Beneficial modulation of the gut microbiota

Abstract

As the scientific community continues to develop an ever-greater understanding of the composition and function of the human gut microbiota, and the role of specific microbial populations in health and disease, attention has turned to the tools that are at our disposal with respect to altering these microbes in a beneficial way. The options available include the use of diet, probiotics/prebiotics, antimicrobials and, potentially, exercise. Here, our recent investigations of the relationship between protein, bacteriocin producing probiotics and exercise and the gut microbiota and, in turn, health will be described.