GREAT WAYS TO BOOST YOUR GUT BACTERIA

1 Avoid antibiotics unless they are absolutely necessary — it can take weeks, even years, for the microbial community in your gut to bounce back from a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. 2 Open a window. We spend 90% of our lives indoors, limiting our exposure to different microbes. But studies show simply opening a window increases the diversity of microbes in your house and, presumably, in your gut. 3 Eat more plants. That doesn’t mean you have to give up meat, or just add an extra spoonful of peas to your plate. It means stepping out of your culinary comfort zone and eating as wide a range of different plants as possible. 4 Get your hands dirty – gardening connects you with the trillions of bacteria that live in soil (it’s also great exercise, which your gut bacteria love).