FiberNEW2026-10

Is There a Relationship Between the Gut Microbiome and the Functional Capabilities of Skeletal Muscle? A Narrative Review.

Ondrak Kristin S, Seicshnaydre Evan A, Duffy Sharon J, Rodriguez Corinna L et al. — Nutrients

Summary

The gut microbiome (the community of bacteria in your intestines) plays a role in overall health, and new research suggests it might also influence muscle strength and function. This review explores how what you eat, especially fiber, can impact your gut bacteria, which in turn could affect your muscles. Understanding this connection, called the gut-muscle axis, could lead to new ways to maintain muscle health as we age.

AI-generated summary — read the original

Key points

Your gut bacteria, influenced by your diet, may play a role in how well your muscles function.
Eating foods rich in fiber can change your gut microbiome, potentially benefiting muscle health.
A diverse gut microbiome with beneficial bacteria is often linked to better muscle outcomes.
This connection, known as the gut-muscle axis, is an emerging area of research for maintaining muscle health as you age.

What the study looked at

What question did the study ask? This review explored whether there's a connection between the community of bacteria living in our gut (the gut microbiome) and the health and function of our skeletal muscles. It aimed to understand if and how diet-influenced gut bacteria might impact muscle strength and performance. How was it studied? This was a "narrative review," meaning the authors gathered and summarized existing research from various experimental, observational, and clinical studies. They synthesized findings from different types of scientific investigations to build a comprehensive picture of the current evidence on the gut-muscle relationship. What did it find? The review found strong evidence supporting a "gut-muscle axis," where gut bacteria and their metabolic activities, largely shaped by diet, can influence muscle metabolism, strength, and physical performance. Specifically, dietary components like fiber, protein, and probiotics can alter gut bacteria, producing beneficial compounds that affect muscles. Studies consistently link a more diverse gut microbiome and specific beneficial bacteria to improved muscle outcomes, while imbalances in gut bacteria are associated with age-related muscle decline.

Dietary takeaway

This review suggests that including more fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your diet could support a healthy gut microbiome, which in turn might benefit your muscle health. While promising, remember that this is a review summarizing existing research, and more direct studies are needed to definitively confirm these links and provide specific dietary recommendations for muscle health.

Abstract

Diet is one of the primary determinants of gut microbiota composition and its metabolic output. That output is emerging as a critical determinant of systemic health and has been linked to most physiological systems in the body, yet its relationship to skeletal muscle physiology has only recently received attention. Evidence from experimental, observational, and clinical studies supports the existence of a gut-muscle axis, in which microbial composition and metabolic activity in the gut, influenced by diet, affect muscle metabolism, strength, function, and physical performance. Fiber, protein intake, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and fermented foods are examples of dietary constituents that transiently alter the gut microbiota, producing key metabolic mediators including short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), microbially generated amino acid products, and metabolites implicated in systemic inflammation and gut barrier integrity, alongside endocrine crosstalk involving myokines and hormones (e.g., cortisol and testosterone). Human studies consistently associate higher microbial diversity and enrichment of SCFA-producing taxa with improved muscle-related outcomes, while age-related dysbiosis has been linked to sarcopenia and functional decline. This narrative review summarizes current evidence of the gut-muscle axis and highlights potential mechanisms linking gut microbial composition to skeletal muscle function. Future advances in personalized nutrition may offer novel opportunities to preserve muscle health and functional capacity throughout aging.

View on PubMed →DOI: 10.3390/nu18193300