Like winter, flu season is etched on our calendars. This year many countries are reporting high flu activity and low success of vaccines against the dominant H3N2 strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Because viruses mutate over time, the formulated vaccines don’t always prevent the flu. Better solutions are needed. […]
Microbiome Environment
Fiber Gives Microbes Much to Chew On
Lentils, black beans, broccoli, mango, raspberries— slivers of the fibrous firmament—taste better than chips or fries and work for us instead of against. A high-fiber diet helps prevent a litany of diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Scientists have teased out many clues for how it works; only recently however have they targeted […]
Exercise Improves Microbe Mix in Lean People
Baby, we were born to run. Despite that innate need to move, few of us do enough exercise for optimum health. Even our microbes will vary depending on movement. For example, endurance athletes harbor different microbes than sedentary people. A new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tracked changes in the guts of […]
Can Probiotics Clear Human Papillomavirus?
Imagine a virus that most people harbor at some point in their lives, usually unaware of it because our fine-tuned immune systems clear them, yet for an unlucky number–usually women—it can be a death sentence. The pathogen is called human papillomavirus (HPV), the main cause of cervical cancer. A German virologist named Harald zur Hausen […]
Probiotics May Be the New Prozac
Evolution carved out a special place for anxiety, an often helpful emotion which triggers cortisol release in fight-or-flight responses. Anxiety can save your life. But these days anxiety from uniquely modern stressors—health screenings, computer meltdowns, traffic jams, noise pollution and hundreds of other adverse events —lingers long after its usefulness. Chronic anxiety can kill you. This […]
Travel Changes You, and Your Microbes Too
Travel can be rewarding, financially if it’s for work and emotionally when it’s for play or to visit loved ones. The downsides too are well-known: flight delays, uncomfortable seats, annoying seatmates and jet lag. Another to consider is how our microbes fare when flown across vast time zones to lands where even food and water […]