Our gut contains a vast range of bacteria living and interacting within it. For many of us, we’ve been told to wash our hands and keep our environment as clean as possible, because bacteria is a dangerous health risk. The truth is, only around 5 percent is bad, with a far greater number actually offering some benefit.

Case in point, it is becoming clear that your microbiome is formed early in life, and has a great deal of influence over how your body and brain develop. Some are saying that Autism spectrum disorders are partly caused by an off-balance microbiome. Worse, our western diets of fast foods are doing far more harm than good. One way to right the ship is to eat more fiber, as the Life Extension Blog points out:

Insufficient nutrients for our gut microbes have been linked to a loss of certain beneficial bacterial species in industrialized societies and are likely impacting our immunological and metabolic health, although more data is needed. For example, most Westerners consume half of the amount of dietary fiber recommended by dietary guidelines, which nutritionists refer to as the “fiber gap,” which is a problem because dietary fiber is the primary source of nutrition (e.g., carbohydrates) accessible to gut bacteria in humans.

“The idea to boost fiber levels is not new,” says Jens Walter of the University of Alberta, Canada. “However, depletion of the microbiome adds a new perspective to this low-fiber Western diet that we are currently eating.”

If we want to keep the bacterial communities in our gut happy and healthy—and in turn, have them keep us happy and healthy—we should be feeding them well. That means fiber. Check out the full post for more details.

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