Recent research has revealed that elite athletes have unique gut bacteria. This research has also revealed that gut microbiota differs depending on the sport. For example, there are differences between the gut bacteria of long-distance runners and rugby players. When long-distance runners’ health deteriorates and their performance declines, their gut bacteria also change. When long-distance runners become ill, their gut bacteria decrease. On the other hand, intense contact sports like rugby put a particularly heavy strain on the body, temporarily weakening the immune system. Rugby players possess gut bacteria that quickly restore this immune system.
Olympic athletes reach the highest level in their sport. They achieve victory through not only technical training, but also weight control and high motivation. These characteristics can be seen from the perspective of gut bacteria. Gold medal-winning athletes have about 1.5 times more diverse bacterial species than the average person. It appears that the abundance of intestinal bacteria has beneficial effects on the body. Athletes train hard through a combination of practice, regular meals, and sleep. It’s true that intestinal bacteria play a key role in their training. Another question is whether the increased intestinal bacteria is due to intense training. A clue to this came from the Boston Marathon. With the cooperation of athletes participating in the race, feces were collected before and after the race. When bacteria living in the intestines of top athletes were transplanted from these feces into the intestines of mice, the mice’s athletic performance was improved.
Some companies have begun to put this knowledge to use. Leading the way was the Australian startup Biome Bank, which pioneered a method of transplanting components of the intestinal bacteria found in healthy people into sick people. They are currently developing a product that utilizes intestinal bacteria as a treatment for enteritis. Transplanting the intestinal bacteria found in healthy people into sick people improves the treatment. In this way, intestinal bacteria research is focused on how to collect and store effective intestinal bacteria. Through joint research, Yamagata University and a Japanese startup have also decided to launch a bank project to collect intestinal bacteria that are effective in treating diseases. The bank project will collect intestinal bacteria from healthy people and store them frozen. Plans are underway to investigate bacteria that are useful in treating diseases and to begin developing new drugs that act on the intestinal flora. The goal is to find intestinal bacteria with different therapeutic effects for each disease and put them to practical use as biological medicines.
