USC Aiken professor talks about new book about microbiome

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Aug. 9—A community of microorganisms that lives in the human colon is the focus of a new book written by a USC Aiken professor.

"About 2 1/2 pounds of bacteria are in your large intestine at any given time," Dr. Andy Dyer told the Rotary Club of Aiken on Aug. 8 during the organization's meeting at Newberry Hall.

Dyer is the author of "EATERS DIGEST: The Care and Feeding of Your Microbiome," which was published in May and is available at amazon.com.

Microbiome is the term by which the bacteria in the colon are known collectively.

The microorganisms affect the body in a number of ways, including its ability to fight disease.

"The microbiome is responsible for our immune system ... and the food we eat assists the microbiome in doing its job," Dyer said.

Recent research suggests the microbiome also influences the health of the brain.

The microbiome is "a rather complicated topic," Dyer said. "It currently is probably the largest funded area of research in all of biomedicine. And it will be for decades.

"I don't think in the future that any reputable doctor will be able to finish his or her studies and not have gotten some instruction on how to manage the microbiome," he continued. "I think there will be microbiome specialists before long, and nutritionists especially will have to be microbiome specialists."

Feeding the microbiome properly has become more difficult in modern times, according to Dyer.

"Our food is being produced on a huge, mass industrial, commercial scale," he said, and that has diluted the nutrients it contains.

To support the microbiome, "eat a lot of plant food and a lot of plant food of different kinds," Dyer recommended. "Eat whatever you want, but eat the whole thing. Don't peel the skin off an apple. You've got to eat the skin. Eat your salad first. Don't eat it last because you might not eat it if you eat it last."

The source of the plant food eaten is also important.

"A homegrown garden tomato that has ripened properly in the sun until you pick it," Dyer said, provides more nutrients than a commercially grown tomato.