Science journalist Katherine Harmon Courage humorously recounts the latest scientific discoveries in the gut microbiome, interspersed with interviews she conducted while traveling the world and eating traditional foods. Today, kefir, probiotic yogurt, kombucha, whole grains, farm cheeses, sauerkraut and other products labeled “good for your gut” can be found in any store. And we, of course, buy them, because everyone wants to be healthy and live long. But what does our microbiota really need? What to feed her to feel better? Our body is a superorganism consisting of thousands of varieties of bacteria, clearly demonstrating how a small change in diet will provide an influx of microbes into our, now adult, body and make its microbial environment more diverse. After all, not only are our microbiomes influenced by what we eat, but they themselves can partly support our health. The recipes that the author shares in his book are uncomplicated and simple. And you will probably want to try preparing these dishes in your kitchen - to please yourself with new tastes and feed your microbiome with useful substances. Who is the book for? For anyone who wants to form a competent diet and maintain good health for many years. From the author We like to think of ourselves as about the pinnacle of evolution, but we did not rise to this shining pinnacle alone. They helped us a lot. And I'm talking about germs. Each of us contains so many of them that it surpasses the most ardent imagination. But we do not just contain these innumerable multitudes - we also depend on them. Without them, we would never have acquired such a perfect immune system, would not have learned to extract from food the various nutrients we need for normal existence, and in general our bodies would be a haven for all sorts of pathogenic microorganisms, hospitably open to them as if from the outside, and from the inside. In short, in the absence of germs, we would be more dead than alive. However, lately we have become mistreating our microbes. We have waged war against our own microbes. Take, for example, the thoughtless use of antibiotics; even the fact that we acquired a sewer system in just a couple of generations has radically changed our ancient microbiota. The blow to it turned out to be swift and effective - in fact, it led to its catastrophic extinction in a few decades (against the backdrop of 200,000 years of human history). There is another powerful force that influences our microbiota - food. Everything we eat has a profound effect on the health of our microbes. Moreover, we do this every day and several times. Almost everything we eat—from probiotic yogurt to asparagus to fatty pork chops—has a profound effect on our microbes, which in turn affects us. And very quickly: what we eat at lunch can change the composition of our microbiota within a day. We are increasingly aware that microbes play a key role in the impact - good or bad - of our diet on our health. So, let's find out what we can feed ourselves and our microbes. How can we learn cultivate your inner environment - and do it as best as possible. We can do this. It is published in Russian for the first time.