Focusing on the "Gut," Also Known as the "Second Brain"! Former Japan National Soccer Team Player Keita Suzuki Advocates for a "New Way to Do Gut Health"

The "gut," which influences health, beauty, and even personality and is often called the second brain, is currently a hot topic on TV, magazines, and beauty influencer social media, fueling a "gut health" trend. Among the many focusing on gut health, former Japan national soccer team player Keita Suzuki stands out by approaching it from a slightly different angle than typical health and beauty concerns.
 
Based on his own experience, Suzuki noticed a connection between athletes' gut health and their performance. He wondered if replicating the gut environment of athletes in ordinary people could enhance their performance and conditioning.
 
So, is there a difference between the guts of athletes and those of the general population? Can gut health improve our performance? We interviewed Suzuki about his product line devoted to gut health, the "AuB" series.

What Differentiates Athletes' Gut Health from that of the General Population?

 In 2015, the same year Suzuki retired as a soccer player, he established AuB Corporation with the mission "To bring everyone to their best condition." The business began by collecting data on the gut bacteria of athletes. Why did he focus on athletes' guts?
 
"While scholars and experts worldwide were already researching the gut, we pondered what unique angle we could take. Upon investigation, we realized there wasn't much research specifically on athletes' guts. We thought that creating a database of gut bacteria from these performance-oriented individuals might reveal something significant."
 
Collecting data from notably distinctive subjects can lead to major discoveries. For instance, gathering gut data from people who don't easily gain weight led to the discovery of so-called "skinny bacteria."
 
Suzuki hypothesized that athletes' gut data might share common traits linked to their high performance, which might have been an athlete's intuition. Leveraging his connections, he gathered stool samples from athletes, resulting in data from roughly 500 athletes and 1,000 samples.
 
We identified a common feature in the guts of athletes.
 
"Athletes' guts exhibit a high level of 'bacterial diversity,' which is a marker of health. Among these, 'butyrate-producing bacteria' are notably higher in proportion compared to the general population. These bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids that are said to suppress pathogenic bacteria's growth and control the immune system. In athletes, this is related to endurance and performance."
 
Upon obtaining these convincing results, Suzuki felt a mix of joy and relief, exclaiming, "I knew it!" The process took a long four years from the start of the research. With an abundance of athlete data in hand, they moved on to the commercialization process.