A study involving the Irish rugby team has shown the importance of exercise and eating well when it comes to having a healthy gut.

In recent years, more and more studies have shown that gut microbes play a key role in our health. Gut microbes refer to the various microorganisms, including bacteria, that live in our intestines. They have a number of important roles such as helping the body to digest certain foods and to maintain a healthy immune system.

Research also suggests that high microbial diversity is linked to better health, while people with poor microbial diversity may be more at risk of developing certain conditions, such as obesity.

Irish researchers decided to look into the impact of exercise and diet on gut microbial diversity. They looked at 40 male elite athletes - the Irish rugby team - who had an average age of 29. The athletes were assessed immediately prior to the last Rugby World Cup.

They were compared to two groups of healthy male controls.

The study found that the rugby players had much higher gut microbial diversity compared to the controls. This diversity was linked to exercise and the type of diet consumed by the athletes, specifically lots of protein.

The researchers from University College Cork and the Teagasc Food Research Centre suggested that exercising and/or eating specific proteins may increase microbial diversity in the gut.

"This is the first report that exercise increases microbial diversity in humans. While we and others have previously shown that diet influences microbial diversity, we can now report that protein consumption, in particular, positively correlates with microbial diversity," they noted.

Details of these findings are published in the international medical journal, Gut.