The state of my microbiome after the Covid lockdowns
I knew I was more sedentary and eating less variety, but I wasn't prepared for this... my diversity score has slumped from a vibrant 8/10 to a mid-range 5/10. Why?
There’s a saying in German that goes: “the plumber’s tap always drips”. It refers to the habit of some plumbers being so busy sorting out everyone else’s dripping taps, they neglect to fix their own.
I was reminded of that phrase this week when I saw my latest Atlas Biomed microbiome stool results. As a nutritional therapist I support and motivate people to eat and live well for better health. So with all my so-called knowledge, my microbiome should look amazing, right?
Wrong.
I haven’t been paying attention to my own microbiome and health recently according to the stats.
Not surprising really. During these 15 months of on-and-off lockdowns in the UK, my working patterns have changed so I am more sedentary than before. I’ve been home based, not socialising over food with friends, and not eating out or travelling - which I now realise all have an influence on my cooking and inspiration to eat more widely. While I have been working as a nutritional therapist busily online from home helping others, I have become that German plumber - not paying attention to my own tap!
My diversity score has gone down from being a vibrant 8/10 (pre Covid era) to a 5/10 (now).
So why does this matter?
A good measure of how healthy your microbiome (gut bacteria) is, is the diversity score on a stool test. A healthy microbiome is important because it influences everything from how well you digest food to how hungry you feel, your mental health, and immune system. The diversity score refers to the richness of your microbiome, eg how many types of different type of bacteria are living in your gut. Ideally you want your microbiome to be like a diverse city such as London with lots of different cultures living side by side. You don’t want it looking like a city which lacks diversity and is mono-cultured, which would represent a not so healthy microbiome.
To push up your diversity score, American Gut Project research tells us you need to eat more than 30 different plants a week. During the lock downs I was too often eating a mono diet of peanut butter on sourdough toast rather than multi-coloured plates of food with lots of different plants. Not that peanuts (which are prebiotic) or sourdough bread (which is probiotic) are unhealthy. It’s just that I was having them repeatedly at the expense of variety.
So post poo test, I’m brainstorming my Mediterranean recipes again (a style of diet which is ideal for pushing up your diversity score). I’m sharpening my knives and chopping vegetables galore. It feels like the sunshine is coming into the kitchen again and I’m trying to avoid being that plumber with the leaky tap!
White asparagus, purple broccoli, and yellow courgettes here we come!
How are you planning to get back on track post lock downs?