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How to really take care of the microbiome?


Try to be born vaginally rather than c-section (might be too late for that!), avoid antibiotics unless you absolutely need them, polyphenol-rich whole food diet with diverse fruits and vegetables, lots of fibre and resistant starch and fermented foods. Buy organic if possible.


Since I was born via c-section I've tried to make up for the lack of my microbiome diversity by spending many years going down on a lot of different women and it seems to be working.


I suppose you are making fun of it. In case you need arguments to extend your joke: my friend and I were recommended pills made of colostrum of cow -- he took them.


It was a joke but then it made me think there might be some fact to it. The way married peoples start to share biomes and are probably lacking in diversity compared to someone who more frequently changes partners. There’s probably some gut health aspects there that could be studied.


Diverse diet including as many types of food as possible (eg. mushrooms, fermented vegetables, seaweed and other 'unusual' foods), aiming for whole foods (eg. raw rice over white rice).

Your gut bacteria is an expression of the foods that you consume on a daily basis.


Sandor Ellix Katz has some fantastic books about fermentation. Really, really suggest checking them out.

One thing that stuck out to me was when he talked about the relationship between people and their environment. How health is not in a vacuum, but in constant negotiation and collaboration with the world around you. He uses this to suggest fermenting things yourself, to engage in this process with the microbes in your environment. It's easy and fun!

Here's a 6 minute video where Katz talks about fermentation, and walks you through a basic process, in a beautiful and rustic kitchen I still dream about getting to cook in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i77hU3zR-fQ


One other aspect is also soap. Many people say it damages the microbiome in your skin


Eat lots of prebiotic rich vegetables and fruits. Fiber is food for gut bacteria. Also eat plenty of fermented foods. These things increase good gut bacteria and decrease the bad ones.

Avoid alcohol, sugar, and processed foods. These things increase bad gut bacteria and decrease the good ones.




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