Clasado Biosciences’ prebiotics support gut health and immunity in athletes, study finds

Recent research has demonstrated the efficacy of Clasado Biosciences’ Bimuno GOS prebiotic ingredient in supporting gut health and immunity. Compared with placebo, daily supplementation of galactooligosaccharide (GOS) improved gut barrier integrity, reduced gastrointestinal symptom severity, and reduced upper respiratory symptoms in healthy male athletes.

“The findings build on the emerging picture of how prebiotics can influence athlete health and performance through improving availability for training and competition,” says lead investigator Dr. Neil Williams, senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, England.

“By supporting the integrity of the intestinal barrier and the immune response under physical stress, prebiotics can help reduce gastrointestinal symptoms and support immune function, thus potentially reducing the health problems faced by athletes.”

Benefits of sports nutrition

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, published in Experimental physiologyinvolved 26 healthy male athletes who took a Bimuno GOS supplement daily, at 2.75 g of active GOS, or a placebo for six weeks.

Participants performed a soccer-specific intermittent treadmill protocol in the heat (33°C) and 50% relative humidity on days 0 and 42 of supplementation.

On both days, researchers also collected blood and saliva after exercise to assess intestinal barrier damage, gastrointestinal symptoms, and immune defense. Participants also completed questionnaires about respiratory and upper gastrointestinal symptoms, daily and weekly, for six weeks.

After six weeks, the athletes had a 38% reduction in blood levels of intestinal fatty acid binding protein, which is a biomarker of intestinal barrier damage. Moreover, the study reported a decrease in the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms at rest and during exercise when adding Bimuno GOS compared to placebo.

Participants performed a soccer-specific intermittent treadmill protocol in the heat (33°C) and 50% relative humidity on days 0 and 42 of supplementation.Salivary immunoglobulin A, an important immune defense biomarker, increased after exercise in the Bimuno GOS group, while it decreased for the placebo group.

“The latest published study builds on the strong scientific foundation of Bimuno GOS. For formulators in sports nutrition, it is a very compelling proposition – clinical efficacy in athlete cohorts combined with increasing awareness of gut health from performance-conscious consumers,” says Dr. Lucien Harthoorn, director of R&D at Clasado Biosciences.

Moreover, while the average duration of episodes of upper respiratory symptoms amounted to 8.9 days for the placebo group, the Bimuno GOS group reported an average of 3.2 days, with 2.9 times lower symptom severity.

Digestion and immunity support

Clasado Biosciences highlights the potential of Bimuno GOS to support consumer demand for a more holistic, gut-centric approach to athlete well-being.

To illustrate, Innova Market Insights’ 2025 Health & Nutrition Survey shows that 56% of consumers globally have used nutritionally fortified foods and beverages to improve sports performance or recovery in the last 12 months, and 53% have used supplements.

In the same survey, 50% of consumers reported using food and drinks with added nutrients to manage the intestines and digestion, for example, products high in protein, fiber, pro- and prebiotics.

Immunity is an important consumer demand, as the Innova Market Insights 2025 Trend Survey reports 26% of consumers purchased functional foods and beverages in the last 12 months for immunity. Moreover, market research data shows a 78% annual growth in the launch of sports protein-based ready-drinks with immune health claims from July 2020 to June 2025.

Bimuno GOS has secured several health claims in recent years. For example, last year, Clasado Biosciences secured 11 self-substantiated health claims for prebiotics in Colombia for digestive health and immunity.

Moreover, Australia approves the ingredients for use in products that are listed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in the country. This includes supplements intended for therapeutic purposes.