Welcome back to another episode of health hack. And today I'm continuing in talking about the powerful healing benefits of getting out into nature. Today, in particular, I want to talk about how that actually boosts the health of your gut. And since 70% of your immune system is housed in your gut, when your gut is healthier, your immune system is stronger. Now, your gut is made up of millions and trillions of microbes. And in fact, we have more microbes in our gut than we do DNA in our body. And these microbes are designed to work symbiotically with us in order to break down our food, so that we are getting the nutritional benefits of the food that we are eating. And it requires a very fine balance of good gut bacteria and bad bacteria. And we want that in balance for our overall health. However, things in modern day life can upset that balance from antibiotics to poor sleep to high stress that can kill off our good bacteria and our good microbes and put us out of balance and cause issues like bacterial overgrowth or candida overgrowth, or let in parasites or other microbes that we don't want like H. Pylori. And we can strengthen the health of our gut simply by getting out into nature, because when we're in nature, we are being exposed to more microbes that our gut wants. And these microbes are so so tiny, you can't even see them with your naked eye, but the wind blows them onto your skin, and they get absorbed through your skin, into your body and into your gut. walking barefoot through nature can be very beneficial for this purpose as well. However, if you're going for a hike, obviously, you're going to be want to wearing hiking boots and you might be on a rocky trail etc. But if you can stop for a time and simply place your bare feet on the bare ground, maybe while you have a snack or stop to have lunch. That also is a beneficial way of absorbing these microbes into your system to boost the health of your gut, and therefore your immune system. So think about that the next time you head out into nature. Be aware of the healing benefits of it so that you choose to do this more often. But also choose to have more skin exposed if you can, and take your shoes and socks off at some point and have your bare feet on the ground. Not only grounding, but absorbing the benefits of those good microbes. Happy hiking, happy playing in nature. It is my happy place. I love nothing more than being out surrounded by the trees surrounded by the forest. Breathing in all that fresh air and giving my body that health boost while also calming my nervous system. And I hope you enjoy it too.