Many thanks to the HIS/FIS Organizing committee for organizing the session “Microbiome within healthcare built”.
As a preparation of the session I read and thought a lot about the microbiome and microbiota.
There is a lot of scientific evidence that nutrition directly and quickly affects our gut microbiome: By analyzing it, conclusions can be drawn fast about how good our nutrition is and whether we are consuming unhealthy food, thus being a contributing factor to several diseases. Therefore, to ensure a “good” gut microbiome, we tend to pay increasing attention to consuming vegetables, fruits and salads, in the best case organic products to avoid chemical and antimicrobial treatments, with the target to reduce intake of harmful substances. Additionally, there are numerous nutrition products and supplements offered in the markets, which promise positive effects on our gut microbiome.
Attention to our nutrition and effort to consume healthy, unprocessed, untreated food is key to maintain our health both in the short as well as in the long term. All related efforts and public health communication motivating public to healthier nutrition consumption are very much appreciated.
Based on the above, I keep asking myself, why we have a different behavior towards drinking water: In the most countries drinking water is continuously chlorinated or additionally treated with further chemicals including chlorine dioxide, monochloramine, copper and silver ions, ozon and others. It is widely known that chemicals change the consistency of water microbiome and biofilm, influence the abundancy of water-associated opportunistic pathogens and affect stability of biofilms. We also know that consumed drinking water has a direct effect on gut microbiome.
Why do we try our best to avoid intake of potentially harmful chemicals with our nutrition, spend a lot of money to buy organic products, but at the same time, we don’t have an issue consuming chemically treated drinking water or ice used in our drinks or water stagnating in bottles for days?
Understanding water microbiome will support the reduction of risk for public health. Understanding water hygiene is crucial to ensure water does not become an infection reservoir.
Do you want to discuss further? Please contact me here:
English 
German 
Greek