SUMMARY:   We now understand that disease management requires understanding of:  what is the microbiome, what disrupts it, and what positively affects it.  This post discusses: What is the microbiome, implications of reduced diversity, long term therapeutic diet impact on microbiome, the IBD annual meeting is starting to consider the microbiome, some anecdotal microbiome stories, and why you want microbiome balance & diversity.

FIRST A RECAP (if you already are versed on this information, skip right on down to the Microbiome, What Disrupts It and How to Optimize sections of this post):  

What is the Microbiome?

It is estimated that the human microbiota contains as many as 10¹⁴ bacterial cells, a number that is 10 times greater than the number of human cells present in our bodies.  It is more accurate to say we are hosts of our microbiome rather then that we are human.  The human body is permanently colonized by microbial organisms on virtually every surface that is exposed to the external environment and each such surface has a different microbiome:  skin, mouth, genitalia, genitourinary, respiratory tracts, and the largest colonize, the gut (aka gastrointestinal).  The trillions of organisms live on and in us are collectively called the microbiome: a balanced ecosystem. –“Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease,”