Genius Foods

or even a misuse of resources in today’s world of packaged
foods and triple-washed produce, it makes sense: for the
vast majority of our time on Earth, well before any
semblance of a modern food system, our food was dirty. We
didn’t have supermarkets full of the freshest (and most
attractive) produce at our convenience, and we certainly
didn’t coevolve with the plethora of antibacterial soaps or
“vegetable washes” available today, promising hospital-
grade sterility to our every last bite.
For our Paleolithic ancestors, the potential for
swallowing a pathogen—a microbe that could infect and
possibly kill us—was great. This put immense pressure on
our species early on to ensure that we could mount an agile
and formidable immune response should such a
confrontation occur. But our intestines are loaded with
outside bugs—is there a war raging in our bellies that we
aren’t privy to?
Not quite. A healthy immune system must work like the
highly trained security personnel at a sports arena, deftly
surveying thousands of ticket-holding attendees without
breaking a sweat. These guards don’t question every quirky-
looking stadium visitor they see—when they’re well trained,
they can spot signs far in advance if a person is likely to
step out of line. Like the visitors at a stadium, our microbial
residents hone our guards’ skills, helping them adapt to the
constantly changing environment—so that when an
unfriendly visitor does come along, it can be easily spotted.
Our gut—and its inhabitants—therefore serves as a sort of
“training camp” for our body’s immune system.
When our immune system is not up to par, it not only