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> Your gut bacteria is a jungle with many species of microbes, trillions of them. To clarify: modern science estimates 300–1000 species in gut microbiota, 99%

> Your gut bacteria is a jungle with many species of microbes, trillions of them. To clarify: modern science estimates 300–1000 species in gut microbiota, 99% by number of cells coming from 30-40 species. The total number of microbial and viral cells throughout a healthy adult body is estimated at over 100 trillion, or roughly 10x the number of one's own body cells. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_microbiota https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_microbiota

rtpg 4y ago
I really want a huge tech tree and flowchart of all the things these microbes love to eat and everything like that. Not really to provide an argument for only potatoes, but to perhaps have stronger ideas about the value of certain kinds of food I want to get beyond the boring "too much of anything is bad". Of course it is! That's what "too much" means!
- exar0815 4y ago
  http://biochemical-pathways.com http://biochemical-pathways.com Well, have fun!
  - thret 4y ago
    That was far more complicated than I would have imagined. Thank you for linking it.
    - anotherhue 4y ago
      It's microservices all the way down!
      - Cockbrand 4y ago
        Microbe-services, probably
        majkinetor 4y ago
        Nah... just regular human chemistry
    - tigerlily 4y ago
      It’s not complicated, it’s just very detailed :)
  - beachy 4y ago
    Worth noting you can get a free poster of these, which are great for the wall and the wow factor. Took a few months for mine too arrive.
    - vanderZwan 4y ago
      That sounds awesome! How does one order a free poster? I don't see an obvious link to click on the website
      - playworker 4y ago
        https://www.roche.com/about/philanthropy/science-education/biochemical-pathways/ordering-posters https://www.roche.com/about/philanthropy/science-education/b...
        the_only_law 4y ago
        Now I have to wonder if they're going to be confused following a sudden increase in requests.
zikduruqe 4y ago
And for all your bro-dieters out there eating a "paleo" diet, realize that our Paleolithic friends ate mostly plants. The Hadza tribe is one of our last living examples and their gut biome is amazing. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/24/545631521/is-the-secret-to-a-healthier-microbiome-hidden-in-the-hadza-diet https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/24/5456315... https://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-microbiome/ https://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-micr...
- causi 4y ago
  That would depend on your ancestry. If you're European, yes. If you're, say, Inuit, your ancestors ate mostly meat and fat.
- pc86 4y ago
  This seems pretty dismissive of a diet that - like all diets - has some idiotic and vocal adherents, but consists basically of "don't eat processed food or added sugar."
  - shadowfox 4y ago
    > but consists basically of "don't eat processed food or added sugar." Paleo goes a bit beyond that, to be fair.
    - 7speter 4y ago
      The last I checked (maybe 6 years ago), the paleo diet strongly encouraged adherents to eat greens, berries, and seeds.
- samatman 4y ago
  The only thing we know Paleolithic people ate a lot of is meat. Paleolithic archaeological sites are full of marrow-scraped bones and the stone tools used to kill and butcher. Paleolithic teeth have little of the damage associated with eating grit from ground grains. We have such remarkable discoveries as a building made entirely of mammoth skulls. The Hadza are a modern people, and modern hunter-gatherers have been pushed to the fringes. Early English and French explorers documented the diets of the North American people they encountered: they ate a lot of meat, growing the Three Sisters as a supplement to a diet heavy in game and fish. It was the Neolithic in which population pressure forced people to start eating grain, and eventually growing it. They immediately became shorter and their teeth started falling out.

rtpg 4y ago

I really want a huge tech tree and flowchart of all the things these microbes love to eat and everything like that. Not really to provide an argument for only potatoes, but to perhaps have stronger ideas about the value of certain kinds of food I want to get beyond the boring "too much of anything is bad". Of course it is! That's what "too much" means!

exar0815 4y ago
http://biochemical-pathways.com http://biochemical-pathways.com Well, have fun!
- thret 4y ago
  That was far more complicated than I would have imagined. Thank you for linking it.
  - anotherhue 4y ago
    It's microservices all the way down!
    - Cockbrand 4y ago
      Microbe-services, probably
      - majkinetor 4y ago
        Nah... just regular human chemistry
  - tigerlily 4y ago
    It’s not complicated, it’s just very detailed :)
- beachy 4y ago
  Worth noting you can get a free poster of these, which are great for the wall and the wow factor. Took a few months for mine too arrive.
  - vanderZwan 4y ago
    That sounds awesome! How does one order a free poster? I don't see an obvious link to click on the website
    - playworker 4y ago
      https://www.roche.com/about/philanthropy/science-education/biochemical-pathways/ordering-posters https://www.roche.com/about/philanthropy/science-education/b...
      - the_only_law 4y ago
        Now I have to wonder if they're going to be confused following a sudden increase in requests.

zikduruqe 4y ago

And for all your bro-dieters out there eating a "paleo" diet, realize that our Paleolithic friends ate mostly plants. The Hadza tribe is one of our last living examples and their gut biome is amazing. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/24/545631521/is-the-secret-to-a-healthier-microbiome-hidden-in-the-hadza-diet https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/24/5456315... https://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-microbiome/ https://www.wired.com/2014/04/hadza-hunter-gatherer-gut-micr...

causi 4y ago
That would depend on your ancestry. If you're European, yes. If you're, say, Inuit, your ancestors ate mostly meat and fat.
pc86 4y ago
This seems pretty dismissive of a diet that - like all diets - has some idiotic and vocal adherents, but consists basically of "don't eat processed food or added sugar."
- shadowfox 4y ago
  > but consists basically of "don't eat processed food or added sugar." Paleo goes a bit beyond that, to be fair.
  - 7speter 4y ago
    The last I checked (maybe 6 years ago), the paleo diet strongly encouraged adherents to eat greens, berries, and seeds.
samatman 4y ago
The only thing we know Paleolithic people ate a lot of is meat. Paleolithic archaeological sites are full of marrow-scraped bones and the stone tools used to kill and butcher. Paleolithic teeth have little of the damage associated with eating grit from ground grains. We have such remarkable discoveries as a building made entirely of mammoth skulls. The Hadza are a modern people, and modern hunter-gatherers have been pushed to the fringes. Early English and French explorers documented the diets of the North American people they encountered: they ate a lot of meat, growing the Three Sisters as a supplement to a diet heavy in game and fish. It was the Neolithic in which population pressure forced people to start eating grain, and eventually growing it. They immediately became shorter and their teeth started falling out.