Exercise and Gut Health – How Exercise enhances the Gut Microbiome

It’s well known that exercise is a great tool to prevent and treat several chronic diseases. When we think of exercising, the goal is usually cardiovascular, muscle and brain health. But did you know that exercise can also have beneficial effects by improving gut microbiome?

Digestive dysfunctions like bloating, indigestion, heartburn, and constipation don’t just ruin your day – they can be indicative of far more serious underlying issues. Gut microbiome is proving to be an important factor that in recent years has been associated with numerous chronic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, intestinal bowel diseases (IBDs) and several types of cancer.^​1​ Thus, your gut microbiome affects nearly every process in your body including nutrient absorption, hormone regulation, immune responses, detoxification, and even your mental health. Therefore, gut microbiota could be an important tool to improve overall general health, performance, and energy availability while controlling inflammation and redox levels in endurance athletes. 

Fortunately, there are some simple ways to improve gut health and microbiota. There is strong evidence that antioxidants, probiotics and prebiotics are useful sport supplements able to provide benefits in terms of health and performance.^​2​ Many superfoods provide essential antioxidants and nutrition to support microbiome. Much of the early research surrounding the gut microbiome was based on diet, yet there is emerging new research looking at how exercise can influence the gut microbiome as well.

How exercise benefits gut health

Recently, in 2022, scientists from UK published a research review article in Nutrients Journal reviewing the effects of exercise and physical activity on the gut microbiome of older adults. They concluded that that exercise/PA have a beneficial impact on the gut health of older adults by improving the gut microbiome composition.^​3​ It’s also hypothesized now that exercise ameliorates insulin resistance of Type 2 Diabetes.^​4​

A ground-breaking study published in Nature Medicine looked at elite runners and they found higher amount of a particular type of gut bacteria.^​5​  This gut bacteria consumes lactate or lactic acid. Lactic acid is what produces that burning sensation or fatigue in the muscles while working out. These bacteria were found to consume the lactic acid and in return produce a short chain fatty acid known as propionate and propionate which have been shown to boost performance.^​6​ This is an exciting development that shows how exercise not only benefits gut health but also how this relationship affects your overall strength and stamina.

Another study from Canada looked at VO2Max, that’s used to measure of cardio respiratory fitness and, they found that it was correlated with gut microbial diversity. So the more physically active we are, better the gut microbial diversity. They also found that exercise is beneficial impact on body mass index.^​7​

In 2017, scientists from the European University in Spain published an article that found that different levels of exercise influence the composition of gut microbiota. They found that exercise can be a useful tool in breaking sedentary behavior.^​8​

Conclusions

Based on available clinical evidence, it’s now known exercise has a positive impact on gut microbiome. Exercising regularly is a natural fix for common disruptors of digestion, and can dramatically improve your gut health. Improved gut microbiome can in-turn influence improvements in overall health and well-being, saving you from several chronic illnesses.

References