Harmonize Your Gut Microbiome Like Your Health Depends On It — Because It Does

If your body is an orchestra, your gut microbiome is the conductor.

In recent years, science has begun to reveal the truth Hippocrates knew all along.

“All disease begins in the gut.” [1]

The key to vibrant health, therefore, is a well-harmonized gut microbiome.

What exactly is your gut microbiome and how do you harmonize it?

Picture a thriving tropical rainforest…

Over 40,000 species thriving in symbiotic harmony. And that’s just the trees! Thousands of different animals and millions of insects thrive in its diverse biosphere. And they all have an important role to play. Together, they maintain the delicate balance of the whole ecosystem.

Scale this down to the microscopic level and replace the plants, animals, and insects with 100 trillion microorganisms (most of them bacteria, but also viruses, fungi, and protozoa) [2], and you start to get the idea…

Your gut microbiome is your body’s quantum ecosystem!

What happens at the microbial level echoes throughout the entire superorganism that is you.

Like the rainforest, a healthy gut has two qualities: diversity and balance. Neither is possible without the other. So to harmonize our microbiome, we need both. [3]

I recently interviewed an incredible physician at the forefront of scientific research into the gut microbiome, and our conversation is what inspired me to create this article.

Dr. Sabine Hazan has accumulated considerable expertise in her decades-long medical career.

Specialist in gastroenterology, internal medicine and Hepatology, expert on the gut flora (microbiome), cutting-edge medical research, world-renowned speaker, co-author of Let's Talk Sh!t, founder and CEO of genetic sequencing research laboratory, ProgenaBiome, where she leads 35+ studies investigating the role of the gut flora in various diseases. Not least of which is their ongoing study exploring the role of the gut flora in COVID-19.

All this to say that Dr. Hazan is a woman who knows what she’s talking about. So when she tells you the survival of humanity itself depends on the health of our microbiome, you pay attention!

Watch Bifidobacteria and the Survival of Species with Sabine Hazan, MD (only available on Rumble due to YouTube censorship):

Here are some of my favorite quotes from our interview:

“Medicine became politicized in the last two years. We need more people in the middle. There’s too much split.”

“I’ve learned that the sterile environment is not necessarily the right thing and probably explains some of my allergies as a child.”

“Whatever you put in your gut may just start a domino effect in your gut that kills your microbiome.”

“Because bifidobacteria disappears with age you can almost hypothesize that if you lose it, you’re aging faster.”

“I always say it’s like watching a martian that just stepped into your front door and you say, ‘OMG, there’s life on Mars.’ I didn’t need any more than that, I saw healing! When you see an experiment work… It's those coincidental cases that teach you the future of medicine.”

“Your colon is a big compost in a way, and everything in the body circulates through it. So we have to start thinking of it in that way. It’s all about the balance.” 

“What we’ve learned from Covid is that placebo-controlled trials are flawed. Why? If you do not know the bifidobacteria level of the patient at baseline, you are comparing an apple to an orange.”

“So much of healing is light. And I kept myself in the light. Instead of focusing on the people dying, I wanted to focus on the people living.”

“It’s all right, it’s all wrong. Science evolves. Doctors and scientists make a mistake if they are black and white. If they go one way or another because they catch themselves in a rabbit hole when the data comes out… Medicine is about evolution of understanding, not taking sides.”

“There are trillions of microbes we don’t even have names for. A microbe is not just an island that stays by itself. A microbe is intertwined with other microbes. And in a world of Covid-19 hitting humanity, we’ve got to be humble to say, ‘we don't know.’”

I have been speaking about the importance of gut health for many years now.

So, what Dr. Hazan had to say didn’t surprise me, but it did offer uniquely qualified expert insight into the future of medicine, and the vital role that microbes play in us having any future at all!

Passed down to us from generation to generation, our microbes tell a story that might help us unlock the mysteries of life. And also, of death.

The microbial world holds clues about the lessons we are here to learn.

Even if it’s just to remind us to be humble about how much we simply don’t know…

One thing we do know, despite what the multimillion dollar probiotics industry would have us believe, is that our gut microbiome is as entirely unique to us as our DNA or our fingerprints. [4]

As Dr. Hazan says, “There’s no ‘normal’ to the microbiome. We can have completely different microbiome pictures but both be healthy. We’re all different in our microbiome. So how can we possibly be compared?”

Or be sold the same probiotics pill, for that matter. [5] Instead of buying more products, take steps to harmonize your gut microbiome and support beneficial microbes like Bifidobacteria.

5 simple steps to better gut health (no probiotics needed):

1. Eat for balance & diversity
Try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every week. (Dr. Hazan suggests opting for covered foods like green onions, pineapple, banana, coconut, avocados rather than oversprayed foods like berries).

Meat is really a personalized issue (some people should be vegan to change their microbiome and some people should not) and provenance is important (wild, fresh salmon versus farmed, frozen salmon).

Increase and diversify your fiber intake (but don’t overdo it). Ditch fake (packaged, processed, sugar & salt-added) foods in favor of real (whole, unprocessed, natural) foods. Make sure you’re getting enough vital nutrients like Omega 3, vitamin D, C, and Zinc. Avoid dairy, alcohol, coffee, and eliminate all foods you’re sensitive to.

Remember, everyone’s different!

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2. Move your body, naturally
Getting regular exercise is important, but not all exercise is created equal and overdoing it is as bad as not doing it at all! Sweating it out in the artificially lit and air-conditioned environment of a gym is just not as good for your gut as walking or hiking in a natural environment where you can breathe the air.

3. Get your hands dirty
Gardening is another great way to get moving outdoors, but leave your gloves indoors. Soil is full of beneficial bacteria, so don’t be afraid to dig in and get your hands dirty. If you have kids, let them join in. And dogs? Even better!

Research has shown that since the gut’s population is seeded in early life, allowing small children to dig in soil and play with domestic animals can undo a lot of the damage modern lifestyles do to our microbiomes.

4. See the light
Literally: soaking in some sunshine while you’re hiking or gardening not only boosts your Vitamin D levels (see #1) but also decreases stress and anxiety, both of which have a negative impact on your good bacteria and allow bad bacteria to thrive.

And figuratively: yoga, meditation or any healthy practice that helps soothe that stress is hugely beneficial. Laughter too!

5. Have faith
As Dr. Hazan says, “Trust in the pursuit of knowledge, and trust that if you open a door it’s to find answers and not a can of worms!”

Begin your personal journey of healing right now: Watch my Free Masterclass >>

References

1. https://practicalgastro.com/2017/12/02/the-microbiome-and-disease/ 

2. https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2179

3. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/11/unlocking-the-gut-microbiome-and-its-massive-significance-to-our-health

4. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/microbiome/

5. https://practicalgastro.com/2018/10/31/probiotics-what-do-we-know-so-far/