New Year’s Resolutions for Your Microbiome

New Year’s Resolutions for Your Microbiome

Get dirty, sleep, eat a diversity of real food, avoid antibiotics The beginning of a new year is always a time for reflection and resolutions for lifestyle changes and New Year’s resolutions! I’d suggest if you want to improve your life and health, start with the very numerous, yet invisible portion of yourself – your microbiome.  The digestive system microbiome is best understood of all the human microbiomes. The importance of these invisible organisms for human health is increasingly apparent. However, scientists are still unraveling what makes up a “healthy” and “unhealthy” gut microbiome. It’s too early in the science to offer exact prescriptives, such as specific probiotics to take at certain doses or how many grams of fiber to incorporate in your diet. However, recent observational and even experimental research, points to general suggestions to improve gut microbiome health. Interestingly many of these suggestions often align with age-old healthy habits, but some may seem initially counterintuitive. 

Green Wrappers

Green Wrappers

As part of my microbiome-friendly New Year’s resolution, I’m continuing to try to get our family eating more whole “real” foods that are easy to make and family kid friendly. Just saw this interesting recipe for Collard Green Wraps on Fresh Tastes, the PBS Food blog. While I’m not totally sure that the girls will be thrilled about using collard greens as a wrapper – I know they love avocados, carrots, and hummus. So, I’m thinking that we’ll have a wrap taste test party this weekend. We’ll get a few different kinds of “green wraps”: kale, collard greens, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, cabbage, and leafy green or red lettuce. We’ll see what they and Daddy bring home from the grocery store. Then we’ll put out slivered veggies, beans (they will always eat beans!), and a hummus and see how different green wrappers influence the taste of the same inside ingredients. I’ll let you know how it goes. Also love the idea of sprouts. I’ve never really grown sprouts, but it would be a fun, healthy something to get established in the kitchen this winter. We actually saw snowflakes the other day in Maryland, guess winter has decided to join us.

Soil Microbes: Unseen But Essential

Soil Microbes: Unseen But Essential

Nutrients in the soil are essential to healthy plants, especially plants we eat for food. This recent infographic from the FAO does an excellent job of conveying how to amend soils to improve soil and plant health. Unfortunately, what is missing is who is actually making those nutrients and driving the system! SOIL MICROBES. Amending the soil feeds the microbes who recycle these components into usable nutrients. It’s estimated that there are about 100 million microbes in 1 gram of soil. That’s bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi, and archaea. These microbes are essential for recycling dead plants and animals into the macro and micronutrients for living plants, and in turn, ourselves, to use. An excellent collaboration the Earth Microbiome Project examines the microbiome of many different places on Earth. Currently, I’m reading The Hidden Half of Nature by David Montgomery and Anne Biklé, which explores the importance of microbes in general, especially in soils and plants. A review on that book later. There are many good resources on the soil microbiome and plant root (rhizosphere) microbiomes and the scientific literature is vast. One excellent way to comb through the microbiome literature is Elizabeth Bik’s Microbiome Digest. Here’s a link to papers

The Secret is Out!

The Secret is Out!

In an (Invisible) Galaxy (Not) so Far Away The mirrored, twinkling hall of the exhibit The Secret World Inside You transports you to the fantastical world of your microbial self. This new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York educates young and old about the microbes that live in and on each of us and outnumber our human cells. What are these organisms? How do we get them? Where do they live? What do they do? How do they influence our health and behavior?  Curator Susan Perkins, PhD kindly invited and toured me, another science mom friend (Robin Munro), and our oldest daughters (ages 7 and 8) through the exhibit. We were all astounded at the fantastic features and information in the exhibit. It was one of those rare exhibits that appeals to all ages. Microbial Fun for Everyone The three years of planning by curators Susan Perkins, PhD and Rob DeSalle, PhD and AMNH staff are obvious in the attention to detail, scientific accuracy, and engaging content of The Secret World Inside You exhibit. The curators have developed the perfect exhibit to bring everyone together to this common table to learn about the quickly

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

  The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year is a new evidence-based book by Dr. Alice Callahan that uses science to common questions new parents ask in the first year of an infant’s life. I reviewed the first portion of this book last month for Science and Sensibility. I greatly enjoyed Dr. Callahan’s no-nonsense approach and reliance on scientific consensus when discussing different issues, especially vaccinations. Additionally, she identifies gaps in the data and specifically discusses how proper study design may help resolve remaining issues. Given Dr. Callahan’s background in nutrition and fetal physiology, I was particularly interested in reading her comments on beginning solid foods. Some of the recommendations were surprising to me, such as the benefits of feeding meat, especially liver, to babies. She also does an excellent job discussing the current literature on food allergies and timing of food introduction. Overall, I found the honest, open, and un-judgmental tone throughout the book refreshing in the collection of parenting books. Below is an interview I did with Dr. Callahan about the impetus behind her new book, how she defines scientific consensus, how she chose her  book content, her future projects, and how science and parenting intertwine in