Secrets to Human Microbiome: Working with Your Internal and External Microbes for Overall Wellbeing in Lombard IL

Right at this very moment, there are literally trillions of microorganisms living on and inside your body. The good news is, that not all of them would harm your health. Lombard IL chiropractors know that some are even essential to your overall wellbeing. Quite a revelation, right? If this shocked you, you would love to learn more from this blog post! Welcome to the secret world of the human microbiome.

The most common misconception is all bacteria and other microorganisms cause us to get sick. As science progresses, more studies reveal how certain types of bacteria and other microbes help us not only to improve our immune system but also ensure that our body and brain perform at its best. It has also been established that there are ways to make it sure that we "breed" the right microbes inside our body. Before anything else, let's define terms first.

Definition In Lombard IL: Microbes, Microbiota, and Microbiome

Microbe is a generic term for all living microscopic organisms (1). This applies to Bacteria, Fungi, Archea, Viruses, Protists and other Microscopic Animals. Microbiota, on the other hand, is a community or collection of microbes. Microbiome is the entire ecosystem of multiple microbiota. (2) Each human being hosts a unique microbiome that can reveal a lot about his health, well being, and other biological information.

Understanding the Dynamics of Human Microbiome

The human microbiome is a fascinating microscopic jungle. The microbes that we host don't exclusively live inside us. They're also on and around us. There's actually a layer of microbes around our body and each of us gives off unique sets and amounts of microbes to our surroundings. (3) In the future, experts say that our unique microbiome can be used for practical purposes such as identifying people involved in a crime scene by identifying their Microbiome "footprints". (4)

Understanding the different microbes in one's microbiome can reveal a lot of information about a person. It's considered our "genetic footprint". By identifying the microbes in our body, experts can find out our vulnerabilities to certain diseases, hereditary disposition, body type, and other bio profiles. Since each organ houses different microbiota, experts can now determine how a specific organ performs by just studying the communities of microbes in it. For example, our gut can reveal different information about our diseases, mental function, and behavior.

The good news is we can influence how our microbiome affects our overall well-being by managing our diet, stress, and lifestyle. We can nourish and breed the "good bugs" in our microbiome in our favor. The more experts find out the unique microbes in a person's body, the better they understand how he would react to different stimuli. (5)

To put things into perspective here's the human microbiome by the numbers:

• We emit 10 microbes per hour (6)
• We have at least 10-100 trillion microbes in our body. The majority can be found in out guts. (7)
• 10:1 is the ratio of human microbes to our human cells. (8)
• There is about four pounds of biomass inside our gut and more than three million typed of microbes in it. (9)
• The gut of an average human being has at least 160 bacterial species. There are at least 1,000 known bacteria in human digestive gastrointestinal tract.(10)
• The average human body has 30-40 trillion cells. The human microbiome at least doubles that number. (11)
  90% of our diseases can be traced back to the microbes inside our gut.
• Human cells are 99.9% identical to one another. 80-90% of each person's microbiome is different from another.
• By the time you're three years old, your entire human Microbiome is expected to be stable. (12)
• As scientist find out more about our microbiome, more and more figures will articulate what this wild jungle really looks like.

How Your Gut Health Can Make or Break You

Since 2016, there are more than 17,000 studies about the health of our gut. (13) It's been getting more attention compared to other organs in our body for a reason. At least 90% of diseases known to man can be traced back to how healthy our gut is. Gastrointestinal microbes have provided experts the insights into many health conditions and also have been linked to the following diseases:

• Ulcerative colitis
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Metabolic syndrome
• Autoimmune diseases
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
• Cancer
• Brain Disorders and cognitive decline (Alzheimer's and dementia)
• Mood Disorders (like depression)
• Allergies, asthma, and other sensitivities

There are many beneficial microbes inside our gut that fight potential invasion of other bad bacteria. According to Dr. Rodney Berg of Louisiana State University in his study, the gut microbiota influences how our immune system responds to pathogens that harm our health. (14) Generally, babies who received breast milk have stronger immune system than those who just consumed formula milk. Breast milk contains a high amount of microbes with anti-inflammatory properties that has lifelong effects on one's immunity. (15)

The gut microbes also help us in digesting our food and even production of hormones, essential amino acids, and vitamins. (16) So if you want your body to have an efficient way to consume food and stable mental health, keeping the gut healthy should be one of your priorities. It's a matter of how we "cultivate" these good microbes (probiotics) to our advantage.

The gut microbes are now also directly linked to fertility, brain development, and even longevity.