Words Hattie Parish. Photographs Stocksy, iStock
The bacteria in your gut outnumber the cells that make up your body by a staggering 10 to one, so it’s worth taking care of them. Not only is our gut responsible for processing the food we eat, ensuring we make the most of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals, but its health affects almost every aspect of our mind and body.
Without the microbiome, we’d struggle to survive. As we grow and are exposed to more microbes, our microbiome diversifies, affecting how we digest food, helping to control the immune system and regulating brain health. A varied gut is a healthy gut – think of it as a diverse board of directors, each with different experiences and strengths. This is what you want to aim for, rather than the gut equivalent of the white, male committee. Despite its huge importance, the concept and study of the microbiome only developed in the 21st century. In 2007, the Human Microbiome Project was launched, and since then we’ve seen a continuous upturn in gut-conscious care. As such, the science is still relatively new, and as we discover more about the influence our gut has on our health and wellbeing (see our illustration, page 22), hopes for innovative, gut-based treatments drives further studies – so watch this space.