Why Dirt Matters to Your Health

Story at-a-glance

• The root ball of a plant acts as the “gut” or intestinal tract of the plant, housing essential microbes, just like your gut does, provided the soil system is healthy
• The cooperation between soil microorganisms and the plants’ roots is responsible for allowing the plant to absorb nutrients from the soil. Without proper soil biome, the food will lack nutrients that are important for your health
• Soil health connects to everything up the food chain, from plant and insect health, all the way up to animal and human health
• Health, therefore, truly begins in the soils in which our food is grown
• Scientists have discovered that gene swapping takes place between your gut microbiome and the soil biome, as well as with microorganisms from other places in your daily surroundings
• One of the reasons for concern about genetically engineered crops is a main characteristic of such plants is resistance to the potent herbicide glyphosate, which decimates soil bacteria