http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm Microflora http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm Microflora and our health Human flora The human flora is the assemblage of microorganisms that reside on the surface and in deep layers of skin, in the saliva and oral mucosa, and in the gastrointestinal tracts. They include bacteria, fungi, an [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#300 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm Fascinating stuff !  I wonder if they like it when you swim in a lake or the ocean, or go out in the sun a while ? - Probably.  :-)  Certainly they would prefer you eat some foods over others...  So keep your microbes happy (or at least in sustai [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#308 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm I guess it is not easy to say what they like and whether they ever have any consensus on it :) An interesting summary from a study on one type of the beneficial microorganisms: "Humans and other mammals are colonized by a vast, complex, and dynami [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#359 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm If it's true that carbohydrates "are otherwise nondigestible" except for the "vast, complex, and dynamic consortium of microorganisms" living within us, that would be huge.  True obligate symbiosis !  I had thought, and read, that it was "faculta [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#363 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm Some quick internet searching seems to confirm it !  We have obligate symbiosis with our anaerobic intestinal flora for breaking down carbohydrates.  Not just us, other animals, including some fish, have it too.  Life is far more interwoven, more [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#364 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm Exactly, and not only that! Regarding microflora, I read there are some animals they can keep sterile: keeping these mice in special conditions and providing them with specific diet, they learn over the decades to keep them alive longer. Some quotat [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#366 http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm The human large intestine contains a microbiota, the components of which are generically complex and metabolically diverse. Its primary function is to salvage energy from carbohydrate not digested in the upper gut. This is achieved through [...] 26 Nov 2010 15:30:03 GMT http://fruitarians.net/forum/topic/Microflora.htm#489