Since the Human Genome Project was followed by the Microbiome Project, we have been learning more and more about how important our gut flora are to our health.

More bacteria than cells

The bacteria we have in our guts weighs up to 2kg (3-4lbs). The gut contains tens of trillions of bacteria that are made up of over 1000 different species, each with a different role to play. Each bacteria has its own DNA, numbering more than 3 million genes. That’s 150 times more than human genes. So really, we are more bacteria than we are human. Hmm…

What impact does this have?

This video explains the impact on our brains (depression, mood, anxiety), obesity, asthma etc. and what we can do to improve the gut bacteria.

Feeding the healthy gut bacteria

Bacteria come in many different shapes and sizes, as you saw in the video. We know that different bacteria consume different foods, much like we humans do. So do you want to encourage the unhealthy bacteria, or the healthy bacteria? What does your microbiome look like?

More vegetables

Eat more vegetables! Bacteria eat fibre and thrive on vegetables (fermented, raw, cooked) so how many vegetables do you eat a day? Remember, a handful counts as one veg. Two? Five? That’s the recommended miminum, but at EatLiveLovefood, we believe that we could benefit with more.

You may think you wouldn’t have room to eat so many vegetables, but like with anything new we introduce into our lives, something must go. Could you eat a smaller portion of potatoes or rice? Cut down on how much meat you eat? You should start slowly…just look at how much you eat first and then try to eat one more every day. So if you find you eat 5 portions per day, spend two weeks eating 6 per day. That doesn’t seem difficult, does it?

One step at a time.

Let us know how you get on in the comments below!