The Whole-Body Microbiome

This was a very interesting and informative book about how to age better and healthier. The research was very extensive. I liked the fact that after each chapter the authors provided references for further reading, if you so desire. Also included are guided tips and suggestions to help maintain a healthier lifestyle.
As someone living with a chronic illness, I have read many helpful books on the gut microbes. But this book has opened my eyes to the many other microbes in different parts of the body that affect our health. The information was quite fascinating and helpful. I plan on recommending this book, not only to family and friends, but my health professionals as well.

This book provides a broad overview of research on the human microbiome and how it affects health and aging. It gets a bit technical at times, but is well organized, interesting, and easy to understand. I appreciated that the authors are clear about what we know, what we suspect, and what remains unknown.

Each chapter discusses the microbiome of a different organ or system, summarizing results from current research, discussing areas where future research might be most helpful, and providing helpful suggestions for how to make use of this knowledge. Each chapter ends with a section of quick tips summarizing their recommended actions and a list of selected references. There is an index at the end, which I have not had a chance to review.

Many of the health recommendations are going to sound familiar, but I appreciated getting a new understanding of why these recommendations are so important. For example, after reading about the oral microbiome, I am feeling a lot more urgency to brush and floss my teeth more often and to pay attention to what is in my toothpaste.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about medical research. If you don’t think you would enjoy reading about studies conducted on germ-free mice or learning about how bacteria influence the levels of cytokines that affect inflammation and the immune response, then this may not be the book for you.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review. Because I have not seen the final published version, I cannot comment on the final editing and formatting.