Fish & A Rice Cake

Dear Performance Nutrition Leaders,

This week: Gut microbiome, the latest news, and a new unflavoured gel.

The relationship between gut microbiota and athletic performance is attracting increasing research attention — and for good reason.

The gut microbiome is directly implicated in nutrient absorption, immune regulation, and systemic inflammation, all of which are relevant levers in the performance and recovery context.

Competitive endurance athletes, particularly cyclists, represent a well-defined population in which to investigate these relationships. A newly published scoping review sets out to map what the literature actually tells us.

The review examined existing peer-reviewed literature to characterise the microbial composition of competitive cyclists and evaluate the evidence base for probiotic supplementation as either a performance or health enhancement strategy.

The review found that competitive cyclists do show distinct gut microbiota composition compared to sedentary controls — a finding that aligns with the broader literature showing exercise-associated shifts in microbial diversity.

However, specific bacterial signatures associated with cycling performance remain inconsistently reported across studies.

For example, one study included in the review found that endurance cyclists did not exhibit greater gut microbial diversity than sedentary controls — while runners did — suggesting that exercise modality, not just training volume, may shape microbiome adaptations.

There is no clear consensus on which microbial features, if any, correlate reliably with performance outcomes in this group.

On probiotic supplementation, the picture is similarly mixed. Some studies reported modest benefits — primarily around gastrointestinal comfort or immune markers rather than direct performance outcomes — while others found no meaningful improvement.

The authors note explicitly that it would be premature to recommend specific probiotic protocols for competitive cyclists based on the current evidence.

Read the full paper here →

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Puresport Unflavoured Energy Gels take a familiar concept — unflavoured carbohydrate gels — and build a campaign around a very real problem in endurance sport.

Each gel delivers 30g of carbs using a 1:0.8 glucose-to-fructose ratio, designed for efficient absorption and reduced gut stress during longer efforts.

Unflavoured gels aren’t new. But they exist for a reason.

As fatigue builds, sweetness becomes harder to tolerate. What works early in a session can become difficult to stomach later on — and that’s often where fuelling breaks down.

Puresport leans directly into that.

Rather than competing on taste, they centre their messaging on removing it entirely — positioning the product for athletes who prioritise function over flavour. The “fish and rice cake” archetype.

It’s a subtle shift, but an important one.

Because gels as a category are difficult to meaningfully innovate at the product level. Most follow the same core principles: fast carbohydrates, similar ratios, similar formats.

So the differentiation happens in how the problem is framed.

Here, it’s not about making gels more enjoyable — it’s about making them more tolerable when it matters most.

These gels are Informed Sport certified, making them suitable for tested athletes.

For athletes who struggle with flavour fatigue deep into sessions, this isn’t a new idea — but it’s a well-positioned one.

In a mature category, the edge often comes from messaging, not formulation.

Explore Puresport Unflavoured Gels →