Your body is crying out for...dirt

The idea of eating dirt isn't new. It's been around a long time, dating back more than 2,500 years. Hunters and gatherers couldn't avoid it, and regardless of culture, there's evidence people have included traces of dirt in their diets throughout the ages.

- Dr Joseph Mercola

Think about when you were growing up. It is likely many of you, much like myself, grew up in homes where having a vegetable or flower garden was commonplace. In fact, you probably helped out by pulling weeds and planting seeds with your bare hands. Even if you didn't have a family garden, as a kid you probably played outdoors for hours each day and got more than a little dirty. Back then, people didn't worry so much about dirt—it was part of life. You got dirty and then, you cleaned up. It wasn't until years later that Westerners became obsessed with cleanliness. We stopped touching dirt and we made sure we didn't eat it.

Today, it's no longer normal to get your hands dirty. Designer garden tools and thick, plush gloves just about guarantee that you won't soil your hands. And it's not only adults… These days, children spend far more time in front of computers than they do digging in the ground. If you do happen to get dirty—or end up with dirtcovered food—there's no shortage of fancy vegetable scrubbers, antibacterial soaps and sanitising hand gels to remove grime and bacteria.

While all this may sound like a good thing for your health, this obsession with sanitation and cleanliness has forced us to take a step backwards with our gut health.

Modern-Day Hunters and Gatherers Reveal Surprising Truths About Microbiome Health

Your microbiome is your unique collection of intestinal bacteria—the trillions of gut bacteria that influence your immune health, mood, behaviour, digestion, metabolism and weight. Since there's little doubt that modern-day living affects your gut health, how would your microbiome differ if you lived completely isolated from modern medicine, food and culture?