Boost Your Gut Health to Improve Exercise Performance
- Dr. Don Schweitzer, PhD, LMSW
- Apr 26, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 22, 2023
Finding the motivation to exercise can be tricky, even for those who work out daily. Sometimes, we don't feel like doing it, and there may be "good" reasons. We may be recovering from an injury or illness or just need a rest day to recover and recharge our batteries.
But now, a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has discovered that the absence of gut microbes in mice resulted in earlier exhaustion and less distance covered when running on a treadmill.
What are gut microbes? They are a variety of microorganisms that coexist in harmony within our digestive system, mainly in the large and small intestines. When things work well, microbes support a healthy immune system and help us maintain a healthy weight (source).
"In a healthy body, pathogenic and symbiotic microbiota coexist without problems. But dysbiosis occurs if a disturbance in that balance—brought on by infectious illnesses, certain diets, or the prolonged use of antibiotics or other bacteria-destroying medications—stops these normal interactions. As a result, the body may become more susceptible to disease" (source).
As we age, our gut microbes undergo changes that can increase our "susceptibility to infectious diseases and reduced vaccination responses" (source).
Yet, there are things we can do to help out our gut microbes and keep them working well. According to the Mayo Clinic, we can support a healthy gut in two ways. The first is through prebiotics, which are food for the microbes. This is where a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables comes in. When we feed our microbes, they stay happy and healthy.
The other way we can help ourselves is with probiotics. This is where we add microbes into our body, again through diet. This includes certain soft cheeses, pickles, sauerkraut, and yogurt. You can find a list of probiotics here.
So, if you're finding it hard to get motivated to exercise, you might want to consider how you're treating your gut health and make changes to your diet.
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