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You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF The gut houses trillions of microbes. They eat what you eat. Many specialize in fermenting the soluble fiber in
legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables. Certain microbial species are adept at colonizing the mucous layer of the gut. Mucus contains antimicrobial substances that keep the microbiota at a
slight distance. But it also contains sugars such as those found in breast milk. Some microbes, often the same ones that specialize in fermenting fiber, can use these sugars as sustenance
when other food is not available. The by-products of fiber fermentation nourish cells lining the colon. Some by-products pass into the circulation and may calibrate our immune system in a
way that prevents inflammatory disorders such as asthma and Crohn's disease. Credit: Illustration by AXS Biomedical Animation Studio RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Your Microbes at Work: Fiber Fermenters Keep Us Healthy. _Nature_ 518, S9 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/518S9a Download citation * Published: 25
February 2015 * Issue Date: 26 February 2015 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/518S9a SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get
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