• #Exercise Alters Our #Microbiome. Is That One Reason It’s So Good for Us? - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/well/move/exercise-microbiome-health-weight-gut-bacteria.html

    Most of these changes were not shared from one person to the next. Everyone’s gut responded uniquely to exercise.

    But there were some similarities, the researchers found. In particular, they noted widespread increases in certain microbes that can help to produce substances called short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are believed to aid in reducing inflammation in the gut and the rest of the body. They also work to fight insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, and otherwise bolster our metabolisms.

    Most of the volunteers had larger concentrations of these short-chain fatty acids in their intestines after exercise, along with the #microbes that produce them.

    These increases were greatest, though, among the volunteers who had begun the experiment lean compared to those who were obese, the scientists found.

    And perhaps not surprisingly, almost all of the changes in people’s guts dissipated after six weeks of not exercising. By and large, their microbiomes reverted to what they had been at the study’s start.

    #microbiote