Gut Check

Get the latest word on how exercise may help whip your microbiome into shape.

- Alison Ashton

If you exercise regularly to keep your waistline trim, kudos to you. Emerging research suggests those workouts also do a world of good for what’s happening inside your belly.

Physical activity may help shape up your gut microbiome—the complex colony of bacteria that can affect your health in a number of ways. “The research in this area is still quite young, though there have been some intriguing studies connecting the microbiome and exercise,” says Embriette Hyde, PhD, assistant project scientist and project manager of the American Gut Project at the University of San Diego School of Medicine.

“Gut bacteria definitely impact your weight and that spare tire, there’s no question about it,” says physician Robin Miller, MD, coauthor of Healed: Health and Wellness for the 21st Century. Due to its emerging role in balancing bacteria, Miller often looks to lack of exercise as the cause of her patients’ digestive distress.

HOW IT HELPS

Scientists are learning that exercise is one of many factors (including diet, antibiotic use, weight, and age) that shape your gut biome, so it’s tricky for them to determine the specific role physical activity plays. But it seems to help in a number of ways.