Leisure time Physical activity during early adulthood may alter gut microbiota composition

What is it about?

Gut microbiota is important in health - it functions in nutrient and energy utilisation and uptake, vitamin synthesis, inflammatory modulation as well as in host immune response. This study looked whether physical activity in early adulthood was associated with microbiota composition. Key findings 1. Physical activity in young adults is associated with: 2. Gut microbiota community composition 3. Increase in the abundance of genera considered beneficial for overall health, such as Lactobacillus, Prevotella and Veillonella. 4. The associations are partly confounded by diet.

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Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Physical activity may be linked with potentially health-promoting properties of gut microbiota, although diet may partially drive the associations. Our study highlights that it is important to account for the differences in diet when studying the associations. Future studies applying more in-depth characterised gut microbiota data may reveal specific species linked with PA and shed light on the underlying mechanisms interconnecting physical activity and gut microbiota.