Your gastrointestinal tract is a major interface between the inside of your body and the outside world. On average, you will consume around 60 tons of food in your lifetime — all of which will pass through it and be digested, nutrients absorbed, and waste products will exit via the back door.

This means your gut will be exposed to food, dietary toxins, opportunistic microbes, and medication, which have the potential to alter the composition and diversity of your gut microbiota: an ecosystem of bacteria that reside in your colon.

1. Your birth and beyond

2. Antibiotics don’t discriminate

3. A diet low in fiber

4. The Western diet downfall

5. Chronic disease disruption

6. Less exercise, less microbes

7. Low-carb diet deception

8. Stress hurts the gut too

9. Prescription drug pitfalls

10. The microbiome ages too

11. Travel and Delhi belly