Gut fungi may be as important as gut bacteria for our health and wellbeing

Much is known about gut bacteria and it’s importance for our health and wellbeing and now research from scientists at University of Utah Health have found that fungi, another micro-organism that lives within us is also important for health and diseases. Beneficial fungi thrive in a healthy gut but fungi such as Candida can cause problems if it grows out of control. According to the study published in Nature some fungi can cause damage by contributing to inflammatory bowel disease.

Fungi are an integral part of the microbial environment of the gut but as much less is known about the fungi in our gut compared to the bacteria in our gut much more research is needed to understand which fungi are beneficial and which fungi may cause a problem to our health. The human gastrointestinal tract hosts huge populations of micro-organisms that include bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses and this is an area of science that is continuing to excite and amaze those of us who are fascinated by health and wellbeing.