EP 18: How To Live In Support of Our Microbiome With Seed Co-founder and Co-CEO Ara Katz

Probiotics are everywhere. But what’s the deal with these strains of bacteria that are supposed to work wonders for our guts and – therefore – our overall health? This week on Our Nature, Ara Katz, the co-founder and co-CEO of Seed is on the show to demystify the microbiome. Seed is a life science and consumer health company focused on the microbiome and its undeniable potential in shaping the future of human and planetary health. Before founding Seed, Ara co-founded the mobile commerce company Spring and was named in Marie Claire’s The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in the US. Being someone who has studied digestion through the Ayurvedic perspective, I thought I already knew a lot about the microbiome and our gut bacteria, but Ara brings a wealth of fascinating and lesser-known information to this episode in a way that is easy to understand and assimilate. Seed empowers their customers to learn about gut health first so they can then make informed decisions. Wait until you hear this episode – you’ll be so much more thoughtful about your daily practices after hearing what Ara has to say about the bacteria inside our bodies. In this episode we talk about: what the microbiome is and what it does for us, how the microbiome has shifted as we’ve evolved (or as Ara called it - the climate change of our insides), why big pharma and science are very different and why this distinction is so important, the multiple microbiomes that live in areas other than our gut, why not all probiotics are the same, the myths and misunderstandings about probiotics and what’s actually true, what you can do to increase your microbial diversity (the answer isn’t just take probiotics), how to know if the probiotics you are taking are “working,” and so much more. Get ready to go deep!

QUOTES:

When it comes to your microbiome - “Help them, help you.” - Ara Katz

“We’re actually learning about our bodies through marketing campaigns and through products that claim to do something and I’m not sure that that serves us.” - Ara Katz

“The greatest marker of health is resilience. It’s the idea that under some antagonism, how soon (and in what way) can you return to that place of stasis.” - Ara Katz

“People need a door to walk through and they need someone to extend a hand to walk them through it.” - Ara Katz

“The only way that I believe people can get better is by being empowered with the truths of the things that they can do – or choose not to do – that don’t cost them anything.” - Ara Katz

RESOURCES:

Seed The Human Genome ProjectD-Mannose for UTIs

SHOW NOTES:

Why people are so invested in the microbiome right now?How our microbiome has become a symbol for the marriage of eastern and western health philosophiesWhat is the microbiome and what it does for usOur multiple microbiomes and what we know about them so farHow the microbiome has shifted as we’ve evolvedThe climate change of our insides - what has caused the microbiome to shift over multiple generationsWhat has supported our microbiome in the pastWhat menstruation does to our microbiomeThe story of why Ara founded SeedHow big pharma and science are different and why that’s such an important distinction to makeWhat probiotics are and why Seed probiotics are differentAll about allostasisHow Seed probiotics account for the fact that every person’s microbiome is differentWhy SEED probiotics need to be refrigeratedHow long before Seed probiotics start working and how to determine whether they are workingSeed’s new research on developing a revolutionary treatment for UTI’s that don’t involve antibiotics99% of bacteria are neutral or goodWhy Kimchi and Kombuchas don’t have probiotic impactHow sex disrupts our microbiomeThe relationship between science and spiritualityThe Last 5 Questions!

THE LAST 5 QUESTIONS:

What is your favorite place in nature? Anywhere where I’m surrounded and can’t see the built environment.

What is the animal, mineral or plant that resonates with you the most? I could never pick a favorite in nature. We’d be sitting here for hours if we tried.

What is one thing we can do right now to connect with the natural world and bring more harmony into our lives? Be in it.

What’s the greatest lesson nature has taught you? That we are of it.

Nature brings me…Breath.

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Gratitude List: This podcast would not be possible without the group of talented individuals below. I offer them my sincerest thanks and love.

Graphics by: Tim LaSalleMusic by: Nick Ceglia