Studies have also shown that the gut bacteria are sensitive to the level of exercise received by the mice. Muribaculum bacteria increased in mice fed a normal diet that had access to a running wheel and decreased in mice on a high-fat diet whether or not they exercised.
Researchers believe that this species of bacteria, and the family of bacteria to which it belongs, may affect the amount of energy available to its host. Research is continuing into other possible actions of this type of bacteria.
One other interesting effect was the increase in the sex of very similar bacteria enriched after five weeks of treadmill training in a study by other researchers, suggesting that exercise alone may increase its presence.
Overall, UCR researchers found that early Western diet had a more lasting effect on the microbiome than early-life exercise did.
The Garland team would like to repeat this experiment and take samples at additional times, to gain a better understanding of when the changes in the mouse microorganisms first appear, and whether they extend to later stages of life.
No matter when the effects first appear, however, the researchers say it is important that they were seen as long after they changed their diet, and then changed back. The takeaway, Garland said, is basically, “Not just what you eat,” but what you ate as a child! ”(ANI)