Obesity, autism, mental health problems, IBS, allergies, auto-immunity, cancer. Does the answer to the modern epidemic of ‘Western’ diseases lie in our gut?

You are 10% human. For every one of your cells, there are nine impostors hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and bone, but also bacteria and fungi. And you are more ‘them’ than you are ‘you’.

Your gut alone hosts 100 trillion of them and until recently we thought that our microbes didn’t matter. This is all set to change as the latest scientific research tells a very different story, one where microbes run our bodies and becoming healthy is impossible without them.

In this ground-breaking book, biologist Alanna Collen reveals how our personal colony of microbes influence our weight, immune system, mental health and even our choice of partner. This is a new way of understanding modern diseases – obesity, autism, mental health problems, gut disorders, allergies, auto-immunity and even cancer – as she argues they have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our microbes.

Illuminating many of the questions still unanswered by the human genome project 10% Human completely changes our understanding of diet, modern disease and medicine. The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better and this book shows you how. A revelatory and indispensable guide: life – and your body – will never seem the same again.

Now in paperback, evolutionary biologist and science writer Alanna Collen’s stunning alarm call concerning the widely-ignored role our gut microbes play in our health and well-being.

“Fascinating…. Everything you wanted to know about microbes but were afraid to ask.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

You are just 10% human. For every one of the cells that make up the vessel that you call your body, there are nine impostor cells hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and blood, muscle and bone, brain and skin, but also bacteria and fungi. Over your lifetime, you will carry the equivalent weight of five African elephants in microbes. You are not an individual but a colony.

Until recently, we had thought our microbes hardly mattered, but science is revealing a different story, one in which microbes run our bodies and becoming a healthy human is impossible without them.

In this riveting, shocking, and beautifully written book, biologist Alanna Collen draws on the latest scientific research to show how our personal colony of microbes influences our weight, our immune system, our mental health, and even our choice of partner. She argues that so many of our modern diseases—obesity, autism, mental illness, digestive disorders, allergies, autoimmunity afflictions, and even cancer—have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our personal colony of microbes.

The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better. Collen’s book is a revelatory and indispensable guide. Life—and your body—will never seem the same again.

"Emocionante e inovador. Um estudo fascinante da vida interligada de micróbios e humanos." – Newsweek

"Um assunto intrigante. A ideia de Collen, de que devemos reconsiderar o que é realmente saudável, é muito valiosa numa época em que ser saudável está tão em voga." – Philadelphia Inquirer

Há muito mais coisas em seu corpo do que você poderia imaginar. Cerca de 100 trilhões delas, para ser mais exato.

Para cada célula humana em nosso organismo, há outras nove impostoras, pegando carona. Você não é formado apenas de carne e osso, sangue e músculo, mas também de bactérias e fungos. Não é um indivíduo, mas uma colônia – um ecossistema. Somos apenas 10% humanos.

Até pouco tempo atrás, os micróbios eram vistos como invasores, inimigos, parasitas. Estávamos decididos a exterminá-los. Mas a ciência vem revelando uma história bem diferente: os micro-organismos comandam nosso corpo e evoluíram numa relação de estreita simbiose com os humanos – e é impossível ser saudável sem eles.

Neste livro instigante e revolucionário, a bióloga Alanna Collen apresenta as últimas pesquisas científicas e mostra de que forma os micróbios que habitam o corpo determinam nosso peso, o funcionamento de nosso sistema imunológico e até mesmo nossa saúde mental.

Além disso, mostra como as doenças modernas – obesidade, autismo, transtornos mentais, problemas intestinais, alergias e doenças autoimunes – teriam uma causa comum: o fato de não estarmos cultivando uma boa relação com nossa colônia pessoal de micro-organismos.

Esta nova perspectiva traz uma boa notícia: ao contrário de nossas células humanas, nossa colônia microbiana pode ser alterada para melhor. Depois de 10% Humano, você nunca mais vai enxergar seu corpo – e sua vida – da mesma forma.