When thinking about gut microbial communities in humans, there are various behaviors that individuals engage in that can cause changes. To start, taking oral antibiotics can dramatically change the amount and types of bacteria present in the gut and potentially have detrimental health impacts. Despite the fact they are often excellent at fighting infections and making it hard for bacteria to survive, this can have consequential effects when it also kills the good bacteria we need in our gut. So although they kill off the bad bacteria, they also end up killing the good which causes changes to the microbiome and can present as dysbiosis and other GI issues. Secondly, when thinking about behaviors that impact the gut, supplementing your diet with fermented foods that are rich in probiotics and even taking a probiotic supplement can have pronounced beneficial effects. By providing the gut with additional beneficial bacteria, it will help keep you healthy by fighting off bad bacteria, aiding in digestion, breakdown and absorb medications and other functions to maintain balance. Additionally, regular exercise has also been proven to improve gut health by way of good heart health and weight maintenance. Research also suggests that working out may increase species diversity in the gut as one study found that athletes had a larger variety of gut bacteria when compared to those that were non-athletes.