We all have millions of germs inside and out. “The Germ Files” explains how to encourage the good ones and why we should.

We all have millions of germs inside and out. “The Germ Files” explains how to encourage the good ones and why we should.
Photo Credit: CBC

Love your good germs, urges new book

There are good germs and there are bad germs, explains microbiologist Jason Tetro in his new book “The Germ Files” and the good ones play an important role in maintaining good physical health and possibly mental health too.

Microbiologist Jason Tetro explains the difference between good and bad microbes and how they are important to our health.
Microbiologist Jason Tetro explains the difference between good and bad microbes and how they are important to our health. © Brian Jones

Canadian attitudes changing

“All throughout the country now the attitude is changing,” says Tetro. “I’ve been talking all across this country for the last few years and it’s been fantastic to see people starting to embrace the microbes and essentially learn how to love them.”

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We all have billions of microbes around and in us. Some make us sick, but others are beneficial. “They get inside you and they produce chemicals,” he says. “Those go into your body and stimulate our immune system for calm, they’ll actually help us with our digestion and how we feel hunger. They may even help us to resolve our psychological state, our moods so that we’re feeling much better.”

Microbiologist Jason Tetro says after reading his book people who are afraid of germs will be on the road to loving them.
Microbiologist Jason Tetro says after reading his book people who are afraid of germs will be on the road to loving them. © PenguinRandomHouse.com

Link to obesity and depression

Recent research suggests that some bacteria give off chemicals which can cause inflammation and inflammation has been linked to obesity, diabetes and depression.

People need more exposure to good microbes, says Tetro, by getting out into nature and by eating foods that will “feed the friends and not the foes.” These are foods high in fibre like fruits, vegetable, nuts, beans and other legumes as well as fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchee.

Feeding the ‘foes’

Contrarily, foods that high in saturated fats and simple sugars fuel the foes.

‘Each and every one of us, over the course of a single day…we all encounter them,” says Tetro. “If we understand how that encounter leads to different microbes and how those microbes affect our lives we can then learn not only how to develop a relationship that’s functional but even one that actually turns to love.

From hater of germs to lover of germs

“And for all the germophobes who are listening who are pretty much scared of all those microbes, don’t worry. Because once you’ve read the book, I can guarantee you, you’ll finally become a person on the path to becoming a germophile.”

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