Your skin is home to a unique collection of bacteria that are collectively known as your microbiome. But bacteria aren't the only living organisms living on you, you also have viruses and fungi. When a balance is presence your flora ( bacteria, viruses and fungi) keeps you healthy and able to fight off infections and can even minimize odor after sweating.
This microbiome is also incredibly important to your health and well-being, but it's also very sensitive. Bacteria and other pathogens are constantly competing with each other for dominance and if the wrong bacteria take over, you can experience a wide range of health issues—from acne, diabetes and even a strong body odor.
Your own microbiome helps you fight body odor, by maintaining or restoring the balance of bacteria that are on your skin. A disruption can affect many body systems. For instance, scientists are looking into whether or not social distancing during the pandemic may have caused some health consequences for the personal microbiome.
"Social interconnections between people, however, also lead to the sharing of those microorganisms that have been coevolving with humans and which are very important for human health maintenance, contributing to the control of many diseases and syndromes."-
Interacting and sharing our flora with others can actually build up our microbiome.
So back to the odor issue. You know that feeling you get when you wake up in the morning and realize your breath smells like something terrible? It's not just a case of bad morning breath—it could actually be an indicator of something much more serious.
While it might seem like a small thing, body odor is actually one of the first signs that your microbiome is out of whack. The last few years our microbiomes may have a suffered through lack of encounters with other microbes and now we're seeing the effects: more body odor, more bad breath, more cases of food poisoning and stomach upset.
The truth is that without a healthy microbiome, we won't be able to survive long term. Our bodies rely on bacteria and other microorganisms to keep us healthy and functioning properly—and when they're out of balance, all kinds of problems can start to crop up.
So what can you do? Check out next week's blog article as we dive into some tips on ways to be good to your microbiome.
