2017 Microbiome New Year’s Resolutions!

2017 Microbiome New Year’s Resolutions!

Happy 2017! My top 5 New Year’s Resolutions to help me, myself, and my microbiome. Your health is intertwined with health of the microbiomes in and on your body. As a mom of 2 young kids, wife, daughter with aging parents, blogger, and scientist, I have a bad tendency to take care of everyone else but me. “On an airplane in the event of an emergency we’re told to put on YOUR oxygen mask first, then the mask of the small child next to you”, a super-insightful, fellow science-mom friend reminded me. But if I’m not functioning, I can’t help everyone else well. Same goes for my microbial partners. If they aren’t fed and functioning well, they aren’t doing their jobs well and helping keep me healthy. Here’s my New Year’s Resolutions for me and my microbes. 1. Eat (even) More Plants! Gut microbiome studies continue to show that there are few types of microbes in the guts of people with diseases ranging from irritable bowel syndrome to Parkinson’s disease. Higher diversity, more different types of bacteria, is correlated with better health and a more plant-based diet. “What did you feed your gut microbes this meal?” I’ll ask the kids (and myself).

Time is Running Out for “Culture as Medium”

Time is Running Out for “Culture as Medium”

  If you are in the Baltimore area between now and May 20th and haven’t experienced an aspect of the science-art exhibit – Culture as Medium – time is running out! Culture as Medium, celebrates Baltimore as a growing and thriving biotechnology and artistic hot spot, while encompassing the complexity and diversity of the city. The exhibit explores the intersection of art and science through exhibiting art by internationally recognized scientists and artists, as well as several performance art/science opportunities. Culture as Medium is an “evolving” exhibit inviting visitors to explore and merge the boundaries of art and science, the visible and invisible portions of our world. Opening at the Motor House Curated by Margaret MacDonald of the Maryland Institute of Art (MICA), Culture as Medium, spans different areas of the city. The first installation of the exhibit opened at the Motor House in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District on April 1st. Dr. François Joseph Lapointe from the University of Montreal conducted a performance “microbiome selfie” collecting microbiome samples from his tongue every 10 minutes after eating kimchi for an hour. Kimchi was chosen for his food microbiome selfie to honor the Koren population in the surrounding area. Visitors

Book Review: Welcome to the Microbiome

Book Review: Welcome to the Microbiome

Welcome to the Microbiome is at the top of my list of recommended books about the human microbiome. Written by scientists and museum curators, Dr. Susan Perkins and Dr. Rob DeSalle to accompany the American Museum of Natural History’s microbiome exhibit “The Secret World Inside You”, Welcome to the Microbiome, introduces readers to not only to the human microbiome, but also to the science behind the research. It is aimed at people interested in the process and findings of the newly emerging field of microbiome biology and its importance for human existence and health. This book introduces anyone interested in basic cell biology, genomics, and microbiology to these subjects while weaving stories about human-microbiome interactions.  

The Great Yogurt Experiment – Test 1

The Great Yogurt Experiment – Test 1

It’s taken too long for me to actually do it, but now I HAVE!! I’ve made homemade yogurt! Correction – WE experimented with making homemade yogurt! Despite my love of all things microbial and my dislike of spending lots of time cooking, I’ve not really made much fermented foods other than pickles about 15 years ago. Those days are changing! Several friends along the way have encouraged me to make homemade yogurt, but reading the book The Good Gut pushed me over the edge. Certainly we go through a ton of yogurt and heck – what kind of microbe-lover am I to not make fermented foods? Ever since getting pregnant with Emily, my mid-morning snack has been a cup of plain Greek style yogurt that I add fruit to. Yogurt, especially the thicker Greek-style, is the one thing all members in my family enjoy – and so do our microbes. It’s a fabulous substitute for sour cream and often adds depth to butternut squash soup. Funny – reading this – it sounds like I like to cook and am a foodie. Truth is, that’s my husband, but I guess he’s teaching me to appreciate food more nowadays. So – how

The Good Gut & the Big MAC diet

The Good Gut & the Big MAC diet

The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health Just as health food shelves are brimming with a myriad of probiotics, so are the bookstore shelves overflowing with books on the microbiome and diet. The Good Gut by microbiome research scientists, Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, stands head and shoulders above the rest providing an evidence-based approach to healthy eating and a microbiome friendly diet. Using interesting personal stories and great metaphors, the Sonnenburgs engage readers with their clear explanations of the quickly developing field of how the microbiome influences human health. Covering all the relevant topics, from what the microbiome is, to how it is first acquired, how it changes with age, diet, illness, and antibiotics, The Good Gut gives its readers a solid, but realistic foundation in the science of the microbiome. Throughout the book, Erica and Justin interweave the history of humans as a species and a society, and the history of medicine and science. They share stories of how our Western lifestyle may be destroying our natural biodiversity in and on ourselves. I enjoy that they talk about humans as just a giant tube of bacteria, but then again, I’m an advocate