Los Angeles Times

Marathon runners get a boost from the bacteria in their guts

The secret to a healthier life may lie in the guts of elite athletes.

Scientists who studied marathon runners discovered a type of bacteria that flourished in their digestive tracts. These Veillonella bacteria produce a molecule that helps increase exercise endurance.

The results, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, could someday change the way we work out, said microbiologist George Weinstock from the Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Conn.

"It starts to build the case that someday we may be able to take a Veillonella probiotic just before we are going to exercise, and we'll be able to exercise more" said Weinstock, who wasn't involved in the study.

Our bodies are

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times2 min readInternational Relations
Editorial: Biden’s Limit On Bomb Shipments To Israel May Finally Get Netanyahu’s Attention
In quietly halting a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel last week, President Joe Biden at last began exercising U.S. leverage to halt a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the final refuge in Gaza for about a million Palestinians displaced by Israeli
Los Angeles Times7 min readWorld
Jewish Families Say Anti-Israel Messaging In Bay Area Classrooms Is Making Schools Unsafe
In the weeks after Hamas' deadly cross-border attacks on Israeli border towns and Israel's ensuing bombardment of Gaza, a seventh-grade Jewish student at Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco grew accustomed to seeing her classmates display their
Los Angeles Times3 min readCrime & Violence
Alleged Violin Thief Also Robbed A Bank, Prosecutors Say, With Note That Said 'Please' And 'Thx'
LOS ANGELES — The violins were expensive — and very, very old. They included a Caressa & Francais, dated 1913 and valued at $40,000. A $60,000 Gand & Bernardel, dated 1870. And a 200-year-old Lorenzo Ventapane violin, worth $175,000. For more than tw

Related Books & Audiobooks