Yes, there are – and they help us everyday! The ‘good’ microorganisms in our gut, known as our normal flora or microbiota, have several ways in which they help the human body. They help us:
~ get more from our food, by digesting foods that we are unable to digest otherwise.
~with the production of vitamins B and K.
~ control attacks from other ‘bad’ microorganisms.
~ develop our immune system.
~ maintain proper digestive health – diseases such as obesity and irritable bowel syndrome (IBD) have been associated with a change in gut microbiota.
Along with the bacteria in our guts there is also advancing knowledge of the flora of our skin. There are approximately 1 trillion foreign cells on our skin ( more than the cells in our body) and it is thought that some of these can also have a role to play in aiding our immune system and preventing pathogenic organisms from growing on our body.
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