How to Be a Conscious Eater

14

FERMENTED FOODS

AND FIBER

W

hen we eat food, it travels down our intestinal tract,

known less elegantly as our “gut.” Along the journey,

it encounters trillions of bacteria. But these bacteria

come in peace. Collectively, they make up the gut microbiome.

This is the center of a newish category of medicine that has

uncovered ties between an unhealthy gut and a host of ail-

ments—from colon cancer to diabetes, allergies to asthma.

“These microbes are like factory workers keeping the

body’s operations running smoothly, playing essential roles in

digestion, revving up the immune system, protecting us from

pathogens, and regulating metabolism.” So explains a great

guide to microbes published in Cooking Light magazine. They

also tap specialized cells—neurons—to communicate nerve

signals via the “gut-brain axis,” as it’s called, and help main-

tain steady blood sugar levels.

So far, research suggests that those of us living in Western

countries have alarmingly lower levels of microbial diversity

compared with what would be optimal for health. Theories

abound about why, but it may have to do with our limited

exposure to nonthreatening germs in our environments:

overly sanitized indoor spaces versus playing outside or work-

ing on farms, as more people used to do, and excessive intake

of ultra-processed foods and antibiotic use. Even cesarean

sections and feeding babies formula versus breast milk have

been implicated, as exposure seems especially important early

in life.

Stuff that Comes from the Ground 53