Rethinking Lifestyle

“Beer is proof that God exists and wants us to be happy”. You may have heard that cheeky quotation attributed to Benjamin Franklin, but it isn’t quite accurate. According to The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Franklin actually wrote this in a letter to Abbe Morellet: “We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!”

I couldn’t agree more! And one reason for that is a step in the process that Franklin did not mention: the yeast that makes the wine. You may not find yeast, fungus and bacteria to be all that appealing. After all, “cleanliness is next to godliness”, because it represents health and good order. Bacteria, fungi and yeasts can make us sick, and these seem to thrive wherever they’re allowed to. But not only are these things not all bad – but some are really, really awesome.

Scientists have estimated that there are as many cells of bacteria in your body as there are human ones. Throughout a multimillion-year relationship with your ancestors, these species of microorganisms have forged a beneficial relationship with you. Those little guys do everything from digesting food to fighting off intruding colonies of harmful bacteria and stimulating your immune system. A recent study, Gut Microbiota: A Potential Regulator of Neurodevelopment, suggests that the microbiome (the active community of microbes that lives within you) even plays a role in childhood brain development. Similarly, the bacteria and fungi in microbially rich soil interact with plants to trade photosynthetic energy for the nutrients they (and we) need. The interactions between microbes and the world we know are so complex that they may never be fully understood. One thing is for certain though – if we didn’t live with bacteria, we wouldn’t live at all.

One of the reasons is the necessity of providing the very stuff life is made of. Breaking apart the foulest, most offensive rancid stuff one molecule at a time, composting can be likened to farming at a molecular level. Your millions of tiny “livestock” are workers that you can feed, water and care for to generate clean, fertile soil. Advanced techniques are even more impressive. In his book Mycelium Running, Paul Stamets describes how fungi can even be used to purify soil of PCBs, diesel spills and heavy metals. The possibilities seem endless.

But perhaps most beautiful aspect of the microbial world is the creative potential it offers us when we take the time to cultivate and get to know it. Many of the foods we eat and love are made and preserved by deliberately cultivating our favourite microbes. Think of a classic Reuben sandwich for example, served with a cold beer. Fermented barley, yeast-raised rye bread, fermented (corned) beef, bacteria-made swiss cheese, and a lovely sauerkraut (sour cabbage). Side note – if, like me until recently, you don’t like sauerkraut it’s because you don’t eat enough. Fermented (not vinegar) sauerkraut is a taste well worth acquiring!

As Benjamin Franklin observed, miracles aren’t only exceptions to the rules of nature – they can be the very operations of it. Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but working together with good and healthful microorganisms is a bona fide miracle, every day. Get dirty!