Eat Clean. Live Dirty.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen……its time to ‘get down & dirty’…..

……that got you in didn’t it?!?

………seriously though, I WANT YOU TO GET DIRTY! (For the benefit of your micro-biome 🙂

We’ve got TOO clean. When you consider a large amount of our food is sterile (comes from a packet), our obsession with hand sanitiser (seriously – that stuff is SO gross), and our over-use of antibiotics (save them for the life-threatening situations!), we are actually creating the ‘perfect storm’ to destroy the diversity of our innate micro-biome. This leaves us susceptible to a wide array of problems – autoimmune disease, depression & reduced nutrient intake, just to name a few.

So what is our microbiome? Technically, it can be defined as:

“all the microbes in a community….used to mean the full collection of genes of all the microbes in a community” (Genetic Science Learning Centre)

This means it’s not just about the bacteria, but also the genes of the bacteria (which are estimated to outnumber the genes in our genome by approx. 100 to 1). Basically, we are way more bacterial DNA than we are human DNA…..WOWZERS!!!! (so scary but so cool at the same time!)

Why is this even important?

Well, our bacteria SUPPORT us in SO many ways – they regulate our entire immune system, reduce bloating and gastro-intestinal dysfunction, produce brain neuro-transmitters (e.g. serotonin), & even reduce obesity and metabolic disorders……our bugs are all sorts of AWESOME. The more we learn about them, the more we come to understand the HUGE part they play in our health. They are even capable of influencing our genes – switching particular genes ‘on’ or ‘off’ (influencing inflammation, obesity, auto-immunity & allergies).

This makes is VERY important to support your Micro-biome – it’s as easy as this:

• Eat ‘live’ food (i.e. plants): Microbes feed off plant fibre….the fresher/more alive it is, the better (in yoga we call this ‘prana’ – the ‘life force’ of food……the more alive the food, the more it contributes to your ‘aliveness’!).
• Probiotics….these ‘good’ bugs help to train your biology by encouraging the beneficial species to thrive/dominate.
• Include some fermented food in your diet (saukeraut, kimchi, kombucha)
• Ditch the hand sanitiser…..if you must, just wash your hands the old fashioned way with soap and water.
• Get dirty – get your hands in the earth (better still, do this by growing your own food)…..and no need to be obsessive with the cleanliness of your home (yes!).
• Only use Antibiotics in life threatening situations
• Get a Pet!!! (not only is this good for your mental health – people with pets are known to be happier than those without), but they also expose you to a whole host of germs/dirt etc. that they bring into the home.
• If you are on town supply water, use a filter that will at least clear the chlorine out (chlorine kills your bacteria)
• Avoid using ‘anti-bacterial’ cleaning products
• Go organic with whatever you can – vegies, meat, eggs etc

Encourage your Bugs thrive………and so will you!!!!!!!

Hayley xx