It was only recently that people started talking about microbiomes, referring to the balance of bacteria in a given environment. Our understanding of the role microbiomes play in our world and the microbiomes of the earth is still in its infancy. Yet signs are that these invisible systems could be pivotal to both our personal health and the health of our planet.
With pollution, antibiotic resistance, water source contamination, and the damage inflicted by industrial farming on the rise, the microbiomes of the earth are suffering. And it turns out that this could have a major impact on your health and the future of the planet.
A microbiome of the earth is a naturally and carefully balanced community of microorganisms like fungi, viruses, and bacteria. You can’t see them, but they exist everywhere in the natural world. For example, the microorganisms in the soil are essential for healthy crops, and those in the oceans and seas support a huge variety of species. They also exist on your skin and throughout your gut. In fact, recent research has called these microorganisms “biogeochemical engines” that support all life on the planet.
These microbiomes must exist in a careful balance for the health of the environment. When this balance is lost, it can cause a huge range of problems. Unfortunately, these microbiomes are now under serious threat due to factors like:
When these chemicals affect the environment, the damage moves up the food chain, from microbes to plant and animal life and finally, to humans.
The microbiomes of the earth have been negatively affected by human activity. This causes issues like:
AMR is when microbes mutate, acquire resistance, or become out of balance in an environment. This causes infections that are resistant to antibiotics and other drug treatments. This is incredibly dangerous and may be one of the biggest health threats in the future.
The pesticides and other chemicals used on crops penetrate into the soil and water sources. This negatively impacts the insects that live in the area as well as wildlife. Water sources across numerous countries have also been contaminated by antibiotics at a level that exceeds safety recommendations.
Unfortunately, this problem is compounded by the fact that governments all over the world are increasing the reuse of reclaimed wastewater in an attempt to solve the issue of global water scarcity. This means that the water used on crops and perhaps even for drinking may have increasing levels of pesticides and medications in the future.
A healthy environmental microbiome also contributes to regulating the temperature of the planet. Trees, plants, oceans, and soil absorb a great deal of carbon, removing it from the atmosphere and preventing its build-up.
Unfortunately, as the microbiomes in the environment are disrupted and become imbalanced, this mechanism breaks down. This causes carbon dioxide sequestered in the soil to be released back into the atmosphere and means the soil can’t support as much plant growth as usual. The trees, ocean, and plants also experience a diminished capacity to store carbon.
Global temperatures are already rising and the damage to these microbiomes will only increase this problem over time.
Microbes also act as purifiers, helping to keep the oceans, rivers, streams and reservoirs of water in the world clean enough to drink. They do this by keeping nitrogen and phosphorus levels under control, allowing for the development of healthy life.
When this mechanism breaks down, it affects the health of the ecosystems in these environments and disrupts the food chain.
Microbes also produce their own greenhouse gases, in particular methane and nitrous oxide, which last longer than carbon dioxide. Imbalanced microbiomes increase the overall amount of greenhouse gas production, adding to the problem of global warming and the resulting environmental impact.
The link between unhealthy microbiomes of the earth and personal health is indirect but important. Foods lacking nutrients, poor air quality, and toxins in water are all ways problems with the microbiomes of the earth can affect your health. And it is clear that the food you eat, the water you drink, and the environment you live in are pivotal to the balance of your gut microbiome. An unhealthy gut microbiome is associated with several health problems including:
Recent research also suggests that the health of the microbiome affects all of the body's organs, including how the brain communicates, which impacts behavior and cognitive function. It may also impact how the immune system develops in early life, giving rise to rapid increases in autoimmune and allergic conditions like asthma, food allergies, and inflammatory bowel disease.
There’s very little you can do about the use of pesticides and antibiotics in the wider world. However, there are things you can do immediately that will help improve the health of your microbiome and the balance of microorganisms that it contains. Here are some ways to start:
When the environment around you is unhealthy, it has countless effects on your personal health as well. One of the most important and often overlooked effects that your environment can have on your body has to do with stress.
The human body uses the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) stress response to respond to stress. When the NEM stress response turns on in response to stress, cortisol is released from your adrenal glands, and the body’s six circuits of related organ systems change how they function in order to give you the energy you need to survive the stress.
Once the cause of the stress is gone, the NEM stress response turns down, cortisol levels return to normal, and the body’s circuits go back to their normal functioning. However, when you are under chronic stress, this power down doesn’t occur. Constant stress demands that the NEM stress response remains active.
This can result in ongoing high cortisol levels, which fatigue the adrenal glands and cause them to malfunction. This is know as Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS). The high cortisol levels also lead to imbalance in hormones and critical systems throughout the body, eventually resulting in a debilitating combination of symptoms and serious health issues.
The health of the environment that you live in can be a key cause of this kind of ongoing stress. And a long-ignored factor in environmental problems is the microbiomes of the earth and the impact that human activity is having upon them. In particular, the Inflammation Circuit can be very strongly and negatively impacted by the earth’s microbiomes and the imbalances that seem to be worsening every day in the modern world.
The Inflammation Circuit includes the gut, the body's microbiome, and the immune system. These three components work together to help protect your body from invaders like viruses and bacteria by causing inflammation.
These three components have to exist in a careful balance for good health. However, this balance can easily become lost because of stress, dietary problems, and an unhealthy environment. This is where the microbiomes of the earth become relevant.
The health of the earth’s microbiomes affect the quality of the food you eat and the health of the environment around you. This will affect each of the components of the Inflammation Circuit. And because of the interconnected nature of these components, when degrades in health, it impacts the health of the other components as well.
Here's how the earth’s microbiomes can contribute to chronic inflammation:
The health of your gut is impacted by the quality of the food you eat. So, if you’re eating food that comes from unhealthy environments, it will also affect your gut health. This may cause constipation, diarrhea, and poor nutrient absorption. You may also experience a leaky gut, where the gut’s lining becomes permeable and allows the migration of food and other substances from the gut and into the bloodstream.
The balance of microorganisms in your body is at least partially dependent on the health and balance of the microorganisms in the environments that your food comes from. As your microbiome becomes unhealthier because of the food you’re eating, the bad bacteria can start to overgrow the good. This can result in a whole range of problems, from a leaky gut to chronic infections and inflammation.
As the gut and microbiome become unbalanced and bad bacteria start to flourish throughout your body, it will force your immune system to remain active over the long term. Your immune system is responsible for creating inflammation to protect your body against invaders. However, when it becomes unbalanced and dysfunctional, this inflammation can become chronic and start to do damage. Chronic inflammation has been linked to everything from heart disease to different types of cancer. You can also end up with an immune system that is overworked and unable to fight disease, or an overactive immune system that could eventually lead to autoimmunity.
Life exists in a precarious balance and unfortunately, human activities are rapidly disrupting that balance when it comes to the microbiomes of the earth. And if we don’t do something about this imbalance, it will not only influence personal health, it will also affect the future of our species and the planet we live on.
Here’s how to start making a difference for your microbiome today:
For more information on microbiomes and their impact on health, talk to our team at +1 (626) 571-1234 or click here.
The microbiomes of the earth include the microorganisms that live in the soil, oceans, and seas. They live in ecosystems, and when these become unbalanced, it can affect the quality and the health of all the creatures that live in these environments, including the foods you eat, the air you breathe, and your personal health.
