A new study conducted by UC Riverside suggests that exercise and healthy diet in childhood lead to adults with bigger brains and less anxiety. The study aimed to examine the long term benefits of a healthy diet and exercise as the two are usually examined separately, or short term.

Researchers divided young mice into four groups, those with access to exercise, those without, and those with a standard healthy diet, and those with a standard western diet.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Mice were put on their assigned diet as soon as they were done weaning and stayed on the same diet for three weeks until sexual maturity. The mice then went through an additional eight weeks of “washout” where they were kept with out wheels on the standard healthy diet. Researchers then measured aerobic capacity, did behavioral analysis, and testes different levels of hormones.

Previously, the research team found that eating too much fat and sugar as a child can alter the microbiome for life, even if they later eat healthier. Going forward, the team plans to investigate whether fat or sugar is more responsible for the negative effects they measured in Western-diet-fed mice.

Childhood diet and exercise creates healthier, less anxious adults

Researchers concluded that early life exercise resulted in less anxious behaviors in adult mice and led to increases in adult muscle and brain mass. When fed standard western-style diets the mice became fatter and grew into adults with a preference for unhealthy foods.

Numerous studies have shown a connection between poor gut health and severe covid-19. Research done in clinical trials has shown that probiotics can ease symptoms of covid.

Recently researchers have found a gut-lung connection. After looking at more than 1,000 patients infected with coronavirus, those with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms had worse outcomes than patients without GI symptoms. This was done by Rush University medical center in Chicago.

Out of all the patients evaluated, 22.4% reported one GI symptom, most commonly nausea and vomiting. Another study with patients admitted to Standford health care found that 31.9% of patients had GI symptoms when they were admitted.

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The links between poor gut microbiota and chronic diseases were made long before COVID-19. One of the underlying factors affecting the diversity of your gut microbiome is a Western diet that is characterized by a high intake of processed foods and sugar and a low intake of fruits and vegetables.

A Healthy Gut to Help Combat COVID

Health starts in the gut. To learn more about gut health and how to heal the gut, check out this article.

A new study published in Communications Biology has shown how mice with different gut microbiomes gain weight when eating processed food. Researchers examined how fungi in the gut microbiome changed the host’s metabolic reaction to refined and processed foods. The study used genetically identical mice with different fungal microbiomes. Researchers then fed mice regular mouse food, or processed food similar to that of an average American diet for six weeks.

The research showed that eating processed foods made most mice gain weight, but how much, and how their metabolism changed depended on the microbiome of the mice.

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We found that mice whose gut microbiomes contained more of the fungi Thermomyces – which manufacturers use to break down fat in commercial processes – and less Saccharomyces – yeasts used in baking and brewing – gained about 15% more weight than the mice with different microbiomes. We found similar but smaller differences in mice on a normal diet.

Fungal microbiome: Whether mice get fatter or thinner depends on the fungi that live in their gut

Similar findings have been found true for humans as well. Research has shown that the average American has to work out more and eat less to maintain the same weight as 20-30 years ago.

A new study has shown Glyphosate and Roundup disturb the gut microbiome and blood biochemistry at any level, even the levels that have been deemed safe.

Image credit: Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty Images

The study was conducted by an international team of scientists bases in London, Italy, France, and the Netherlands, and was led by Dr. Michael Antoniou of King’s College London. The study is published in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives.

The research found that that glyphosate disrupts the microbiome the same way in which it kills weeds.

Humans and animals do not have the shikimate pathway, enabling industry and regulators to claim that glyphosate is nontoxic to humans.[2] However, some strains of gut bacteria do have this pathway, leading the researchers on the new study to investigate whether Roundup and glyphosate could affect the gut microbiome. Imbalances in gut bacteria have been linked to an ever-growing array of diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Glyphosate and Roundup disturb gut microbiome and blood biochemistry at doses that regulators claim to be safe

Numerous studies have been done to show the negative effects of glyphosate on humans. Glyphosate has been shown to cause cancer and numerous other health problems.

Related: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut 

A new study from Stanford University and the University of Nebraska shows that many newborns are lacking important gut bacteria. Many newborns are missing beneficial bacteria to help them get all the nutritional benefits of breast milk.

C-sections, antibiotics, and formula milk are all said to be part of the problem. Researchers examined bacteria from hundreds of babies of different ages, locations, and diets (formula, breastfed, and mixed).

Related: Circumcision Linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Overall, this survey revealed that, on average, infants in the US have a low abundance of Bifidobacterium, a high abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria carrying high levels of ARGs, as well as limited capacity of metabolizing HMOs from breast milk. These findings were widespread in infants in the US, independent of location, age, and diet.

Metagenomic insights of the infant microbiome community structure and function across multiple sites in the United States

Along with breast milk digestion, this bacteria has been shown to be important for healthy immune system development.

Related: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut

A new study has shown that the effects of a poor diet as a child can affect the microbiome well into adulthood, even after you switch to a healthier diet.

“We studied mice, but the effect we observed is equivalent to kids having a Western diet, high in fat and sugar and their gut microbiome still being affected up to six years after puberty,” explained UCR evolutionary physiologist Theodore Garland.

Study finds childhood diet has lifelong impact

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, examined the effects of different diets on mice. Mice were divided into four groups, half were fed with the standard diet, considered healthy, and half were fed the unhealthy diet, and then within those two groups, mice were divided into groups with access to a running wheel, and groups without.

Related: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut 

After three weeks all mice were returned to the standard diet and no exercise. At 14 weeks, the mice’s diversity and abundance of bacteria were examined.

The group found that certain beneficial bacteria were lacking in the group fed the “unhealthy” diet. Researchers saw a significant decrease in the number and diversity of gut bacteria in the mature mice who had been fed an unhealthy diet.

It’s likely that the “healthy” diet that the mice were put on after the unhealthy diet, did not promote gut diversity, as it was said the diet was the standard diet for lab mice. To further see the effects of a poor diet on the microbiome, they should feed mice an unhealthy diet, and then split that group up and feed one group a “standard” diet, and another group, a diet that promotes gut diversity.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

Earlier last week the federal government released new dietary guidelines. The new guidelines disregard advice from the Nutrition Coalition to reduce sugar intake from 10 percent of daily calories to 6 percent and limiting alcohol intake to one drink a day.

Photo: Adobe Stock

The average American consumes 2.3 gallons of alcohol a year and 57 pounds of added sugar a year. Both sugar and alcohol play a large role in overall health.

A scientific advisory board recommended reducing added sugars and alcohol for a reason. More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, which is associated with a higher risk of developing serious diseases, like COVID-19. Plus, the science is leaning toward the fact that drinking more alcohol may increase the risk of death. 

New dietary guidelines fail to recommend further reducing sugar and alcohol intake

Federal dietary guidelines are updated every five years. They create guidelines for federal programs like SNAP, and the national school lunch program.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

At OLM we know that sugar and alcohol go way beyond just contributing to chronic illnesses. Sugar and alcohol feed infection and allow candida and other harmful bacteria to take over the body. Cutting out refined sugars, including alcohol, is one of the most important steps you can take to living an organic lifestyle.