Giulia Enders

would take an entire international news agency to report on all the events constantly unfolding in just one person’s microbiome. While we lounge about feeling bored, any number of exciting things are happening inside us.

would take an entire international news agency to report on all the events constantly unfolding in just one person’s microbiome. While we lounge about feeling bored, any number of exciting things are happening inside us.

-thirty-second of an ounce (1 gram) of feces contains more bacteria than there are people on Earth.

We know that gut bacteria are responsible for blood groups and that harmful bacteria cause diarrhea.

The scientifically correct terms are microbiota (which means “little life”) and microbiome, to refer to our collection of microbes and their genes.

But most of all, genes are plans. They are incapable of doing anything unless they are read and implemented.

Taken together, our gut bacteria have 150 times more genes than a human being. This massive collection of genes is called a biome.

The guts of obese people are often found to contain more bacterial genes involved in breaking down carbohydrates

Similar caution should be exercised with general dietary tips. Soy’s ability to protect against prostate cancer, cardio-vascular disease, or bone disorders, for example, has now been proven. More than 50 percent of Asians benefit from this effect. Among people of European heritage, the beneficial effect is found among only 25 to 30 percent of the population. This cannot simply be explained by human genetic differences. The difference is due to certain bacteria. They are found more commonly in the guts of Asians, where they are able to coax the health-promoting essence out of tofu and other soy products

In the industrialized world, about 90 percent of our nutrition comes from what we eat, and we are fed about 10 percent by our bacteria