Exercise and gut health

Did you know that exercise has a measurable impact on your gut health??

Most people focus on nutrition when they're trying to improve digestive issues - while it's important, it's only part of the whole picture!

Exercise impacts on our gut in four ways:

✔️physically stimulating gut function

✔️altering gut wall permeability (aka leaky gut)

✔️changing our gut microbiome

✔️improving gut immune function

When we exercise, the physical movement stimulates peristalsis ( muscle contractions moving food through our intestines), which improves digestion, bloating and keeps us regular. This helps with diseases where slow gut transit is an issue, such as IBS, SIBO, diverticular disease, and preventing bowel cancer. Plus exercise improves vagus nerve function, the ‘rest and digest’ part of our nervous system, which boosts digestive function

Exercise also improves blood flow (circulation) to the gut wall, and stimulates the release of crucial digestive enzymes.

Certain types of exercise such as yoga 'massage' the abdomen, while any exercise that incorporates deep diaphragmatic breathing adds further benefits, again via its effect on the vagus nerve.

Exercise also alters gut wall permeability ( ability of food and bacterial particles/ byproducts to get through the gut wall into the circulation) - with regular exercise being shown to reduce intestinal permeability aka leaky gut

In contrast, high intensity exercise actually temporarily increases gut wall permeability, as well as reducing blood flow to the gut - this resolves quickly, but means adequate rest periods between intensive workouts are important for gut health.

And over time, any regular exercise makes the gut more resistant to damage, ie all exercise helps! 

Exercise also improves our gut microbiome diversity, increasing numbers of 'healthy' gut bacteria, and reducing numbers of 'bad' bacteria (reduces dysbiosis)

 People who are regularly active have been shown to have healthier gut biome - one controlled trial in a group of 98 people showed gut bacteria changed rapidly in response to exercise - and that these changes reversed when exercise stopped.

Ie we need regular consistent exercise for a healthy gut

Exercise may also help our gut wall immune function, by increasing activity of gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), where 70% of our immune cells live. This can potentially help us fight infections, while reducing the risks of allergy and autoimmune disease

The bottom line is - get moving if you want a healthy gut!!