MICROBIOME NEWS: Exercise and the ‘Good’ Bugs in Our Gut. But note this caveat: “The rugby players consumed far more calories than did the other men, with a much larger percentage of their diet consisting of protein. Such nutritional differences can affect which microbes thrive in the gut. The athletes also were training at a level that few of us would be able or willing to emulate.”

Plus, from the comments: “Maybe the rugby players from getting knocked over were ingesting more soil bacteria than the sedentary group?”