Over the last two decades, researchers have made incredible progress in their ability to characterize the bacterial community in the gut and understand the active role this microbial community plays in metabolism, immune defense and other aspects of health. More recently, they’ve turned their attention to the important link between the microbiome and women’s health. Continue reading A Better Microbiome for Women’s Health
The human microbiome – the bacterial community that calls the human body home – continues to fascinate me. I am not alone. Last year, over 9,000 articles were published in the scientific literature on the subject, many about the bacterial community that lives in the human gut (the gut microbiome). In a previous post, I talked about how the health of your gut bacteria depends on your diet. Now, emerging research suggests that there are three things you can do right now to improve the health of your gut microbiome.
Continue reading 3 Lifestyle Habits for Better Gut Health
It’s hard to miss the headlines these days about the newest darling of the research world: gut bacteria. These microscopic cells reside in the human intestine in a big way, in the trillions by recent estimates. A growing body of research shows that keeping this bacterial community in proper balance has serious health benefits from a strong immune system to a positive mood to a healthy body weight and beyond. This balancing act fascinates me for two reasons. Not only does it have a profound potential for human health, but it adapts, often rapidly, to simple dietary changes. So we can add one more advantage to making smart choices about the foods and supplements we consume. We can dramatically change our gut bacteria– and health – for the better.