What bacteria can do for you.
When you probably hear the word “bacteria” what do you think of? Perhaps tiny microscopic killers that only serve to cause disease? Although this may be true, it is only partly true. In fact, most types of bacteria are harmless and do not even cause disease. In fact, some bacteria are actually beneficial to your health and may even support your digestion, immune system, and brain health. 📷
Public Domain, CDC
This is where the term “microbiome” comes in to play. To put it simply, a microbiome refers to the collective microorganisms that live on and within your body. A wide variety of microorganisms make up your microbiome, including viruses and fungi, but most of your microbiome is made up of bacteria. These bacteria can benefit your health in a variety of ways, including:
The strengthening of the immune system: Your microbiome may affect how your immune system responds to threats. In fact, your microbiome may even teach your immune system to recognize foreign invaders.1
Digestion: Bacteria in your digestive tract is also responsible for helping you digest a wide variety of food sources, including fiber, breast milk, and certain types of proteins.2,3
Controlling Obesity: The presence of certain types of bacteria in your body may even help you to control your body weight. One factor that may contribute to weight gain is due to an imbalance between harmful and healthy bacteria - a condition that is sometimes referred to as gut dysbiosis.4
Improved mental health: Not only may certain types of bacteria improve symptoms of depression, research also suggests that certain types of bacteria can also release chemicals in the brain (called neurotransmitters), that may improve brain function.5,6
Hopefully you are now convinced that your microbiome can help improve your health, and it is definitely a good idea to improve your microbiome, but how do you do that? Fortunately, there are a wide variety of steps that you can take to do this, including:
Take probiotics: Probiotics are live bacteria that can restore the balance of healthy bacteria vs unhealthy bacteria in your body. Foods such as bananas, green peas, and apples are rich in probiotics. Additionally, probiotic supplements may also prove useful.
Eat diverse food: Having a diverse microbiome correlates to good health. Eating diverse types of food may contribute to this diversity of the microbiome.7
Eat fermented foods: Fermented food contain healthy bacteria and may reduce the number of unhealthy gut bacteria in the gut microbiome. Some fermented foods that are rich in these healthy bacteria include yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut.
Go vegetarian: Maintaining a plant-based diet may reduce levels of bad cholesterol and may reduce the number of unhealthy bacteria.8📷
Picture Credit: http://www.fusionteas.com/KefirGrains.html
Your microbiome plays a crucial role in your health. Although some types of bacteria may be harmful and pathogenic, many other types of bacteria may actually benefit your wellbeing. As research on this topic grows, more facts continue to emerge to support the benefits of maintaining a healthy and diverse microbiome.
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