GOOD
Why we need them.
Image: Lung Disease News
When most people hear "microbe" they think "germs." That's completely correct! Unfortunately, they also tend to think "yuck" because they associate germs with being harmful and reach for a few heavy pumps of Purell when confronted with them.
As it turns out, however, less than one percent of microbes are actually pathogenic to humans, meaning that only a tiny fraction are capable of causing disease. So what about the other 99 percent?
These other guys include microbes which are responsible for a plethora of housekeeping responsibilities around our bodies.
For example, bacteria actually help us to digest our food. If you keep up with the latest and greatest in the field of health and nutrition, you may have heard of "gut microbiota." That's just a fancy way of referring to the microbiome (community of microbes) living in our digestive tracts. They help us to break down a variety of foods that our bodies can't, such as certain sugars, fibers and carbohydrates.
They also produce a lot of helpful waste products that we need like vitamins B12 and K and even serotonin which can act as a neurotransmitter and helps to elevate our moods. Bacteria have been making all of us happy before humanity even knew these organisms existed!
Our gut microbiota also helps our immune system by fighting off harmful invading microbes. Our insides aren't the only place where these guys exist, however. Yep, there are more.
Bacteria also live on our outsides! Or rather, they live on our skin and assist in clearing dead skin cells, acting as nature's original exfoliators.
Basically, these little guys are super important and we couldn’t live without them.