Gut Microbiome Explained in Simple Words

The gut microbiome are the trillions of microorganisms – primarily bacteria, but also fungi, viruses and protists – that live inside your digestive system. Scientists are discovering that these microbes are vital for us to live healthy lives. They help us digest food and provide us with nutrients, they can modulate our mood and help us sleep better, and they even help the immune system do their job better. Gut bacteria are those bacteria that live inside the digestive system of all animals, including humans. We’ve found that these bacteria are crucial to our health, both physical and mental. They help us digest food, provide us with nutrients and help us fend of pathogenic bacteria. Simply put – gut bacteria, also known as the gut microbiota, are the bacteria present in our bodies lined across the inner walls of our gastrointestinal tract. There are about 300-500 bacterial species in the human gut with their average population being 100 trillion. That’s enough to fill twelve thousand, six hundred and fifty-eight Earths at our current population. Initially, that was thought to be ten times the number of human cells in our body but new research suggests the ratio of bacterial cells to human cells could be 1.3:1.