Breathe in the microbes, they are good for you!
Every single day we take a breath on average 12 times per minute.
We allow oxygen, nitrogen, dust, pollen, and who knows what else into our body’s via our breath.
Little do we think about it, thanks to our brain putting it on automation.
For every 1440 breaths each day, we are bringing change to our microbiome.
Thousands of microbes floating in our breathing orifices.
Unfortunately, microbes have gotten a bad rap.
Colds..
Seasonal Flu…
Ebola…
We feel like we have to be in a bubble if we watch the daily news.
Not every microbe is looking to take our bodies for hostage.
There are actually a bunch that can bring us the diversity that we are looking for in a healthy microbiome!
It comes down to this.
We need to let in the microbes.
Some more than others…
…because no body likes the flu.
… but we also need to allow other microbes in to give our microbiome a little challenge.
Some practice fights for the big event.
Why?
Nature has the microbes that we need
Our body naturally selects for them
When we shut the door on what our body needs we end up broken.
We must continue to provide our body with the healthy amount of stress and added diversity to our microbiome.
There are many factors on what determines our microbiome and where we live and breathe can play a major role in what type of microbiome we have.
City Living
I think it’s clear why cities aren’t the best place to gather our ancestral microbes.
Floating particles in the air.
People living on top of people.
Emissions from exhaust pipes going directly into our lungs.
Luckily we solved that whole sanitation issue nearly a 100 years ago.
We have to leave the confines of the concrete towers and asphalt by ways.
Step away from the couch and the comforts of the A.C.
While getting to the parks is a step in the right direction we have to go a little bit further…
Cities aren’t all negative though…
exposure to other people and interactions with them can also offer a mixture of microbe swapping. I’d prefer the good ones though.
Denver offers plenty of opportunities to participate in city farming as well. This is another great way to be in touch with dirt and our plants.
Does your city have a place to join in community farming?
Find yourself a bucket of dirt or patch of grass. Go ahead and play in it!
The Black Mold Effect
You can be living in your apartment or out in a town house, there can be a secret killer lurking.
This deserves a post in its self, but let’s describe it briefly.
Black Mold is nasty.
Why?
- destroys our immune system
- causes sensitivity levels to go through the roof
- cripples our health long term
Needless to say, black mold is terrible and should be avoided at all cost.
How does it cause such harm?
By us breathing in the mold spores.
Obviously, we don’t want to be breathing in the microbes that aren’t going to benefit us.
Enough with the negative…
…time to see how we can get some good ole fashioned helpful microbes.
Getting “Organic” Probiotics
Eating fermented foods is recommended by most, time to give our bodies the microbiome that they want and deserve.
It can actually be easy to get a good dosage of healthy probiotics just by EXISTING.
Organic Farms
No, don’t go to the Tyson Factory where chickens are produced like lego pieces.
Or the slaughter houses for the cows of McDonald’s.
I’m talking visiting that guy who lives right down the street.
Who sells that raw milk.
Has those free roaming chickens.
And lots and lots of beneficial microbes just waiting to call your body home.
Donate some of your time with your family.
Feel the dirt between your hands.
And toes.
Get back to our roots…
literally.
Breathe in that earthy scented soil.
It smells like…
LIFE.
Food is our life source. Including the microbes living on them. It’s a whole ecosystem meant to benefit all of us.
Here are a few of those benefits of organic farms:
- higher amounts of microbial diversity [1]
- more earthworms = healthier soil [2]
- Not harmful to bees = saving us from the collapse of our food ecosystem [3]
Get in touch with our natural state and feel the health benefits. Not to mention supporting sustainable farming practices!
The Outdoors
The United States has over 600,000 acres of protected land for us to use.
We pay taxes for it, so go out there and take advantage of it!
Personally, getting out to our National Parks is one of our countries assets. The beauty it beholds is second to none.
For those of us who aren’t as close NP’s, take a trip to the local forest.
Get a bike.
Settle into a camp spot.
Just walk along a trail and observe.
The outdoors offers more than just spectacular views and humbling moments of being alive.
This article explains it perfectly.
To summarize…
It provides us with
- negative ions
- plant derived oils (phytoncides)
- beneficial microbes
Breathe in that fresh air and welcome the microbes into your body. They’ve been expecting you!
Let’s not forget just getting out to move can help increase our microbial diversity.
Key Point How Breathing Can Strengthen our Microbiome s
We can forget how simple it can be to add healthy activities to our lives. Something as simple as breathing is a great first step to adopting some of the tougher obstacles of changing to a healthier lifestyle.
- Breathing gives us access to the microbes that belong in our body (and some that don’t).
- Allowing them into our system can help strengthen our immune system for when we can a really nasty microbe.
- Staying in the city and suburbia is good for our comfort zone but can be bad for our microbial diversity.
- Get out and add diversity to your microbiome.
- Parks, forests, beaches, organic farms all are fantastic places to recharge our minds and reintroduce microbes into biome.
Don’t sweat it.
Just Breathe.
