Your Gut Health and Exercise Motivation

The podcast discusses the connection between gut health and exercise motivation. Certain gut bacteria activate nerves in the gut to promote the desire to exercise. Good gut health improves exercise motivation, while antibiotics and a lack of good gut bacteria can decrease motivation. The gut bacteria Eubacterium rectale and Coprococcus eutectus produce compounds that interact with receptors in the gut and brain, leading to a longer-lasting post-exercise high. The podcast recommends eating healthy food and incorporating natural probiotics, like homemade fresh curd, into your diet. Hi, this is Dr. Amrita and you are listening to the HealthWellBridge Podcast. Gut Health & Exercise Motivation You know that exercise is good for you. But do you feel like exercising? What motivates some to exercise and others to skip it? Is there a deeper physiology than just mindset? The motivation behind exercise and playing physical games which work as exercise is poorly understood. I like walking, playing badminton, table tennis, swimming and anything that keeps me moving outdoors. The answer to what we find pleasurable hides in the neurochemical pathways in our brain. The more we feel good about exercising, the more we are inclined to exercise. That's why the study, a microbiome-dependent gut-brain pathway regulates motivation for exercise is insightful. Some species of gut-dwelling bacteria activates nerves in the gut to promote the desire to exercise. This is according to a study in mice that was led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and the study was published in Nature. Exercise exerts a wide range of beneficial effects. How it will affect you depends on your gut bacteria. Sounds intriguing, right? An animal study done in mice suggests good gut health improves exercise motivation. More broad-spectrum antibiotic one has, it kills the good gut bacteria. This also down-regulates dopamine receptors in the brain. That way, the exercise-related dopamine hit is lower and people exercise less. The gut bacteria which helps are identified as two types of bacteria, Eubacterium rectale and Coprococcus eutectus. Remember, these are gut bacteria of the mice on which the tests were done. These strains produce compounds called fatty acid amides that interact with endocannabinoid receptors in the gut and through the spinal cord, they activate receptors in the brain. These receptors, when activated, ask the brain to stop all lower production of an enzyme, the monoamine oxidase. This in turn helps in dopamine breaking down less often and the post-exercise high staying long. The end result is the mice continues to feel great after exercises and wants to exercise again. Your gut too, like the mouse gut, has numerous microbes, almost 2 kg of it. Your gut bacteria population has a lot to do with your diet, your environment. The genetic influence is not very obvious when it comes to the gut microbes. But what about the probiotic supplements and their effect on gut health? I have a few things to say. Eat healthy food, add probiotics from natural sources in your diet as far as possible. Homemade fresh curd is perfect. You can find out more about probiotics and their natural sources and more about supplements in my book. The link is in the description. You were listening to Dr. Amrita on the Health Well-Being Podcast.