**5. Conclusion**

Endurance exercise requires a considerable amount of energy, and when this energy cannot maintain a stable supply, it will lead to fatigue and reduce exercise performance. Endurance exercise has a profound impact on oxidative stress, intestinal permeability, muscle damage, systemic inflammation and immune response, dehydration. Gut microbiota promotes digestion and absorption of food to produce energy in host, thereby playing a great role on athlete's energy consumption and exercise performance. There is a close interaction between exercise, microbiota and diet (**Figure 1**), the details warrant comprehensive investigations. Exercise, the proportion, timing and composition of the diet modulates the gut microbiota diversity. Better understanding, the impact of diet on gut microbiota and how gut microbiota respond to exercise, a nutritional strategy can be developed to modulate the gut microbiota diversity which can lead to enhanced the athlete's overall performance and health.

**Figure 1.**

*Interaction between dietary components, gut microbiome, and endurance performance.*
