To Improve Your Gut Microbiome, Spend More Time in Nature

microorganisms in our bodies The gut can have a profound impact on our health, but research shows that the microorganisms in our surroundings (the so-called natural environmental microbiome) can also have a huge impact. This goes to show that we should all be spending more time interacting with nature, both outdoors and indoors.

Professor Gretchen Daily from Stanford University first introduced me to this emerging scientific field. She points to a Finnish research project that showed how letting kindergarten children play in yards containing forest floor “dirt” had a significant positive impact on their gut microbiomes. Seventy-nine young children participated, all of whom lived in an urban environment and spent most of their time in different day care centers across Finland. The only difference between them is that these daycare centers have three different types of outdoor spaces.

The first type is a fairly standard outdoor play area consisting of concrete, gravel and some plastic matting. The second is the type typically found in daycare settings that are already nature-oriented, with grass, soil, and planted areas for children to play. The concrete gravel is covered with forest floor and soil from the local coniferous forest.

During the 28-day experiment, children were encouraged to play in only one of three types of yards each day (note that some kindergartens have multiple play areas). Before and after play, the researchers measured the children’s skin and gut microbiota by genetically sequencing bacteria in skin swabs and stool samples, as well as changes in T cells and cytokines in their blood. These cells and proteins play a key role in preventing autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases; their levels are often used as an indicator of how well the immune system is functioning.

Remarkable results emerged. The diversity of the skin and gut microbiota of children who played in experimental sites was significantly increased compared to children who played in urban and natural areas. Importantly, these are the “good” types of microbiota – the ones associated with health benefits. Children also had significant increases in immune markers showing enhanced immune regulatory pathways, suggesting a reduced risk of immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

The importance of this research cannot be overstated. This means that even short-term exposure to nature’s microbial diversity has the potential to fundamentally alter the diversity of our skin and gut microbiomes. Furthermore, it shows that altered gut microbiota can modulate the function of our immune system.

A healthy microbiome is made, not born

everyone has one Unique microbial communities in the gut—A person’s ethnicity, foods they eat, antibiotic use, body size, and amount of exercise can all leave a distinct signature on their gut microbial diversity. The role of these microbial communities is very important. Our organs can only synthesize 11 of the 20 essential amino acids we need, so the rest, along with the 13 essential vitamins, are recycled and synthesized by our gut microbes.

These microbial communities not only help our gut extract nutrients from food. Microbes also produce some of the most important compounds for our health, including immunosuppressive, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory compounds. They appear to be so closely related to the function of our immune system, central nervous system, and related health outcomes that there are clear correlations between specific gut microbiota (the so-called “disease” microbiome) and certain diseases. . Diseases with unique gut microbial signatures include irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and colorectal cancer, as well as non-intestinal diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.