A study by the University of California (UCR) suggests that broad-spectrum oral antibiotics may reduce motivation and endurance for voluntary exercise in humans, with the effects magnified in high-exercise cohorts.
“We believed an animal’s collection of gut bacteria, its microbiome, would affect digestive processes and muscle function, as well as motivation for various behaviors, including exercise,” said Theodore Garland, UCR physiologist on June 1.
The team conducted their study in mice models by wiping out gut bacteria in two groups of mice: one group bred for voluntary exercise and the normal mice that were not.
The mice were fed broad-spectrum oral antibiotics and gut microbiome clearance was confirmed through fecal samples taken 10 days later, with no aerobic bacteria colony detected after fecal samples were plated and incubated….