Alva Review-Courier -

National Geographic Magazine asks, “Are our health and well-being really driven by the bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa that live in our bodies?”

The only human microbe-free lives as a fetus in utero. Encountering the birth canal, it is swaddled in microbes, immediately colonizing the new-found territory. This early microbe encounter begins a life-long relationship with the baby’s immune system.

The implications of cesarean section and the avoidance of this early encounter means the immunity must begin with breast milk, the attending hospital professionals, and even the linens. By the fir...