Today we are diving into the weird, wonderful and wacky world of the microbiome with microbiome expert and microbiology researcher Kiran Krishnan. Kiran has always been interested in treating the body, and as soon as he started participating in microbiology he was hooked. Feeling Better Through Gut Health It may blow your mind to know that when it comes down to a cellular level, there are more microbes in and on our body than there are human cells. Essentially, our bodies are walking rainforests consisting of a complex microbiology environment, which is why we need to pay such close attention to our gut functioning to achieve optimal results. It is scientifically proven that the way the brain functions, in addition to your hormones, chronic illness, mood, skin conditions, and longevity are directly connected to the gut. When you are able to understand how to feel better through gut health, you can give the different structures inside your digestive tract the love and nutrients they need to produce healthy bacteria and a happy environment. Through the use of health and home products that facilitate in the production of healthy microbes, feeding your gut the right amount of diverse foods and understanding the difference between good and bad microbes, you can improve your brain function, relieve anxiety and depression, regulate your digestion, help support your internal ecology and so much more. If you want to learn the importance of good gut bacteria, the roles of the multitude of different types of bacteria within your microbiome, and how to create a healthy environment to help your body function properly, Kiran is the expert for you.  What do you do to support your gut microbiome and support your own unique and diverse microbe ecology? Share your favorite part of today’s episode in the comments on the episode page.   On Today's Episode Learn why the gut is so important and the different ecosystems within it (15:05) Exploring the innate relationship between brain functioning and the gut (40:55) Understanding the direct connection between acne and the gut microbiome (49:45) Proactive ways to help improve your gut microbiome and your ecological platform (52:26) Simple lifestyle changes and therapeutic ways you can clean up your environment (53:31) Why hugging can decrease your stress hormones and improve your microbiome (1:06:24)   Quotes “We are far more bacteria than we are human when you look at the cell count of the organism that we call the Homosapien human.” (17:09) “Everything about this process of eating, digesting and assimilating that turkey sandwich is controlled by microbes in your system, and there are very different microbes in different parts of the digestive tract that have control of certain conditions.” (37:48) “Although we are using the digestion and assimilation of food as an example, this same dysfunction in your bacterial population can also lead to dysfunctions in hormone production.” (38:52)  “It is fascinating when you think the control that microbes have on our brain and our outcome.” (45:18)  “Just make one or two choices, and I promise you those will have compounding effects throughout your years that you will be grateful for down the road.” (1:07:50)   Resources Mentioned In This Show Microbiome Labs Website MegaSporeBiotic Leave Steph a Voice Message Here Get the Made Strong + Core 4 Book Bundle Here Nutritional Therapy Association Website Harder to Kill Radio is sponsored by the Nutritional Therapy Association. Registration is now open for the NTA’s October class. You can learn more and save your seat by clicking here (and don’t forget to mention my name on your application!) You can also try out their free 7-day course, Nutritional Therapy 101 by clicking here. Check out the full show notes here! Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!