Column Chronicles: Trillions of microorganisms live in your body

Trillions of microorganisms live in your body

Frank Cotolo
June 11, 2015

How many microorganisms do you guess are living inside of us? I guess you read the title of this article so you are correct (if you went directly to the text, please read the title and return to the text now).

They sound dreadful but they are really our partners in good health. This microbiome, as it is called, houses trillions of microorganisms that live on any surface inside your body that is exposed to the outside-like your lungs, for instance. Because the hole that is your mouth takes in air, it needs the microbiome to stop arthritis, exzema and even obesity.

I am certainly no expert in any kind of physiology; in fact, I don't know the difference between physiology and biology and other "olgies" confuse me. But when I learned about the microbiome I seemed to understand it. This is similar to what happened when I learned that cashews are a fleshy fruit, not a nut. Cashews are the seeds that grow on the outside of a kind of fruit (I don't know its name). When I saw how a cashew grows I seemed to understand, even though I don't know anything about walnuts.

Trust me, you will appreciate these trillions of microorganisms you now know live inside of you. They can stop obesity. Yes, it takes that many microorganisms to stop adding only hundreds of pounds to your body.

Microbiome works best if you have a healthy diet. It hates high fat, high sugar and low fiber. It likes non-digestible carbs. I hate when carbohydrates are abbreviated like that because I read it as "cabs" and wonder how people eat taxis.

Some good foods to assist trillions of microorganisms are whole grains, artichokes, asparagus, banana, garlic, honey and onions or any such food that makes your breath or your urine smell weird.

It seems from what I have learned that if your mother had a vaginal birth you have a strong microbiome. If your mother had a C-section, the trillions of microorganisms may block your understanding of musical keys that include sharps or flats.

If you become sick and the doctor gives you antibiotics, you should counter attack by eating foods with probiotics. As in other areas, something anti can be balanced with something pro, except football.

I think you should be very happy now that you know trillions of microorganisms live inside your body and are helping you stay alive. Sure, they are small, but consider how difficult it would be to drive a car if you had trillions of microorganisms in your body and they weighed even four ounces each.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.