Eats shoots and leaves

Avocado sour cream

There’s an estimated 2kg of helpful little microbes loitering in your system today. That’s right. You are hosting a full-scale Electric Picnic in your pipes. As scientists are discovering more about our microbial ecosystems (officially called our microbiome), this army of freeloaders may be quietly controlling us. Even Steven Spielberg failed to predict this. We now know that our human genes are likely outnumbered by our microbial genes. Yes, it appears we’ve been colonised by these beneficial microbes for some time now, and I’m enjoying a honking episode of Stockholm syndrome.

Our gut is regarded as our second brain by many cultures (except ours). The vast majority of our happy hormone, serotonin, is manufactured in our gut, for instance, and not in our head, as previously presumed. But microbiome research is still young. Many of our nifty little microbes cannot survive outside the body, so it’s difficult to study their behaviour in labs. Professor Tim Spencer at King’s College London is confident that we can tell more about a patient’s health by a detailed screening of their microbes, than by screening their genes.

Peak gut health, according to leading microbiologists behind the American Gut Report, corresponds with eating an exciting and varied diet that includes over 30 different plant foods each week. Variety seems key, so get something new (and fresh) into you today. Preferably fermented. This week’s recipe should help. (And no, fermented grape juice won’t count. Nice try).

For a good dose of healthy bacteria, you can simply serve sour cream or natural yoghurt beside your Fridaynight plant-powered curry. But I love the sound of avocado sour cream — it’s like a muezzin for cranky teens.