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Health The 100 trillion microbes in your belly can keep you happy and healthy—if you feed them right. By Stephen Perrine Illustrations by Sam Island Published June 20, 2024 * En español

You've no doubt heard a lot over the past several years about "gut health." But what even is your gut? If you’re thinking it’s just the big soft area below your rib cage,

you’re only partly right. The vast majority of your microbiome — the 100 trillion bacteria, fungi and other organisms essential to your health — is located in your large intestine. Up to 5

pounds of microbes help determine everything from your heart health to your brain health, from how much you weigh to how long you’ll live, from how happy you are to how well you’ll sleep

tonight. Much of it is located in the cecum, a small sac at the entryway to your large intestine. Consider it like the Margaritaville of your microbiome; it’s where partially digested food

gets blended with your body’s bacteria before moving on. As we get older, the ecosystem within our gut gets older, too. Decades of questionable food choices, a lack of exercise, and exposure

to antibiotics and pesticides — which are, after all, designed to kill off microbes — can leave our microbiome weakened. (Indeed, just by looking at the gut, researchers can tell whether a

person is on a path to frailty.) The gut is the master controller of inflammation in the body. Weight gain, rising cholesterol levels, increased blood sugar — issues we associate with

getting older — are, in many ways, indications of our microbiomes becoming less and less healthy. This is good news, actually. Because if you know how to eat to protect your microbiome, you

may be able to pump the brakes on these age-related issues and stay healthier and more robust for longer. All of which is relatively recent news to the medical community, including

gastroenterologists — the very physicians who specialize in gut health. “When I was first studying medicine at NYU in the 1990s, we were taught that the microbiome … is responsible for just

one main task: digestion,” says Roshini Raj, M.D., associate professor of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and author of _Gut Renovation._ “Today, we’ve learned that the

microbiome is, in many ways, the epicenter of our physical and emotional health.” Imagine your gut as a tiny national park filled with thousands of diverse species that work together to

maintain balance. About 85 percent of those species are beneficial to your health. If we don’t properly feed and nurture our gut, that balance can get thrown off; the diverse network of

species begins to decline, and a coterie of unhealthy bacteria — including _E. coli_ and _H. pylori_ (which causes ulcers) — can start to take over. When that happens, chronic inflammation

takes hold. HOW YOUR GUT EXPLAINS YOUR LIFE If you think that sounds bad, well, you’re right. Because, by controlling inflammation, a healthy microbiome plays an enormous role in just about

every bodily system. For example, when your gut is balanced and healthy, you are more likely to: CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT In one study, researchers compared the microbiomes of 54 sets of twins;

they found that the twin with the most variety in their microbiome was the one less likely to be overweight or obese. REDUCE YOUR ALZHEIMER’S RISK Several studies have shown that the gut

microbiomes of people with Alzheimer’s are significantly different from those with healthy brains; in a report in the journal _Nutrition Reviews_, researchers state that improving the gut

microbiome might represent an effective strategy for preventing, or at least easing, Alzheimer’s symptoms. BOOST YOUR LONGEVITY A 2023 study of 195 people 100 and older living in Japan and

Sardinia found that the microbiomes of these centenarians were healthier and more diverse than those of younger adults. Another study looked at the microbiomes of 728 female twins ages 42 to

86; it found that the less diverse a woman’s microbiome, the higher she scored on a frailty index. An unhealthy microbiome has been linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis, diabetes,

osteoporosis, muscle loss and autoimmune disease, among other longevity killers. IMPACT YOUR HAPPINESS A 2020 study of 655 subjects found that those who had the highest levels of stress and

anxiety and the lowest levels of social support showed the lowest levels of diversity in their microbiome. Other studies have found that our gut bacteria may play a role in our levels of

self-esteem, our sociability, how well we sleep, our risk of alcoholism and even how likely we are to fall in love. The vast majority of serotonin — the hormone that antidepressants are

designed to boost — is generated by the microbes in our gut; and the microbiome communicates with the brain to stimulate the production of oxytocin, the “feel-good” hormone that’s released

when we’re connecting with the people we love. That’s more than enough reasons to make gut health a priority. So how are we doing? Really, really badly. CONTENT CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT

HOW TO HELP THEM HELP YOU All the little microbes in your gut are eager to help you quell inflammation, reduce your weight and slash your risk of disease — but they can’t do it alone.

