Okay, so maybe it isn’t a headline you expect to see very often, but lately things are changing, and I say they’re definitely changing for the better. More and more people are becoming aware of the vast numbers of microscopic bacteria living inside their bodies, and a whole new field of science has emerged to study the literally trillions of microorganisms that grow and thrive inside us—helping us do everything from digesting our food to boosting our immune defenses and protecting us against illness and disease.

To help you get an idea of just how important these bacteria are, consider this: In the human body there are 10 times more microbial cells than human cells. Just think about that for a second—it means that roughly 90% of our genetic makeup is microbial. Whoa! I don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty amazing that something we can’t even see can be such an important part of who we are.

In the gut especially, there are about 100 trillion bacterial cells. Some are good, some are bad, and some are neutral, but the key is making sure you always have more good than bad (somewhere around 80% to 20%), because the good guys—called probiotics—help to nourish and protect not just your digestive tract, but your whole body.

In just the last few years scientists have made some pretty amazing discoveries about the role of probiotics in human health, and studies show that taking a daily probiotic supplement can help with digestive conditions such as irritable bowel, diarrhea and constipation, as well as aid in vitamin production, weight loss, mental health, and of course building up our immune defenses by crowding out harmful, disease-causing bacteria.

So the next time you hear someone talk about bacteria, resist the urge to cringe and remember the good guys! Probiotics literally means “for life,” and no wonder. I heard this great quote the other day by Dr. Jeffrey Gordon at the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University, and it really sums it up: “Most people have this view of our encounters with microbes from the perspective of disease. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most of our interactions with microbes are beneficial and are healthy.” Like I said, hooray for bacteria!

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This past Saturday, we filmed my newest PBS special about probiotics called The Road to Perfect Health, and what a great time everyone had! Okay, so it can be a little exhausting making sure all the technical stuff gets done right, and sure, there were some do-overs, but the energy from the audience was so positive, and I can’t wait for everyone to see the show when it airs on PBS later this year. Check out these photos for an exciting sneak preview!

For those of you who may not know, probiotics are what I like to call your Gut Protection System, or GPS. That’s because all those friendly bacteria in your digestive tract make up a huge portion of your body’s natural immune defenses, so keeping your gut in balance has a lot to do with how you feel every day. Not only that, but probiotics play a key role in good digestion and manufacturing important vitamins, which is why taking a daily probiotic supplement is so important. Be sure to tune in to PBS beginning this November to find out more about the benefits of probiotics—and what you can do every day to keep your GPS in tip-top shape!

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For many years now scientists have been studying how the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut can contribute to, or influence all kinds of chronic diseases. Diseases such as IBS, Chron’s, colitis, even diabetes, asthma and liver disease. But recently coming into the limelight is research showing that your gut bacteria, specifically the type you have, may be making you fat.

Recent research performed by Cornell University microbiologist Ruth Ley has shown that obese people have a different mix of bacteria in the gut than skinny people. When she fed gut bacteria from obese mice to sterile mice, they got fat, but when the sterile mice consumed the gut bacteria from skinny mice, they gained very little.

The theory behind this is that certain microbial populations allow the body to harvest more calories from food. Over time this could contribute to weight gain. The bacteria found in obese individuals and the one believed to cause this effect belonged to a particular microbial subgroup, hydrogen-producing bacteria known as prevotellaceae.

This research is still in the early stages, but some studies suggest that altering or modifying the gut bacteria may result in weight loss. One way to do just that would be to take a high potency probiotic supplement like Renew Life’s Ultimate Flora 50 Billion that could crowd out this unwanted obesity bacteria. This is not to say that this bacteria is the only factor by any means in obesity.

Adding a good probiotic supplement to your weight loss regime could prove helpful.

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