Five Ways to Balance Your Microbiome

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately researching the importance of the microbiome — the trillions of microbes (including bacteria, viruses and fungi) that live in and on our bodies. 

What’s mind-blowing is that a healthy microbiome plays a key role in preventing so many diseases and medical conditions. To name a few I’ve been looking into: arthritis, eczema, cancer, heart disease and just about every gastrointestinal condition you can imagine. Go ahead and try it with any disease you can think of. Search Google for disease name + microbiome. For just about everything I’ve tried, there appears to be evidence of a strong link.

Good microbes play a key role in keeping our bodies in homeostasis (balance). When our microbiomes are disrupted and unhealthy, our bodies can enter dysbiosis (inflammation and disorder).

In terms of what we can do to balance our microbiome, here’s what I’ve learned:

• Avoid too much sugar
• Get plenty of vegetable fiber (organic, as pesticides can disrupt the microbiome!)
• Avoid unnecessary antibiotics (I would only take them if I had a very serious infection)
• Avoid too much alcohol, especially undiluted liquor
• Take good probiotics (I like ones with enteric coatings that can bypass stomach acid, as stomach acid can kill the good bacteria before it reaches the gut).

The more I study the microbiome, the more I am convinced that it is the future of medicine. I’m going to keep an eye out for promising startup investment opportunities in this space.