibre and resistant starches. Foods that contain prebiotics include leeks, garlic, onion, oats and wheat.

The benefits of prebiotics mainly relate to stool health and the reduction in diarrhoea and traveller’s diarrhoea (Gibson et al., 2010). This might be beneficial for athletes or exercisers that are travelling for competitions or events in higher-risk countries. While travel for sports events has always been common at higher performing or elite levels of team and individual sports, many active exercisers are now travelling for events like Hyrox, which are hosted in various international venues.

Kinetica Sports Tribiotik uses Fibersol , a resistant maltodextrin, which can help to maintain blood and lipid levels and keep you fuller for longer (Astina and Sapwarobol, 2018).

Prebiotics produce short-chain fatty acids which nourish and protect the gut by proliferating probiotic-type bacteria and can enhance that work done in the gut by probiotics (Smolinska et al., 2025).

Probiotics

Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (Hill et al., 2014). They are available in foods such as yoghurts and nutrition bars, and are commercially available in supplement form (Jager et al., 2019).

Some of the main benefits of probiotic use for athletic populations include the protection against gastroenteritis and stimulation of the immune system (Gibson et al, 2010). While we know that immune function is crucially important, we’ve also discussed that active exercisers and high performing athletes can experience heavy training loads that can negatively affect the balance of bacteria in the gut. Therefore, supplementation with a probiotic during these times may help to reduce the severity of this training on their gut health. It is important to note that the benefits of probiotics are specific to each strain (Varghese et al., 2024).

Tribiotik uses Bacillus subtilis DE111(DE111) as a probiotic. Studies show that DE111 can start to grow in the small intestine just four hours after ingestion, and can have a positive impact on digestion, metabolism, and immune health (Colom et al., 2023).

Bacillus subtilis DE111 was shown to decrease inflammatory markers during an intense pre-season period in collegiate baseball players (Townsend et al., 2018), while a reduction in body fat was observed in female collegiate athletes (Toohey et al., 2020).

Postbiotics

Postbiotics are compounds produced by bacteria that don’t need to be alive to produce health benefits (Salminen et al., 2021). They help to manage inflammation and improve gut health (Asefa et al., 2025). As discussed, these benefits can help to improve immune health and energy metabolism for active exercisers undergoing heavy training loads.

Tribiotik uses Bifidobacterium longum CECT 7347, which has been shown to protect against oxidative stress and reduce inflammation (Martorell et al., 2021).

Although the research surrounding postbiotics and the synergistic effects of symbiotic products is still in the early stages, there’s promising research to suggest their beneficial use for many populations, including active exercisers (Smolinska et al., 2025).

Other benefits

Kinetica Sports Tribiotik also contains zinc and vitamin B6 which support immune function (Gleeson et al, 2004). The adequate intake of B vitamins, including vitamin B6, help to reduce fatigue through an important role in the metabolism of energy (Lee et al., 2023).

Exercisers across many different activities and disciplines can benefit from improved immune function, an improved defence against overtraining, injury and illness, as well as effective energy metabolism.

What else can exercisers do to improve gut health?

While exercise improves gut health, immune function and mental health, extended periods of intense physical activity can lead to inflammation and increase tissue damage (Varghese et al., 2024). While food supplements can help to maintain and sustain a higher level of exercise, it is still prudent to manage overall physical loading and to limit periods of overtraining.

Everyone, including active populations, should aim to consume a diverse diet, including high fibre carbohydrates such as coloured fruits and vegetables, wheat and oats, along with probiotic containing foods like yoghurts. The priority should always be to have a food-first approach, while using trusted food supplements to fill any nutrient gaps and to enhance diet quality.

It is also advised to chew your food sufficiently to avoid any large fragments of food in the colon, leading to unnecessary bacterial overgrowth and subsequently poor digestion and stomach upset (Kumar et al., 2023).

Psychological and physical stress has been shown to negatively affect the environment in the gut (Ilchmann-Dionou & Menard 2020), meaning that effective stress management and sufficient rest are also key factors in the maintenance of positive gut health.

Conclusion

In an increasingly active world, exercisers should consider the bidirectional relationship between the positive effects of gut health on their exercise performance, and the effects of a moderate to intense exercise routine on an improved gut microbiome.

A diverse and balanced diet, an appropriate exercise plan and sufficient stress management can ensure positive gut health and therefore a reduced risk of sickness or disease.

Kinetica Sports Tribiotik is an all-in-one food supplement that contains the three aspects of biotics (pre, pro and post) which can help to improve gut health, immune function and exercise performance in the longer term.

It is best suited for those with busy training schedules, exercisers that train regularly and experience occasional gut discomfort, and others that are interested in improving gut health and immunity.