How to strengthen your microbiome

Microbiome: a community of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and other organisms living in or on the human body such as on your skin, gums, and teeth, in your genital tract and especially in your gut. Your body is home to about 100 trillion bacteria and other microbes, collectively known as your microbiome.

Let's be honest, when was the last time you got a little dirty? I grew up on a farm, surrounded by animals and nature, and am used to get dirty. However, this is very different from how many grow up today, at least in the cities. Kids grow up with shoes stuck on their feet, never walking barefoot and with antibacterial wipes packed in their backpack wherever they go, ready to clean them up as soon as they get their hands dirty from food or dirt - if they are allowed to get dirty at all.

 We are so disconnected from nature, growing up in this concrete jungle, surrounded by a cloud of disinfectants and soaps. The truth is that we have coexisted with bacteria for thousands of years, but within the past hundred years we have become so afraid of bacteria as a culture, removing it at any cost, resulting in us being exposed to less bacterias than ever before. And you know what? Despite this, we have never been as sick as we are now.  

In 1998, about one in five children in industrialized countries suffered from diseases such as asthma, allergies or atopic dermatitis. This proportion has tended to increase over the last 10 years, asthma becoming an ‘epidemic’ phenomenon, which is linked to Western society's obsession with fighting germs and bacteria. The so-called hygiene hypothesis posits that a lack of exposure to infectious agents early in childhood can create a scenario where the immune system mistakes a food protein as an invading germ. We also see a rise in autoimmune diseases such as fibromyalgia, crohn's and ulcerative colitis, diseases which are closely connected with our gut health.  

We are being too clean and we're essentially creating allergies for ourselves. We've gotten rid of so many basic microbes that we once were exposed to, that our immune system aren’t as strong and functioning as it once was. Living cleaner lifestyles means the immune system has fewer germs to deal with and over reacts when it comes into contact with harmless substances. Our living conditions are too clean and kids aren't being exposed to germs that train their immune systems to tell the difference between harmless and harmful irritants. 

We need a variety of microbes in our system, and we get that by living a more natural lifestyle, in contact with nature. Our immune system is intimately connected with the earth and here’s ways you can strengthen your microbiome and your overall immune system by getting exposed to more microbes which we are trying to get a variety of into our guts. 

1. Incorporate fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha and water kefir into your diet. These foods, such as sauerkraut containes both probiotics, which is living beneficial bacteria, and prebiotics, in which are the plant fibers that feed the good bacteria so that they can survive and thrive.
2. Eat prebiotics. Prebiotics don’t actually contain bacteria, they are the fuel that help good bacteria grow, meaning that they promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines. All prebiotics are a type of plant fiber. Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables are a great source. Cruciferous vegetables are both low carb and high nutrient as well as supporting the liver function. Onions, garlic, artichokes and legumes are also prebiotic sources.
3. Get dirty. Get your hands in the soil, do a little bit of gardening, touch the earth, walk around barefoot.
4. Don't over shower. Stop over showering. Many times we are showering everyday, cleaning our body with soap all over, every single day. Only clean the pits and the bits and leave the rest. You don’t need to be rubbing soap all over your body every single day, especially children.
5. Get fresh air. Open up your windows, incorporating nature into your every day life. How often are we sitting in that stagnant air with closed windows. Or even better, go outside. 
6. Avoid antibiotics and medicines as much as possible. Antibiotics destroy both the good and the bad microbes, and research show that it can take years to recover our gut health - if we do it at all. So don’t take them unless you need them. Their use is also associated with obesity, allergies, hormonal imbalances and thyroid issues. Even common medications like paracetamol and antacids can interfere with microbes.
7. Buy organic animal products. Especially avoid conventionally raised meat and dairy. These things almost always contain antibiotics, and what do antibiotics do? They kill the bacteria in our gut, both the good and the bad. 
8. Buy organic fruit and vegetables when you can. The pesticides, the literal bug killers that they spray on the things we are going to eat are going to be ingested when we're eating that food. And since we don’t want to be killing the good bacteria, we can't eat things that does. 
9. Ditch the antibacterial soaps or gels. This stuff is a BIG no. It contains triclosan which is an endocrine disruptor and can also disrupt the gut microbiome. It also contains other harmful chemicals that can cause hormonal imbalances, eczema, allergies, asthma, cancer, innflamation, acne and migraines among other things. Remember, everything that you put on your skin get absorbed into your body and hits your liver and your bloodstream. So your body literally has to process it all, which puts a huge strain on our body, especially on the organs of elimination such as your liver. 
10. Probiotic supplement. Taking a probiotic supplement can be helpful, but make sure it's high quality and that it has the strains that you need.