Have you been hearing the word “microbiome” thrown around recently? It’s being talked about a lot, but what the heck is it exactly? Good question, no it’s not something out of the alien race. A Microbiome is a community of microorganisms that live together in a particular habitat. When you hear of microbiomes being referred to in terms of human health, we’re talking about our own unique set of microorganisms that live right inside our bodies, and they have a lot to do with how healthy we are.

Where is the Microbiome Located?

Our own unique microbiome live on and inside our bodies. This unique bacteria can be found in the saliva inside our mouths, living on our skin, inside a woman’s vagina, and most importantly, living inside our gut. The health of our microbiome is crucial to our health as a whole. The bacteria living inside our gut helps keep our digestive systems working properly, helps strengthen our immune systems to fight off diseases, and can even have an effect on how our brain develops. So yeah, your own personal microbiome is pretty important. Let’s talk about how to take care of it.

Caring for Your Microbiome

There are many things you can do on a daily basis to ensure your microbiome are healthy and working properly. Here are some easy things you can start doing today.

1. Eat Fermented Foods – Fermented foods contain lots of good bacteria to help fight off bad bacteria that also live inside your gut. They help to restore balance to your microbiome. In fact, it’s recommended that you eat one to two servings of fermented foods, each day. Some examples include:

●      Kefir

●      Kombucha

●      Tempeh

●      Sauerkraut

●      Kimchi

●      Miso

1. Focus on Probiotics – Probiotics are essential to a healthy digestive system. They can be found naturally in foods such as yogurt and even sourdough bread! One of the easiest ways to get your daily probiotics is with a high-quality probiotic supplement from a trusted natural health brand like New Chapter. What you’re looking for are probiotic supplements that contain “live and active cultures” and preferably one that contains multi-strains.
2. Take Digestive Enzymes – Digestive enzymes also help. Take them from Enzymedica to help break down the foods you eat (such as fats, carbohydrates, dairy, etc.) into useful macro- and micronutrients for your body.

1. Increase Your Fiber – Eating whole, plant-based foods that are rich in fiber is a great way to support your body’s microbiome. The fiber serves as fuel for your good bacteria and helps keep the microbiome strong and healthy.

1. Avoid Antibiotics – Sometimes they are necessary for getting rid of what ails you, but antibiotics should be taken sparingly, and as a last resort. That’s because while antibiotics kill off the bad bacteria that is making you sick, they are also getting rid of all that good bacteria you’ve been working so hard to build up in your system. If you do have to take antibiotics, just be sure to also hit the probiotics hard during your treatment to help replace the good bacteria.

1. Take Biome Supporting Supplements – The increased awareness of the human microbiome has sparked new convenient ways to support it. Afterall, what do we humans value more than convenience? You can now find fermented products in easy to use powders for smoothies and shakes, kombucha available at just about any grocery store, and even Aqua Biome Fish Oil! 

So now that you have a better understanding of what microbiome is, it’s time to get to work making yours as healthy as possible! Good luck, and keep healthy and well!

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Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash