In the land race for niches in our guts, what we eat often determines who wins and who loses, and breast milk seems to have the added value of being both a vehicle for those initial colonizers as well as a nutrient source. We see it as a train that brings in new colonizers who … Continue reading
Category Archives: Science
2.2 Let Them Eat Breast Milk (1)
Almost simultaneously as the skills of aerobes and anaerobes dictating niches and stratification, the second necessary step of successful colonization occurs as the infant begins pumping nutrient energy into the gut ecosystem. We know what we eat matters for both the adult and infant microbiota, and scientists are working hard at figuring out exactly why. … Continue reading
2.1 Homesteading (7)
When we are developing in the womb, the gut structure begins forming somewhere around the second week of gestation. This simple tube is laid out with epithelial and endothelial cell layers delineating what is inside and what is outside the future body. At birth, we already have the basic folds and villi of the small … Continue reading
2.1 Homesteading (6)
In our discussion of this first step of colonization, we are talking a lot about food energy, and we’ve listed types of food energy as being part of the second step. Are we essentially talking about the same thing and just separating it into two steps? Yes and no. The basic skills of a colonizing … Continue reading
2.1 Homesteading (5)
In the colon, anaerobic microbes process energy mostly using fermentation[1]. Fermentation underlies all metabolic processes and isn’t limited to the colon; as it is the most important anaerobic metabolism, fermentation occurs all over the body (both human bodies and otherwise). However, the colon has the most concentrated fermentative space in our holobionts. So how does … Continue reading
2.1 Homesteading (4)
Our first inoculation (whether with vaginal or skin microbes) initially operates based on fermentative abilities of the colonizing microbes, setting up a micro-biont social class system that is important for the health of our holobionts. First facultative microbes move in; then obligate anaerobes[1] slide into the functional niches made as the oxygen gets all used … Continue reading
2.1 Homesteading (3)
We talked briefly that certain studies postulate that the current human-microbe relationship began with the dawn of agriculture when humans began to actively shape and structure their external ecosystem[i]. So a relationship began that has continued for thousands of years: we are born, inoculated, and select[1] for the microbes that will make our human holobiont … Continue reading
