Prompt: What choices do you make in terms of food/nutrition/product use and consumption that may have an impact on your microbial communities? Consider choices that are intentional and choices that are perhaps non-intentional.
Answer:
Prior to this class, I honestly haven’t put much thought into my diet and how that in turn affects the microbial community in my body. I definitely think that I will pay more attention to this in the future. I don’t consume very much dairy, and I know products such as yogurt and kefir are really high in probiotic content, however, I don’t consume much of either. I think that I could definitely contribute to a greater diversity of my microbial communities if I eat a bit more dairy products. However, I do drink quite a bit of kombucha, which is a tea drink that is fermented by bacteria and yeast, so maybe that contributes a bit to my microbial communities. When I was younger, my mother also told me to eat a lot of bananas because she said they were high in fiber and would “make my gut healthy”. It is interesting to finally understand the why behind those certain things. One main thing that may be unintentionally contributing to my microbial community is my consumption of bread. I eat a ton of bread! Thinking about it now, yeast contributes to the flavor and texture of bread, so maybe I am contributing to my microbial communities in that way. I definitely want to start thinking about my diet more and making more intentional choices that will further strengthen and diversity my own microbial community.
