SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

The benefits of exercise are ultimately down to the way it remodels our metabolism [forbes.com]. Physical activity also shapes the microbes in the gut, a community whose composition is more malleable during early human development. Physiologists now believe that exercising in early life creates a microbial community that helps metabolic activity in later years.

Microbes start colonising the human digestive tract shortly after birth, and the community grows until the gut is home to over 100 trillion microbial cells – roughly 3x more than the number of body cells in an adult human. Those microorganisms add 5 million genes to a person’s genetic profile, encoding proteins that influence physiology and are vital to proper development of a healthy metabolism, brain and immune system.

The conclusions come from a review [nature.com] in the journal Immunology and Cell Biology led by Monika Fleshier of the University of Colorado Boulder. In one study, for example, juvenile rats who voluntarily exercised every day developed a microbial community containing more ‘good bacteria’ in the gut compared to sedentary counterparts, or adults who also performed physical activity.

If the benefits of exercise are the microflora it encourages in your gut, could you skip the exercise and take an "exercise" pill with the proper microflora?

Original Submission