Soil health is human health

We know that a wide range of beneficial microbes in the human gut are essential for food digestion and nutrient absorption. The gut is a miraculous single-celled lining through which we absorb what we need from the foods we eat. It is delicate, intelligent and constantly working on our behalf.

If we don’t get enough nutrients, or if the system becomes compromised, this lining of the gut can begin to break down, contributing to inflammation and a host of health problems. Increasingly, research into the gut microbiome shows that diversity and resilience of microbes are central to maintaining this protective barrier.

But where do we get these microbes from?

1. Our birth process

When babies are born vaginally, with their faces facing towards a bottom, they pick up a lot of microbes. Something that we might instinctively think of as ‘gross’ or unhygienic actually plays a profound biological role. It sets up the foundation of our microbiome for life.

Studies from leading microbiome researchers have shown that babies born vaginally are colonised by microbes resembling their mother’s vaginal and gut microbiota, while babies born via caesarean section acquire more skin-associated microbes. These early exposures influence immune development and microbial diversity.

We also acquire microbes from being held close to skin and from being breastfed. Breast milk itself contains beneficial bacteria and specialised sugars (human milk oligosaccharides) designed to feed specific gut microbes such as Bifidobacteria. Nature does not do things by accident.

2. Our environment as children and experiences growing up

The kind of diet you ate, where you lived, the cleanliness of your home, how much dirt you were allowed to play in, all of these have huge implications for the microbes you carry around with you now.

Research into what is sometimes called the “hygiene hypothesis” now more accurately referred to as the “microbial exposure hypothesis” suggests that reduced early-life contact with environmental microbes may contribute to rising rates of allergies, asthma and autoimmune conditions.

A particularly interesting Finnish study published in Science Advances (2020) found that when children played daily in soil enriched with forest floor material, their immune markers improved and their skin microbiome became more diverse within just 28 days. Exposure to soil microbes appeared to strengthen immune regulation.

Dirt, it turns out, may not be the enemy.

3. Our diet today (and yesterday)

You are currently experiencing the effects of your diet, the diet you ate yesterday and the diet you ate a year ago. Both are important.

Because it can take time to build microbial diversity, consistency is key. Diets rich in fibre, polyphenols and plant diversity are consistently associated with greater microbiome diversity.

One of the most important parts of a truly nutritious diet is fresh fruits and vegetables. Ideally, this would mean many different varieties and colours, because these feed different microbes with different substrates.

But how do the microbes get into these foods?

The soil connection

The microbes in fruits and vegetables come from the soil.

Down to around 15cm underground you will find an ecosystem that is thriving, teeming and bursting with life. This region is often referred to as the rhizosphere and it is where plant roots interact closely with soil microbes. In good quality soil, billions of microbes work together to break down organic matter, deliver nutrients to plants, and interact with larger organisms such as nematodes and worms.

When a seed is planted, these microbes are part of every step in helping it grow, protecting it from pests and nourishing it with minerals drawn from the soil.

Healthy soil is not just dirt. It is a living system.

A single teaspoon of good quality soil can contain more microbes than there are people on the planet. Many of these microbes remain unidentified by science. Their diversity is staggering.

And this diversity matters.

Something in this system is broken

The foods we eat should contain both high levels of nutrients and a natural exposure to microbial diversity.

But soils are less nutritious than they were 100 years ago.

Modern farming methods like heavy tillage, monocropping, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotic use in agriculture have altered soil ecosystems. Several analyses comparing historical food composition data suggest declines in certain minerals in fruits and vegetables over the past century.

A recent review in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (2022) highlights that soil microbial degradation is linked to lower nutrient density and reduced resilience in crops.

We are now eating food grown in biologically simplified soil systems.

Even when we eat what appears to be a good diet, the microbial and mineral richness may not be what it once was.

We have fewer microbes and, in many cases, fewer minerals in our diets.

Soil is sometimes described as the gut of the planet and the home of the microbes. And globally, soil health is under pressure. The FAO estimates that one third of the world’s soils are moderately to highly degraded.

If soil systems decline, plant systems decline. If plant systems decline, human systems follow. The health of your gut is directly related to the health of soil.

Replenishing microbes in our guts, why soil-based?

Until we can rebuild microbial diversity in soils on a global scale and regenerative agriculture is making promising strides it is likely that many people will look to supplementation to support human health.

Soil contains extraordinarily diverse microbial communities. Unlike single-strain laboratory isolates, soil ecosystems contain many species interacting in balance.

Our probiotic is harvested from this diversity and fermented to multiply the numbers of beneficial soil bacteria without fundamentally changing the microbial composition. Fermentation simply increases the abundance of what is already present in nature.

We do not remove anything from nature. We take it as it is; complex, diverse, balanced. Then we deliver it in a stable, accessible form.

The idea is not to dominate the gut microbiome but to support it.

Emerging research into environmental microbes, including spore-forming species such as Bacillus subtilis, suggests they may play a role in supporting gut resilience and immune modulation.

The broader principle is ecological: diversity builds strength.

What can you do?

You can help reverse the loss in microbial diversity.

Think of it as biodiversity loss that you cannot see directly but can observe through its consequences: human health crises, soil degradation, reduced plant resilience, and loss of species.

You can:

Choose foods grown in regenerative or organic systems where possible
Increase plant diversity in your diet
Spend time outdoors, in gardens and natural environments
Reduce unnecessary chemical exposure in your home
Use probiotics in your gut
Use probiotics in your garden
Small actions accumulate.

The rebuilding of microbial diversity, in soil and in people, is not a quick fix. It is a long-term shift in thinking. The microbes in our gut and the microbes in our soil are not separate stories. They are chapters in the same ecological narrative.