Microbes in our gut can have a profound impact on our health, but research is showing that those surrounding us in our environment'what's known as the natural environmental microbiome'can have a big impact too. This suggests that we should all spend a lot more time interacting with nature, both outdoors and indoors. I was first introduced to this emerging area of science by Professor Gretchen Daily from Stanford University. She mentioned a Finnish research project that showed how letting kindergarten-aged children play in a yard that contained 'dirt' from the forest floor resulted in a significant positive impact on their gut microbiome. Seventy-nine young children took part, all living in urban environments and spending the majority of their days at different daycare centers around Finland. The only difference between them was that these daycare centers had three different types of outdoor spaces. The first type was a fairly standard outdoor play area, comprised of concrete,...
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