US: Warfighters’ gut microbiome to be studied for boosting performance

The study builds on many others that hint at a link between gut microbiome, brain function, and bone development. To this end, USARIEM scientists are investigating how the digestive microbiome and the compounds it produces affect warfighters operating in demanding conditions and environmental extremes.

The institute stated that its primary goal is to implement nutrition interventions in order to enhance the performance of personnel in such situations.

You are what you eat

As the US Army explains, when warfighters travel to challenging environments, their individual gut microbiomes may cause different reactions.

“For example, a warfighter may experience varying levels of leaky gut, a condition where waste products go into the bloodstream due to the gut’s weak intestinal walls; or acute mountain sickness, the body experiences distress when adjusting to higher altitudes — based on the types of microbes in their gut,” the U.S. Army explained in a press release.

“What we eat shapes the gut microbiome,” USARIEM Nutrition Physiologist Philip Karl explained. “We know nutrition can improve health, and we know nutrition can improve performance and cognition, but not everyone responds the same way when exposed to the same diet or environment,” he said.

He added that they wanted to know if individuality in the gut microbiome was one reason for that variability and whether they could manipulate that individuality and the diverse functions of the gut microbiome using nutrition.

To achieve this, the USARIEM team evaluated food supplies given to soldiers and selected those that benefit the microbes living in the gut the most. From this, they hope to develop a new nutrition bar to give to US Army troops.

The bar will contain both prebiotic and probiotic compounds that promote balanced and healthy microbiota. “What’s exciting here is that the genetic capacity of the gut microbiome far exceeds the genetic capacity of the human body,” Karl stated.

This meant that the microbes living in us gave the human body numerous functions that it did not have. Karl further explained that it was a win-win situation: “we nourish the microbiota, and they nourish us.”

A new bar for a new gut microbiome

According to USARIEM, the nutrition bar could help prevent intestinal permeability in soldiers exposed to high altitudes. This syndrome is the weakening or thinning of intestinal walls, causing waste products to leak into the bloodstream.

“We hoped that the nutrition bar we developed would target beneficial microbes and help protect the gut from damage during environmental stress,” Karl said.

“This is an exciting area of research that may help us develop new performance-optimizing nutrition interventions that leverage the diverse capabilities of our friendly resident gut microbes.”

USARIEM has stated that it is conducting additional tests to identify precisely which prebiotics and probiotics promote specific benefits for a soldier’s cognition and physical health.