As children wouldn’t we all spend time out in the dirt, making wonderful mud pies??
Turns out that actually our soils contain lots of bacteria, and they far outweigh the bad! A bit of dirt helps load up on the good bacteria! In turn improving our immune system.
Unfortunately in modern living we have lost much of our soil health from intensive farming, pesticides and chemicals sprayed in huge quantites on our foods. Soil is a living organism and thrives because of its’ microbial activity.These microbes have a wonderful affinity with our gastrointestinal tract enhancing its function.
Sadly today, the food industry kills off the majority of our good guys in our gut. A study at Kings College, showed that a 10-day diet of junk food causes the loss of 1300 beneficial bacteria in our intestines. Tim Spector at Kings College explains that ‘Microbes get bad press, yet only a few of the millions of species are harmful and many are actually crucial to our health’
The challenge is to increase the health of our soils, how?
We can do this by buying organic or growing our own!
What about those mud pies?
Well although I couldn’t advocate eating mud pies, as much fun as they were to make as a child, it is the beneficial bacteria that we want more of in our diets.. So perhaps time to become more acquainted with fermented foods such as sauerkraut and Kimchi. Take cider vinegar or enjoy a miso soup! Your gut will thank you for it!!
