Quick Thread on the Gut Microbiome
Hippocrates said: “All disease begins in the gut.”
While there is significant truth to this, in my personal view of health, it is a little more complex, but it is largely true.
The gut affects the rest of the body, being the gateway to what is absorbed, via the gut-brain axis (directly affects the brain), and due to the metabolism, absorption, detoxification and immune system (70% is in the gut) which takes place/resides in the gut, etc.
This is why it is so critical to take care of our gut health, because once it is negatively affected, it may never be the same again. What affects the gut microbiome? There are over 100,000 trillion microorganisms working together in the gut.
There are 10x more bacterial cells than human cells. Usually, we focus on the bacteria, although there are other species.
Currently, out gut microbiome is less diverse than historically, which can have a negative impact on our health as various species have distinct functions (metabolizing food, producing vitamins like B12 – which we have lost, among other functions).