Hello friends!

I hope the catchy title will encourage you to read this important news :-)

The Human Micro-Biome Project began in 2007 (only 8 yrs ago) and what we have learned about the bugs that live in and on us is astonishing.

Believe it or not, we are 10x more "bug" than human cell.  There are only 10trillion human cells in a human being yet we house 100trillion germs! We humans are actually the host for the bugs!  Since we are so outnumbered, we need to be friends!

Yet we have taken up an adversarial position with our bugs because of the foods we choose and the antibiotics we've been given throughout our lives.  In a healthy human body that must undergo antibiotic treatment the gut bacteria are slaughtered along with the pathogenic bacteria that threatens to take our life. Which is what happened "in the old days" before the discovery of penicillin. If we got a horrible infection and high fever the best a physician could do is say:  "I hope he makes it through the night."   

Thank goodness we don't have to witness that scenario very often nowadays because powerful antibiotics most often come to the rescue.

After the antibiotic course comes the problem.  Modern life is filled with poor food options.  Many people take advantage of these packaged "non-foods" every day.  Especially children.  As it turns out, our "good bugs" do not like this food.  They do not like sugar.  They do not like processed, refined foods.  (read: every snack in a package that has a list of 10 - 50 ingredients.  Most of those ingredients are chemicals and different ways to say sugar.)  They do not like sodas.  They do not like the kinds of fats used to prepare junk food and fast food.  What do they like?  Vegetables and fruits and fiber!  They adore broccoli, spinach, apples, celery, cabbage.  They especially like fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchee and miso soup.  Things most people don't eat on a daily basis.

What can one do?  First, stop eating nutrition-less food.  Eat lots of plant foods and fermented foods.  Replace and replenish your gut bacteria with high-level probiotics.  The best on the market for general rehabilitation of the gut flora is Dr. Ohhira.  This is because he has used a fermentation process that takes 5 years to complete, at the end of which, the capsules have 12 strains of powerful fermented bacteria along with the food they love.  So, once implanted, they stay there, unless disrupted by more antibiotics and poor food choices.  

Plant foods and the product JuicePlus+ are considered "pre-biotics" because they provide the food the good bugs prefer.  Happy bugs = happy home.  

In a future article, I will write about the neurological consequences of having poor gut flora.  It turns out all neurological diseases, from Lou gherig's to MS, to alzheimers, PD, dementia, depression, even schizophrenia, are all greatly impacted by poor gut bacteria.  

There are also new (developed and tested by Metagenics) probiotics targeted for specific issues.  They have 10 new ones:  ones for replenishing during and after antibiotic therapy, ones for sinus infection folks, leaky-gut syndrome, compromised immune system patients, auto-immune diseases, etc.  I carry most of them along with Dr Ohhira.

Since they are now saying that 90% of our health depends on the health of our gut bacteria population, it is really time to start there when undertaking any health changes.

Eat well!  

mary anne