How Much of You is You?

"You are just a human shell for 100 trillion bacterial cells."

You have ten to one bacterial cells.  The uniqueness of the bacterial microbiom can not be understated in terms of importance for health.  It influences are vast.

Cesarean babies are more likely to be overweight as adults and deal with more allergies.  All because they miss the mothers helpful microbiom from the birth canal and are now influenced by the her skin.  This can then lead to metabolism and immune system difference later in life.

Being put on antibiotics at a young age can also negatively influence your good microbiom.



When I first saw these commercials by Snickers I thought they were pretty funny.  Now, thinking about them a little deeper, they have some significant insight.

You are what you eat.  We have all heard this, but how many of us believe it.  When you eat sugar and processed foods you are feeding and growing the bad bacteria.  After years, you will crave that "Snickers" bar.  When you don't get it, you can become irritable, tired and or angry.  Is that the real you?

My wife wanted to do the Whole30 program for a month.  Without getting into whether I think this is good or not, the premise is no sugar, artificial ingredients or breads for a month.  (I've simplified my definition)

I would have told you I don't have a lot of of sugar intake, I do like my ice-cream at night, but overall I would have put me on the very low end.  I was shocked by how the lack of sugar in my system affected me the first 4-5 days.

What I found very interesting is I tried drinking a sugar free Rockstar (yea I was going to cheat) I couldn't find coffee and after tasting one sip, spit it out.  It tasted like nothing but chemicals to me.  This is a drink I'd enjoyed every now and then for years.

Could things be changing this fast?

How much of this influence becomes who we are?  Overweight?  Happy?  Depressed?  Focused?  All these attributes have been shown to be highly influenced by the good vs bad bacteria.

Dealing with asthma, allergies, autoimmune problems, and weight issues can have enormous impact on individuals lives.   So much so that they become your life.  How much of this is you and not just your gut's dictating what you are?

Pretty interesting fields of research in all of this.  Realizing the things you like and how you respond to them may be so influenced by bacteria in your gut can be mind blowing.  It's a head trip to say the least, but it's worth exploring and striving for a "healthier" gut of bacteria.