extraordinary array of functions
I don’t remember which blog post led me to this New York Times story on obesity research, but this passage is so freaky to this non-scientist I had to share:
Of the trillions and trillions of cells in a typical human body… only about 1 in 10 is human. The other 90 percent are microbial. These microbes — a term that encompasses all forms of microscopic organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and a form of life called archaea — exist everywhere. They are found in the ears, nose, mouth, vagina, anus, as well as every inch of skin, especially the armpits, the groin and between the toes. The vast majority are in the gut, which harbors 10 trillion to 100 trillion of them. “Microbes colonize our body surfaces from the moment of our birth,” Gordon said. “They are with us throughout our lives, and at the moment of our death they consume us.”
Wow, so we’re like giant Kombucha colonies toting around sundry alien life-forms. The point of the story is that scientists are finding that obese people often have microflora in their GI tracts that process foods more efficiently, leading them to suggest that this may be a bigger determining factor for obesity than either genetics or diet and exercize. The article doesn’t suggest we’ll be gulping the human equivalent of Rid-X any time soon, but I imagine that research is on its way.
