Effects of exercise on gut microbiota of adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: The equilibrium between gut microbiota (GM) and the host plays a pivotal role in maintaining overall health, influencing various physiological and metabolic functions. Emerging research suggests that exercise modulates the abundance and functionality of gut bacteria, yet the comprehensive effects on GM diversity remain to be synthesized. Objectives and Design: The study aims to quantitatively examine the effect of exercise on the diversity of gut microbiota of adults using a systemic review and meta-analysis approach. Methods: PubMed, Ebsco, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data were searched from their inception to September 2023. Exercise intervention studies with a control group that describe and compare the composition of GM in adults, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, were included in this meta-analysis. Results: A total of 25 studies were included in this meta-analysis with a total of 1044 participants. Based on a fixed-effects model [Chi2 = 29.40, df = 20 (p = 0.08); I2 = 32%], the pooled analysis showed that compared with the control group, exercise intervention can significantly increase the alpha diversity of adult GM, using the Shannon index as an example [WMD = 0.05, 95% CI (0.00, 0.09); Z = 1.99 (p = 0.05)]. In addition, exercise interventions were found to significantly alter GM, notably decreasing Bacteroidetes and increasing Firmicutes, indicating a shift in the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. The subgroup analysis indicates that females and older adults appear to exhibit more significant changes in the Shannon Index and observed OTUs. Conclusions: Exercise may be a promising way to improve GM in adults. In particular, the Shannon index was significantly increased after exercise. Distinct responses in GM diversity to exercise interventions based on gender and age implicated that more research was needed.
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Lifestyle behaviors such as dietary habits, physical activity, and exposure to natural environments modulate the adult microbiome and thereby influence mental well-being.
“In parallel, lifestyle behaviors such as dietary habits (Aslam et al., 2026), physical activity (Min et al., 2024), and exposure to natural environments (Zhang et al., 2024) act as powerful modulators of the adult microbiome, thereby influencing mental well-being.”
From Psychobiotics in mental health: insights from human clinical trials via the gut-brain axis (2026) · cites this paper as Min et al., 2024
The Discussion (§4.2 and §4.3; page not provided) associates physical activity with greater gut-microbiome diversity and differences in bacterial composition in adults. It does not establish that those microbiome changes influence adults’ mental well-being; its discussion of emotional regulation concerns a bacterial genus and depression in mice. The other lifestyle behaviors in the citing sentence have separate citations and are not assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Min, L., Ablitip, A., Wang, R., Luciana, T., Wei, M., & Ma, X.
- Affiliations
- Tsinghua University (CN)
- Department of Public Health and Sport Sciences, Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2HZ, UK
- Corresponding author
- Ma, Xindong
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2024-04-05
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1070
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11013040
- OpenAlex
- W4393994401
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 50 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 11
- FWCI
- 4.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Tsinghua University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- physical activity, gut microbiota, microbial diversity, alpha diversity, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, adults, sex differences, age differences, Shannon diversity index
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adult, Aged, Bacteria, China, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Exercise, Bacteroidetes
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