The Microbiom- Part 1

One of the more important biological and physiological discoveries of the past ten years or so is the discovery of the pervasiveness of the Microbiom. Simply put the Microbiom is the vast number of bacteria that over millions of years that made their homes both inside and outside our bodies. The subtext of this finding is enormous in scope. Plants and animals including insects have a enormous store of their own beneficial hitchhikers. I choose to focus on the Microbiom of the human stomach- more specifically my stomach, as for years I have had painful heartburn, more recently helped by the overthe counter medication, omneprezole.

Just a side point is that I recently heard on the radio that omneprezole is associated with the early onset of dementia. It suppressed the production of vitamin B 12 which is critical in the formation of myelin bainas neurons in the brain. I need to use something different. 

I have made more discoveries in my reading about the Microbiom and have introduced some changes  in my eating habits to improve the condition of my stomach. The simple fact is that there are many traditional foods that have been staples in foods around the world. When I was in Russia, kvas is one of the beverage staples there. I was never fond of it, but it apparently contains many beneficial bacteria for digestion.

Among the other foods are aged cheeses, yogurt, kiefer, Chinese black beans, Apple vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other fermented food. Since I found out about this revolution in thinking about the biology of the gut, I have introduced several of these foods into my diet to great effect. I have always loved cheese. The runny stinky cheeses, the sharp aged cheeses, the bries with thick crusts are all my favorites and I have increased my intake of those. I have come to love kimchi and fortunately have a good supplier in the area. I have always loved pickles. Unfortunately I cannot bring myself to finish the kiefer and Greek yogurt in the refrigerator. It is likely the bacterial will only increase as they age.

I write this as an introduction to the next blog. You may know that I love wine, but it has not helped my digestive problems. I think that I have gained a major insite into the consumption of wine. I will be theorizing, and it will not make me a popular figure in the area where I live. I hope that this teaser will urge you to look forward to my next blog.  I know that I will make some friend and some enemies.