The University of New England is conducting a trial investigating the impact that 12 weeks of strength training has on the human gut microbiome.
They are looking for individuals (local to Armidale) who meet the following criteria to participate:
- 18-40 years old
- Sedentary (participate in less than 150 minutes of structured exercise per week)
- Healthy (no active acute or chronic disease)
More about the study
The human digestive tract plays host to a large array of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses that is collectively termed the gut microbiota. These microbes (mostly bacteria) contribute significantly to digestion and absorption through the fermentation of partially digested dietary components. In recent years however, it has become apparent that this ecosystem also contributes significantly to human health and risk of disease throughout life, with detrimental alterations in the gut microbiome (termed dysbiosis) associated with obesity, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), AIDS, type-1 and type-2 diabetes, cancer, and autism/anxiety/depression.
This discovery of disease-associated dysbiosis has driven researchers to investigate environmental factors that influence microbial composition. This would potentially allow for therapeutic avenues aimed at restoring a ‘healthy’ gut microbiota. However, large-scale studies have demonstrated that even within healthy populations the gut microbiota can differ remarkably between individuals. As such, what exactly constitutes a ‘healthy gut’ is still not well understood, although it is thought to be underpinned by three basic principles – diversity (richness or number of species), stability (ability to resist perturbations) and resilience (ability to return to a healthy state after upset).
A number of environmental factors have been associated with gut microbiome change. These include diet, pro, pre and antibiotic use, early life exposure/experiences, geographical location, host physiology as well as a range of lifestyle factors. Exercise is a known primary preventer in at least 35 chronic conditions and it is now emerging as a promising beneficial modulator of GI composition and health.