Why a healthy microbiome matters to your training results

Sydney Morning Herald

2 days ago

If I asked you to think of words related to the term 'gut microbiome', it's unlikely that 'exercise', 'muscle' or 'physical activity' would make the cut.
Yet, an emerging body of research shows that exercise and our gut microbiome – the trillions of microorganisms which live in the gut and play a vital role in our physical and mental health – are intimately linked. So much so that the physical activity we do can improve the diversity of our microbiome, affecting our health and risk of disease.
Our microbiome can also affect our muscle's response to exercise. In fact, elite athletes, including those at Real Madrid – sometimes referred to as the world's greatest football club – now consider the microbiome in their efforts to gain a competitive edge.
A new review, published in the journal Gastroenterology, explores the links and suggests that a greater understanding of the relationship – known as the muscle-gut-axis – may also enable targeted therapeutic strategies for individuals and populations at risk for various diseases.
'They report that regular exercise changes the bacteria living in your gut, which helps your body fight illness and stay healthy through a complex range of mechanisms,' says Professor Rob Newton, deputy director of Edith Cowan University's Exercise Medicine Research Institute.
Discovering the 'muscle-gut axis'
In the 1960s, an American doctor first suggested that muscles released something into the blood that made us healthy.
That 'something' wasn't discovered until 20 years ago, when researchers found that during physical activity skeletal muscles release proteins, called myokines. When we exercise, myokines increase by as much as 100-fold in the bloodstream, influencing metabolism, inflammation, and muscle regeneration.
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