# @seed on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhw1n-zF2QU
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34247953-seed-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d4e15eb3bd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-04-19T19:04:23.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Seed (@seed) — https://gondola.cc/seed

## Caption

#Bacteria are #essential. There’s almost no #function in your #body that your #microbes and their #metabolites aren’t connected to.⠀
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They help #digest #foods we otherwise couldn’t, #synthesize key #vitamins, metabolites, and #neurotransmitters, break down #toxins and #hazardous #chemicals, gate-keep the gut barrier, and protect from #intruders and other #pathogenic bacteria. Perhaps most importantly, they teach our #immune #system to recognize #friend vs. #foe and control our responsiveness and #sensitivity to immune #responses.⠀
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Bacteroides fragilis, pictured above, is one such example. A common resident in our guts, B. fragilis produces a #molecule called #polysaccharide A (PS-A). PS-A boosts numbers of helper T-cells, a type of white blood cell that actively participates in immune response. As long as B. fragilis stays in the gut, it participates in a deeply #symbiotic #relationship with the human host.⠀
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Bacteroides fragilis bacteria. Science Photo Library. Mag x 11,750 (at 35mm size).

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## Tags

digest, chemicals, intruders, microbes, foe, pathogenic, responses, immune, system, toxins, neurotransmitters, metabolites, polysaccharide, sensitivity, friend, body, bacteria, vitamins, hazardous, synthesize, foods, molecule, relationship, symbiotic, essential, function

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