A traveling exhibition called "Me, superorganism", a collaboration between the Estonian Health Museum, TalTech, and the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies, can be seen in the lobby of the SOC building until May 9. The exhibition teaches how our body's microbial communities affect our health and wellness and what anyone can do to keep their microbiome balanced and healthy.
We have always lived alongside microorganisms, and a strong symbiosis has taken shape. The introduction of new technologies has allowed us to discover thousands of new kinds of bacteria and their functions. Microbiome research is a rapidly developing area of scientific research. Our co-existence with bacteria has never been thought more important or so well understood. In a time of medicine moving towards a patient-centric approach, this is a science of the future with big opportunities!
"When picking your food, think about how the bacteria living in our stomach could produce beneficial compounds for us from our undigested food components. This is how stomach bacteria help regulate our body weight, activate and strengthen the immune system, lift our mood, and supply our intestinal cells with energy. The best nutrients for intestinal bacteria are different fibers, which are abundant in whole grains, legumes and vegetables, berries, seeds, and fruits, which also contain vital vitamins and minerals," said Kaarel Adamberg, a senior researcher in food technology at TalTech.
"In the last hundred years, the balance in the bacterial community of humans has changed. We live in a more sterile world, eat less food that sustains life, and consume many medications, due to which we have lost several beneficial species of bacteria and grown dangerous treatment-resisting microbes. We have to contribute to the needs of useful bacteria for the microbiota to be balanced. We don't know much yet, but enough to understand how to take better care of them," added Ülle Kask, the curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition "Me, superorganism" will remain open in TalTech until May 9, 2021, and is dubbed into Russian and English.