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Your body is home to a vast, invisible world. Inside your gut alone, there are over 100 trillion microbes—bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms—outnumbering your human cells by 1.3:1. Collectively, this microbial population is known as the gut microbiome.Far from being freeloaders, these microbes play crucial roles in your health. They help digest food, synthesize vitamins, regulate the immune system, and even influence mood and brain function through the gut-brain axis. Each person’s microbiome is as unique as a fingerprint, shaped by diet, environment, genetics, and lifestyle.In a sense, you’re not just one organism—you’re a walking ecosystem, a superorganism where trillions of microscopic partners keep your body in balance. The health of your gut microbiome is deeply tied to your overall well-being, reminding us that even the tiniest life forms inside us play an outsized role in who we are.REFERENCE:Ron Sender et al, "Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body", PLOS Biology (2016)