What science has revealed over the past decade about the role our resident microbes play in keeping us healthy has truly been remarkable. It’s now clear that the more than 100 trillion microbes living on and within us are, moment to moment, playing a fundamental role in virtually every system within the human body. Who would have conceived that research would have revealed, for example, that the bacteria living within the colon are helping shape our mood, regulating our appetite, manufacturing health-sustaining vitamins, controlling our immune systems and inflammation, and even influencing the expression of our DNA?

This expanding science is compelling, humbling, and, at the same time, empowering, as we now are beginning to make real inroads into understanding how changes in the microbiome (the collection of the microbes, their genetic material, and the metabolic products they create) affect health, disease resistance and longevity. Continue reading