Our gut is often referred to as a second brain, with good reason.

A healthy gut has trillions of cells from over a thousand species. Each cell can communicate with its neighbours to provide swarm, or group, intelligence.

It uses this intelligence to regulate your food intake, helping make sure you eat the right amount of the right foods.

It does this by producing hormones that make you feel hungry, desire specific foods, and feel full when these needs are satisfied.

It also produces other hormones to regulate stress and hosts much of your immune system.

Microbes have a short lifespan, so you need a continuous supply of fresh microbes. Some you breed inside your gut, while others come from the food you eat.

If you have the needed spectrum of microbes in your gut, then you will maintain the right weight, not too fat or skinny, have a stable temperament, and be free of infectious diseases.

If this is you, then congratulations — you do not need to spend your time and money on this website. Go and enjoy life.

Sadly, our modern food may be high in energy and hygienic, but deficient in the necessary beneficial microbes.

This website has been created to explore the role of the gut microbiome, the food we eat, and the connection between soil, plants, microbes and health.

You can begin by taking our free Second Brain Course or subscribe to our newsletter to receive future articles, videos and updates.

For those who wish to explore these ideas further, Gbiota provides information about growing food in biologically active soil systems designed to encourage beneficial microbes.

We suggest you join the Gbiota Club to get local support from like-minded people.