Kefir Supplementation Modifies Gut Microbiota Composition, Reduces Physical Fatigue, and Improves Exercise Performance in Mice
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The present study evaluated the potential beneficial effect of kefir (KF) against fatigue. Furthermore, the composition of the gut microbiota is related to health benefits in the host; therefore, the study also investigated the effect of KF on the gut microbiota composition. Male ICR mice from four groups (n = 8 per group) were orally administered KF once daily for four weeks at 0, 2.15, 4.31, and 10.76 g/kg/day and were designated as the vehicle, KF-1X, KF-2X, and KF-5X groups, respectively. The gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed a significant clustering of cecum after treatment in the vehicle, KF-1X, KF-2X, and KF-5X groups. The KF-2X and KF-5X groups showed a decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared with the vehicle group. In addition, anti-fatigue activity and exercise performance were evaluated on the basis of exhaustive swimming time, forelimb grip strength, and levels of serum lactate, ammonia, glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatine kinase (CK) after a swimming exercise. The exhaustive swimming time for the KF-1X, KF-2X, and KF-5X groups was significantly longer than that for the vehicle group, and the forelimb grip strength of the KF-1X, KF-2X, and KF-5X groups was also significantly higher than that of the vehicle group. KF supplementation also decreased serum lactate, ammonia, BUN, and CK levels after the swimming test. However, tissue glycogen content, an important energy source for exercise, increased significantly with KF supplementation. Thus, KF supplementation can alter the gut microbiota composition, improve performance, and combat physical fatigue.
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In mice, daily probiotic kefir over 4 weeks significantly increased swimming time-to-exhaustion and forelimb grip strength, and decreased serum lactate, ammonia, BUN, and creatine kinase after a swimming test.
“In mice who consumed a probiotic kefir daily over 4 weeks, swimming time-to-exhaustion was significantly longer, forelimb grip strength was higher and serum lactate, ammonia, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatine kinase levels were lower after the swimming test [248].”
From International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics (2019) · cites this paper as [248]
Changes in the overall composition of the gut microbiota induced by kefir, or kefir-associated bacterial strains, have been reported previously.
“Changes in the overall composition of the gut microbiota induced by kefir, or kefir-associated bacterial strains have been reported previously [15, 30, 34, 40, 90].”
From Distinct actions of the fermented beverage kefir on host behaviour, immunity and microbiome gut-brain modules in the mouse (2020) · cites this paper as [34]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Hsu, Y.-J., Huang, W.-C., Lin, J.-S., Chen, Y.-M., Ho, S.-T., Huang, C.-C., & Tung, Y.-T.
- Affiliations
- National Taiwan Sport University (TW)
- Corresponding author
- Huang, Chi-Chang
- Tung, Yu-Tang
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2018-07-04
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 862
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6073576
- OpenAlex
- W2810068901
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 12.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Microbial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology
- Keywords
- kefir, gut microbiota, physical fatigue, exercise performance, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, exhaustive swimming, grip strength, serum lactate, creatine kinase, blood urea nitrogen, tissue glycogen, fermented dairy, ICR mice
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Kefir, Animals, Animal Feed, Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Disease Models, Animal, Energy Metabolism, Fatigue, Glycogen, Liver, Male, Mice, Inbred ICR, Muscle Contraction, Swimming, Time Factors, Biomarkers, Exercise Tolerance, Muscle, Skeletal, Muscle Fatigue, Gastrointestinal Tract
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