Microbiome damage attributed to antibiotic use reduces athletic ability, a study finds
“We believed an animal’s collection of gut bacteria, its microbiome, would affect digestive processes and muscle function, as well as motivation for various behaviours, including exercise,”Theodore Garland, UCR evolutionary physiologist in whose lab the research was conducted. “Our study reinforces this belief.”
The authors write that “Based on body mass, food consumption, and behavioural observations, antibiotic treatment did not appear to cause sickness behaviour”. Yet wheel running in the High Runner mice were reduced by 21 percent – a change that the researchers attributed to microbiome damage. “A casual exerciser with a minor injury wouldn’t be affected much. But on a world-class athlete, a small setback can be much more magnified,” says Monica McNamara, UCR evolutionary biology doctoral student and the paper’s first author. “That’s why we wanted to compare the two types of mice.
Exercise is recommended for physical health as well as psychological wellbeing. While exercise has many benefits, public health officials have had a hard time to promote it with much success.