Feeding the Right Army
He often joked that if the body were a castle, then the immune system was its army – and the gut microbiota was the black-ops unit that trained them. But like any army, it needed to be fed. And not with sugar, caffeine, and ultra-processed flour, but with what microbes actually crave: fiber, polyphenols, and prebiotic diversity.
The shift in his diet was already underway, but this week, he doubled down. His new mission was to feed microbial allies like Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Bifidobacterium longum- species associated with lower inflammation, better metabolic health, and even increased longevity.
So, he started blending variety into every plate. Purple sweet potatoes and black lentils, green plantains, red onions, and rainbow chard. He added ground flax to his kefir, chicory root to his tea, and started soaking mung beans overnight for homemade sprouts. He introduced the ‘Dragon’s Kiss’, hot drink based on ginger, garlic, honey, cinnamon, curcuma and pepper. He was no longer just eating for macros – he was feeding a living ecosystem.
The science thrilled him. Fiber isn't one thing – it's hundreds of types, each selectively fermented by different microbial guilds. He entered them one by one intothe Microbiota Manipulation Guide. Polyphenols, once dismissed as mere antioxidants, are now understood to be microbial activators – feeding beneficial bugs that, in turn, make the polyphenols bioavailable. It’s a mutualistic network, not a one-way process.
Within days, he noticed another level of change. Bloating was gone. He had a daily, clockwork bowel movement. His mood lifted with strange consistency. He started laughing again, not because of any external event – but because his internal terrain felt safe.
And maybe that was the whole point: healing wasn’t about control. It was about cooperation. You don’t dominate your microbes—you cultivate them. You become the soil that grows vitality. And you will thrive!
Next week: “Bugs in a Bottle: Friend or Hype?” — he starts testing commercial probiotics, with surprising results.