Early life experiences including birth method, skin contact, and environment strongly shape the gut microbiome.

“Actually from the moment that you came into the world, that microbiome was being established. It was actually strongly impacted depending on whether or not you were born by C-section or by vaginal birth. And it was strongly impacted by who handled you when you came into the world, literally the hands that were on you. How much skin contact you had, whether or not you were a preemie baby or not, whether or not you had pets at home, whether or not you were allowed to play in the dirt, whether or not you were allowed to eat snails or whether or not you were kept in a very antiseptic environment.”