Here’s how you can help them. Here’s the thing about these 100 trillion buggers in your belly: They get hungry. And more and more, we’re simply failing to feed them well. Fruits, vegetables

and whole grains pass through our upper digestive tract and down into our colon, etc., where the microbiome chomps away at plants’ fibers, creating anti-inflammatory compounds that lower our

disease risk. Processed foods that have been stripped of their fiber — think fast food, chips and desserts— are digested and absorbed by the stomach and small intestine. They seldom even

make it down to the colon. A 2023 study found that when we eat a fiber-rich diet of whole foods, our microbiomes absorb more than 100 calories a day, and in some cases as much as 400

calories — calories that quite literally passed your lips but never made it to your hips. When we eat processed foods — which make up a whopping 60 percent of calories in the American diet —

more of those calories go to us, not our microbiomes. And when we don’t properly feed our microbiomes, they can’t be as effective at protecting our health. A 2022 study in _JAMA Neurology_

found that adults who consumed 20 percent of their calories from ultraprocessed foods showed faster rates of cognitive and executive function decline compared with those who ate lower

amounts. By contrast, another study published the same year found that those 60 and older who ate the most fiber-rich foods showed greater cognitive function than those who ate the least.

It’s not just the amount of fiber we eat, it’s the variety. Research by the UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation found that the greater variety of plants your diet holds, the

healthier your microbiome. Those with the healthiest microbiomes were people who ate at least 30 different types of plants — vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes — a

week. 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Belly Biome Think it’s hard to eat 30 different plants in one week? Do this: 1. POWER UP YOUR PASTA OR PIZZA Marinara sauce is based on one plant—tomatoes.

Add onions, peppers, sliced garlic, roasted broccoli, olives or mushrooms. 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Belly Biome Think it’s hard to eat 30 different plants in one week? Do this: 2. MIX UP

YOUR GREENS. Instead of iceberg, romaine or even kale, opt for the spring mix; you could quadruple the number of plants with this one simple swap. 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Belly Biome Think

it’s hard to eat 30 different plants in one week? Do this: 3. TURN THAT BLACK BEAN SOUP INTO A 12-BEAN SOUP. Want a sandwich with that? Swap wheat bread for 12-grain bread with a variety of

whole grains and seeds. 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Belly Biome Think it’s hard to eat 30 different plants in one week? Do this: 4. INSTEAD OF A CAN OF PEANUTS, BUY A NUT MIX that includes

almonds, pecans, pistachios and more. And don’t forget flax, pumpkin, hemp, chia and sunflower seeds. 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Belly Biome Think it’s hard to eat 30 different plants in one

week? Do this: 5. IF YOU LOVE CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST, try to top it with a different nut, fruit and seed every day. For dessert, jazz up your ice cream with a variety of nut and fruit

toppings. ❮ ❯ “Diversity drives diversity. If you only eat one type of fiber, you’re only going to feed one type of microbe,” says Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, a microbiologist at Rutgers

University. She and her partner, Martin Blaser, M.D., also a microbiologist, strive to eat at least 20 different plants every single day. Very few of us can achieve anything like that level

of diversity in our diets. (By some estimates, 30 percent of the vegetables eaten by Americans are white potatoes.) But it is surprisingly fast and easy to spark change in the microbiome. In

one experiment, Tim Spector, M.D., a genetic epidemiology professor at King’s College London, enlisted his son Tom to spend 10 days eating nothing but fast food. Tom took fecal samples

before, during and after the 10-day period. Laboratory analysis revealed that more than 1,300 specific species of microbes had been essentially wiped out in just over a week. CONTENT

CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT Just as we can tear down our microbiomes quickly, we can rebuild them rapidly. (One study looked at people who ran a half-marathon and found that their

microbiomes changed for the better over the course of a single race!) The first step in rebuilding a healthier microbiome is to set a simple and reachable goal: Over the course of the next

seven days, track how many different plants — whole grains, vegetables, nuts, fruits, seeds and legumes — you consume. If you eat the leaf, stem, grain, seed, fruit or root of the plant, it

counts. (Processed foods such as fruit leather or white flour tortillas don’t.) Write them down. Make it a competition: Can you eat more different plants than your friends or family? You

might find you pass 30 in just a couple of days, or you might find toward the end of the week that you’ve got to get a little creative. But simply tracking how many different plants you eat

over the next seven days can be an enormous first step. Simple steps like adding different fruits to your salad, eating the sides that come with your meal or throwing some grilled veggies on

your sandwich can help get you to your goal.  Once you’ve learned to maximize the variety of plants you eat, you will have learned how to maximize the diversity of the microbes in your gut.

And that will make them, and you, happier and healthier, for life. _ Adapted from_ The Full-Body Fat Fix: The Science-Based, 7-Day Plan to Cool Inflammation, Heal Your Gut, and Build a

Healthier, Leaner You! _by Stephen Perrine (June 2024). _