The Human Superorganism: How the Microbiome Is Revolutionizing the Pursuit of a Healthy Life

Dietert, a professor of immunotoxicology at Cornell University, introduces readers to a new perspective on human health, arguing that humans are “superorganisms” composed of thousands of microbial species that live on and in us—ancient microbial partners against which we have been waging a devastating war. He asserts that the 21st-century “epidemic” of non-communicable ailments such as allergies, autism, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and even depression has arisen due to “the loss of a higher order of self-integrity involving our microbiome.” Due to antibiotic “overreach,” diet, urbanization, elective C-section births, and medical treatments that ignore the microbiome, Dietert writes, humans are missing the microbes needed to stay healthy. He concedes that it is possible to modify an individual’s microbiome, but the necessary analyses of skin scrapings and swabs, evaluation of microbial genes, and the appropriate blood chemistry work are unlikely to be offered at anyone’s next routine visit to the doctor. In addition to his survey of the microbiome, Dietert explores microbiotic self-care, which largely involves probiotics; on this front he offers both an impressive personal recommendation and a brief list of resources on probiotics. Dietert makes a fascinating case for an exciting, emerging field that offers a new way of thinking about the human body and health. (July)