Dietary Microplastic Exposure in Athletes: Implications for Metabolism, Gut Health, and Performance

Microplastics (MPs) are emerging environmental contaminants increasingly detected in foods, beverages, and food-contact materials, making dietary intake a relevant route of human exposure. In sports nutrition, this issue may be particularly important because athletes often have high food and fluid consumption, frequent use of packaged sports nutrition products, dietary supplements, bottled beverages, and sport-specific hydration strategies. This narrative review, supported by a structured literature search, examines dietary MP exposure and its potential relevance to gastrointestinal function, gut microbiota, oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial activity, endocrine regulation, metabolism, recovery, adaptation, and performance-related outcomes in athletes. Current evidence suggests that MPs and nanoplastics may interact with biological systems through mechanisms involving intestinal barrier disruption, microbiota alterations, inflammatory activation, oxidative damage, mitochondrial perturbation, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and metabolic dysregulation. However, most available data derive from in vitro studies, animal models, food contamination analyses, exposure-estimation studies, and indirect human biomonitoring evidence. Direct studies in athletic populations are currently lacking. Therefore, the possible implications of MP exposure on recovery, adaptation, and exercise performance should be interpreted as biologically plausible but unproven. From a practical perspective, evidence-informed strategies may include reducing avoidable plastic-related exposure while maintaining adequate hydration, energy availability, nutrient timing, supplement quality, and dietary patterns that support antioxidant defenses, inflammatory balance, gut health, and physiological resilience. Future research should prioritize standardized exposure assessment, validated biomarkers, human biomonitoring, and sport-specific studies evaluating MP exposure in relation to physiological and performance-related outcomes.