How Much of You is Really You?

And Why This Matters To Your Overall Health

Read time: 2 mins

Welcome to The Brain and Body Warrior.

A blueprint of lived lesson to help you understand your brain, conquer your body and develop your warrior mindset.

On today’s menu: Why most of you isn’t even you, and how that impacts your health.

The Body

How much of your body is actually you?

Strange as it may sound, it’s probably less than you might think.

It’s about 50%.

Current scientific estimates indicate that our body is comprised of roughly 30 trillion human cells.

So, what’s the other 50% of you comprised of?

Bacteria cells. Around 38 trillion of them.

You see, many of the internal and external surfaces of the human body are home to these bacteria (also known as microbes). This includes your skin but also, more famously, your gastrointestinal tract.

This is what is otherwise known as your gut microbiome.

Perhaps, you’ve heard of it. It’s all the rage nowadays.

But why the f*** does any of this matter?

Sure, it’s kind of interesting and quirky that our colon is a home, albeit a smelly and likely dirty one, to a trillions of living organisms, but how does that really affect you?

Well it turns out that our gut microbiome is critical to our overall health and wellbeing. Our microbes matter.

If they thrive, you thrive.

If they aren’t looked after your health, both physical and mental, suffers.

It’s a true symbiotic relationship.

This is because your microbiome actually play a key role in many important bodily functions related to our health.

This includes, among other things, managing inflammation, controlling our metabolism and weight and regulating our immune system.

Some have even gone so far to say that disruptions to your gut microbiome are the root cause of most chronic diseases, including autoimmune diseases, cancer and even Alzheimer’s.

But that’s not all.

On top of that, your gut is even linked to your brain via the vagus nerve, and is thought to be able to impact mood and behavior as a result.

In fact, many of the neurotransmitters our brain relies on to function are actually made by the microbes in our gut. This directly impacts your mental health.

The key to a healthy microbiome is diversity. The more diverse your gut flora, i.e the greater the variety of microbes you have, the better it functions.

Things that can disrupt or negatively impact this diversity include:

• Poor sleep

• Stress

• Poor Diet

• Antibiotics

So, basically, modern society has perfected the art of murdering our microbes and f******g up our microbiome, causing imbalances and health issues in the process.

But what can be done to restore this balance and improve your overall health?

Well, some things you can do include:

• Eating plenty of fermented foods (Sauerkraut, Kiefer, Greek Yogurt etc.) as well as eating plenty of fiber.

• Eating a wide variety of plant foods (some experts say about 30 different plants per week)

• Getting the right nutrients (Vitamin A and Zinc in particular are critical to gut health)

• Sleeping better, managing stress and avoiding junk food (obviously!).

Basically, a healthier microbiome means a healthier you! So, look after your microbes.

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