The Human Microbiome

We are not alone. Our microbiome, per its definition is the genetic content of all microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that colonize our body and outnumbers our own genes 150-fold. Our body is like a planet, and we are harboring many diverse ecosystems on our bodies. Our plant has wild forests, deserts, lakes, oceans, glaciers, swamps and many more making it so beautiful and diverse, and so are we.

Researchers have only recently started to deal with this topic and now it is slowly reaching the masses. Up to this point, we have done everything we can to get rid of the mistakenly unpopular roommates, our microbiome. In fact, only 1% of all microbes are pathogenic. Our westernized lifestyle makes us sick. 

Little exercise, living indoors, eating processed food and lots of sugar, taking medication and excessive hygiene not only is bad for our body but also for our microbiome, which is part of our body and a very important key to our health. Similar to the planet’s ecosystems, we should keep our microbiota in a healthy balance, called homeostasis. The first step is to be aware that we have a microbiome that we need to handle with care.

The Skin Microbiome

When talking about the microbiome, most people might automatically think of the gut microbiome and this is where it ends. But this is a big misunderstanding. The gut microbiome has been studied most intensively over the last decades, but we now know that we are colonized in every corner of our body and our largest organ, the skin, is like a planet in itself with many diverse ecosystems. 

So let´s have a closer look at that fascinating 20 m2 shell of our body. That´s right, taking the skin´s surface plus all those wrinkles, invaginations, pores, hair follicles and glands together, our skin environment offers 20 m2 space to our skin microbiome. And this space is diverse and rough for our microbes. We are facing different temperatures, different pH (very acidic overall), sebum and oxygen supply. All those different areas offer a particular living area for specific inhabitants. This already gives us an idea of the complexity of the skin and it is indeed more diverse and complex than our gut if you look at it as a landscape with different features. Just as the planet we live on, the different environments on our skin are colonized with different microbes that are best at surviving in this environment.

The Desert Region

The so-called desert regions of the skin (dry skin such as the buttocks, forearms or various regions of the hand) harbor the greatest microbial diversity, with 19 different bacterial divisions, four of which are dominant (Actinobacteria (52%), Firmicutes (24%), Proteobacteria (17%) and Bacteroidetes (7%)). There are even gram-negative bacteria, which were originally thought to be contaminants from the digestive tract. Interestingly, the phylogenetic bacterial diversity is greater on dry skin than in the mouth or digestive tract of the same person.

The Sebaceous Areas

The oily areas of the skin (sebaceous areas such as the forehead, behind the ear, the back and the nostrils) are mainly colonized by propionibacteria. These bacteria are normally harmless, merely carrying out their activity of defence against hostile settlers. However, the arrival of puberty causes a change in the chemical environment on the skin, especially on the face, due to hormonal changes. These changes lead to a battle between the immune system and propionibacteria, which manifests itself in infected sebaceous glands and thus acne.

The skin microbiome is strongly interacting with our skin, teaching our skins immune system, supports it with nutrients and works together to building a strong barrier against pathogens and toxins. We are just beginning to understand what our skin microbiome means to our skin, but we know that a balanced microbiome is key to healthy glowing skin.

Our Principle: Less is more!

We work very closely with Dr. Kirstin Neumann to test our products making sure they meet the MyMicrobiome criteria.