Research shows that exercise improves your microbiota, boosting your mood.

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but it also has a surprising impact on your mood. That’s because there is an intriguing relationship between exercise, your gut microbes, and your brain. Research has found a correlation between the health of your gut and depression. This is the gut-brain axis and it is involved with your microbiota: the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in your gut.

A bad microbiota may lead to a leaky gut, which can allow toxins and bacteria to enter your bloodstream. Once there, your heart dutifully pumps these bad actors to every tissue in your body. Your immune system knows how to track down these interlopers and kill them, but if you are continuously leaking pathogens, you can become susceptible to chronic systemic inflammation. That can lead to some of the most intractable diseases we know of, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. It can also affect your brain, affecting cognition and mood and even leading to dementia.

So, how do you stop a leaky gut? The best bet is to cultivate a balanced and diverse microbiota. That will prevent pathogens from taking over and leading to inflammation. Surprisingly, that’s easy to do with a diverse diet loaded up with fruits and veggies. If you find it hard to consume enough fruits and veggies, you can try prebiotic flavonoid extracts, like those in Clarity Prebiotic Blend. That, along with exercise, can boost your gut health, make it easier to exercise and improve cognition.

Read more about the effect of exercise on the mind here.