Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome

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Of course I was aware of some work on the gut microbiome and the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ linking the epidemic of allergic and other diseases to decreasing contact with microorganisms and their products. We compared these diets to those in Sub-Saharan Africa where rural communities have very high-fibre, plant-based diets. I've long been interested in the microbiome, and have been eagerly awaiting a book that might uncover some of its mysteries. Information about gut health is decent but it leans too heavily about climate change, Covid and other political views of which i think are biased (in my opinion) and feel as though the book fits a certain narrative that I respectfully disagree with completely. We are also running a long-term study to help us understand the evolution of the microbiome in very early life and its importance in influencing your risk of disease later in life.

As I lay debilitated and miserable in hospital, I told myself the surgeon hadn’t removed anything vital, just a functionless relic. He first talks about how men suffer from certain diseases at much higher rates than women, but then goes on to tell the reader about how women are the real victims, because of "socioeconomic and gender-based social inequalities. So, for example, our planet has a microbiome and we have microbiomes on our skin, in our lungs and in our gut. These changes cause and drive inflammation and we think this increases the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. A large chunk of the countries on Earth (with a majority of the global population) could be accurately described as having "developing" economies.Dietary and lifestyle changes in westernised societies which seemed a good, convenient, palatable (and, boy oh boy, profitable) idea at the time now emerge as causes of a mass of chronic diseases and damaging health conditions. He also drops this quote, which seems to contradict itself as it goes, unless I am missing something. For the best part of two decades I have sampled the microbiomes of generous patients undergoing surgery in theatre number three, in my quest to find answers to these questions.

Despite the complexity of the subject matter, the book is extremely well-written and easy to understand. From a world-leading microbiome scientist and surgeon with over two decades of experience comes Dark Matter - the definitive book on the science of the microbiome and how unlocking its potential can protect our health, our immunity and our planet.

This book is my way of sharing my own journey to these conclusions, and my hope is that this will start a conversation about how we can provide a different type of medicine. it not only helps us digest and absorb our food and metabolise vitamins, minerals and medicines, but it also has a key role to play in our immune system. One of the ways to do this is for women to breastfeed if they can and for children to have all their vaccinations – that way, they’re much less likely to need antibiotics. Mass health conditions now making optimal health care unaffordable even in the richest societies are preventable, mostly at vastly lower cost. There are easier and better reads on the microbiome for those who are new to the area, and if you want more detail, they are plenty of decent reviews which are more comprehensive.