Microbial Matters: Resistance, Gut Health and Food

Delve deep into the world of microscopic organisms on a journey to explore bacteria and their remarkable resilience, that has led to the antimicrobial-resistant crisis we currently face.

Join me to discover how resistance develops, why there is an urgent need for action and how each of us plays a role in combating this threat. Unravel how scientists are trying to solve this ever-growing problem and uncover the serious global consequences of losing this race against bacteria…

The human gut microbiome is essential to the human host, providing nutrition, protection and adaptability to us. However, the gut micobiome in western countries is often damaged through excessive intake of unhealthy foods. Here I will describe how we can investigate the gut microbiome, measure its status and what we can do to keep this ecosystem in a good state.

Dietary fibres are important for gut health, but do you know exactly why? Fibres are complex molecules that we as humans cannot digest, but with the help of the resident bugs in our gut, we can experience numerous benefits of eating fibre.

Did you also know that not all fibres are the same? Some fibres worsen unpleasant symptoms like bloating and abdominal pain in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

It is therefore important to understand how these fibres differ and how they behave in our gut, to help with the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS.