Your gut can motivate you to exercise or discourage you from exercising. It may sound ridiculous, but research shows it’s true. If you also don’t want to exercise and move, your gut flora or microbiome may be responsible.
Publika.az “Hurriyet” reports that according to scientists, intestinal bacteria affect the mental state and even the quality of sleep by releasing mood-changing neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which regulates learning and motivation, and serotonin, which plays a role in happiness, appetite, and sexual desire.
A recent study in mice found that certain gut bacteria can increase the release of dopamine during physical activity, which helps boost motivation.
General surgeon, gastroenterologist, Professor Vedat Göral from Turkire said that microbiota or microbiome is a new definition of gut flora that has been used in recent years. According to the doctor, the terms flora and microbiome mean the same thing. Microorganisms called microbiota contain about 100 trillion bacteria, their total weight is about 2-3 kilograms, which means that these bacteria make up about 2-3 percent of our body weight. The number of microbiota bacteria is 10 times greater than the number of our own cells. Most of the bacteria in the microbiota usually live in the large intestine.
In tests, mice with good microbiota were successful in the escape test, but when antibiotics were given and the bacteria in the gut decreased, the mice’s desire to escape and motility decreased. It was found that dopamine levels in the brain increased after exercise in normal mice, but not in mice depleted of the microbiome. In other words, mice with good microbiota had better dopamine levels, while mice with low or bad microbiota had lower dopamine levels. Dopamine plays an important role in many bodily functions, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, and attention span.
The health of our gut affects our overall health. In fact, the intestines are called the second brain. But should we increase our microbiome for a more active life? What should we do about it?
Research to date shows that the condition of our gut affects the heart, waistline, sleep and mood, and plays a role in the risk of various diseases, including diabetes and some types of cancer.
Microbiomes are highly mobile. The number and species of our gut bugs vary depending on how we live and what we eat, including whether and how we exercise. However, recent research shows that the microbiota is very important to human health in many ways. A lack of microbiome can also lead to depression, abdominal gas, bloating, fatty liver, Alzheimer’s and dementia, irritable bowel and some cancers.
Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialist Dr. Umid Savashchi and stressed that the microbiota is very important for the immune system, neurological functions and our health. “What we eat, we eat,” the expert added later.
According to Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and founder of the British Gut Project, fiber-rich plants and nutrient-dense foods are particularly beneficial for the microbiome. Spector recommended that even those who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables increase their variety each week. The expert also said that while eating too much fiber is good for your microbiome, eating the wrong foods can throw off the balance in your gut, tipping the scales in favor of disease-causing microbes.
How does the intestines work?
So how does our microbiome, or our gut, make or break us? Guts guide our body’s mobility?
Vedat Göral said that according to studies, the free fatty acids produced by the microbiome in the gut stimulate sensory neurons: “This causes the signals from the sensory neurons to increase the level of dopamine in the brain during exercise, dopamine increases a person’s desire to exercise. Its deficiency may also be related to the state of the gut microbiome. “.
Prof. who works as a microbiologist and conducts research. Dr. Christoph Taiss In a statement to the Washington Post, he said that the gut’s response to exercise behavior evolved long ago in response to food. “Because animals that walked, moved, explored, and exercised regularly thousands of years ago found more food, survived, and the gut-brain connections that promote exercise multiplied over time.”
Theodore Garland, an evolutionary biologist at Riverside University in California This research is still somewhat theoretical in the human context, but our motivation to exercise may depend in part on the composition of our gut bacteria, he said.
But is the bowel the only culprit of people’s inactivity?
Professor Goral believes that anemia, hypothyroidism, depression, orthopedic deficiency, osteoporosis and other age-related problems can also cause inactivity.
However, he added that even depression has been linked to microbiota in recent years, so poor gut microbiota is considered one of the causes of human inactivity.
What does the misuse of antibiotics lead to?
Scientists at the University of California have also investigated how mice who like to run will respond by destroying their microbiome. The tests showed that the mice ran about three times as long on the wheel as the other mice, and as a result developed different microbiomes. As part of a study published last year in Behavioral Processes, some of these marathon rats were given broad-spectrum antibiotics to kill most of the gut bacteria. Animals continued to eat and live in the same way. However, when the researchers placed the animals on treadmills, they found that the marathon rats ran significantly shorter distances.
Professor Goral recommended that antibiotics really reduce the number of microbiota, especially in children and adults, not to use unnecessary, random and long-term antibiotics, to reduce painkillers if possible, and to eat healthy. According to him, it is necessary to stay away from foods containing additives.
“Frequent use of antibiotics, especially in children, can cause inflammation of the intestines in the coming years. If antibiotics are to be used, mild ones should be used for a short period of time. “There are too many antibiotics used in our society, but this is not a good practice.”
How to learn the state of our microbiota?
According to Göral, it is possible to find out what our microbiota is with the microbiota or SIBO test. Goral said that probiotics should be used in cases where the microbiota is disturbed. Emphasizing that probiotics can be found in pharmacies in the form of capsules, pills and powder, Göral also listed natural foods containing probiotics: “Some products contain probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, cucumber and garlic pickles, but the probiotic dose of yogurt and kefir may be less than the dose in medicine.” .
The professor stated that people with a low microbiome move less, and a more active life increases the number of microbiomes.
So what should we do for our gut health? Can we increase our interest in exercise by taking probiotics or increasing the number of beneficial bacteria in our gut?
It is possible to increase the beneficial bacteria in the gut by consuming probiotics or probiotic-active foods. It can increase our interest in sports. Moreover, we are protected from gas, bloating, fatty liver, dementia in later years and some important diseases.
Taiss, a microbiologist, said we can increase our interest in exercise by taking probiotics, changing our diet or otherwise changing our gut bacteria.
“Studies in mice show that exercise alone can be the best motivator. When we exercise, we rebuild our microbiome, and our regenerating gut makes us want to exercise. A study last year also showed that the guts of skiers after a tough season had more microbiomes than those of unhealthy athletes.” there are few types of bacteria,” the microbiologist emphasized.
How does our gut talk to the brain?
According to an article published in the journal “Nature” last December, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions conducted research on the intestines and brains of mice. The researchers began by genotyping eight strains of mice that ran different daily distances, examining thousands of molecules secreted in their guts, blood and brains before and during exercise. Also, some mice were given antibiotics, while others were bred to have no innate microbiome.
Fecal samples from happy mice with healthy microbiomes were then transplanted into mice without gut bacteria. Thanks to the data collected in this process, it became clear that there is a direct connection from the gut to the brain that is activated by exercise. He said this communication begins with the release of certain molecules in the gut during exercise and then stimulates specific nerves that connect the gut and midbrain.
The scientists also found that the more dopamine their brains produced, the more they ran, depending on the amount of several specific types of bacteria in their guts.
Aytan Maftun
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