To improve your gut microbiome, spend more time in nature

Microbes in our lives The gut can have a profound impact on our health, but research shows that those around us in our environment — what’s known as our natural environmental microbiome — can have a big impact, too. This suggests that we should all spend more time interacting with nature, both outdoors and indoors.

I was first introduced to this emerging field of science by Professor Gretchen Daily of Stanford University. She mentioned a Finnish research project that showed how allowing kindergarten-age children to play in a yard containing “dirt” from the forest floor resulted in a significant positive effect on their gut microbiome. Seventy-nine young children participated, all of whom lived in urban environments and spent most of their days in different daycare centers throughout Finland. The only difference between them was that these daycare centers had three different types of outdoor spaces.

The first type was a fairly standard outdoor play area, consisting of concrete, gravel, and some plastic mats. The second is the type typically found in daycare environments that are already nature-oriented, with grass, soil, and planted areas for children to play in. These two species served as a control with which to compare the third experimental space, which was concrete and gravel was covered with parts of the forest floor and local conifer forest soil.

Children were encouraged to play in only one of the three yard types each day over the 28 days of the experiment (note that some kindergartens had multiple play areas). Before and after play periods, the children’s skin and gut microbiota were measured using genetic sequences of bacteria taken from skin swabs and stool samples, along with changes in T cells and cytokines in their blood. These cells and proteins play a crucial role in preventing autoimmune and autoimmune diseases. Their levels are often used as an indicator of how well the immune system is functioning.

Noticeable results emerged. Children who played in the experimental arena showed a significant increase in the diversity of microorganisms on their skin and in their gut compared to children who played in urban and more naturally oriented areas. Importantly, these were the “good” types of microorganisms, that is, those associated with health benefits. There was also a significant increase in the children’s immune markers, showing that they had gained enhanced immune regulatory pathways – indicating a reduced risk of developing immune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

The importance of this study cannot be overstated. This means that even short-term exposure to nature’s microbial diversity has the potential to radically change the diversity of microorganisms found on our skin and in our gut. In addition, it suggests that altered intestinal microbiota can modulate the function of our immune system.

A healthy microbiome is made, not born

Everyone has it A distinct community of microbes in their gut – a person’s race, the food they consume, antibiotic use, body size, and the amount they exercise all leave a clear mark on the microbial diversity in their gut. The role of these microbial communities is important. Our organs can only synthesize 11 of the 20 essential amino acids we need, so the rest, along with 13 essential vitamins, are retrieved and synthesized by our gut microbes.

These microbial communities not only help our intestines extract nutrients from food. Microbes also produce some of the most important compounds for our health, including immunosuppressants, anti-cancer compounds, and anti-inflammatory compounds. They appear to be linked to the functioning of our immune system, central nervous system, and associated health outcomes, so much so that clear associations have been found between certain gut microbes – called “diseased” microbes – and certain diseases. Diseases with a distinct microbial signature in the gut include irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and colorectal cancer, as well as non-gut disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.