Page 64 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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FERMENTED FOODS

AND FIBER

hen we eat food, it travels down our intestinal tract,
known less elegantly as our “gut.” Along the journey,
Wit 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