How we choose to employ science arguably matters more than the discovery itself. Useful as science is for informing our decisions, rarely is science alone the only variable considered. And how could it be? Competing priories will naturally come into play. It’s along these priorities that we begin to see something like a seam along which science and our daily lives meet.

One such seam is nutrition. What we eat affects each of us in incredibly unique ways. We know this to be true thanks in part to an evolving understanding of our gut microbiome, basically the ecosystem of microbes that live within our stomach.

“Everything that’s alive on this planet either is a microbiome or has a microbiome.” — Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

Much of the popularity surrounding gut health is due thanks in part to the work of Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (known by many as Dr. B), American board-certified gastroenterologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Fiber Fueled. While recommended total dietary fiber intake is around 25g-30g for an adult, Americans consume on average only 15g per day. In Dr. B’s efforts to shine a bright light on fiber deficiency, he is opening our eyes to the literal world that lives inside each of us.

“Inside of our gut microbiome we could have any from hundreds up to potentially a thousand different microbes living inside of our gut.” — Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

But this is For the Planet. Why am I focusing so much on our fiber intake? It turns outs, the health of our gut is surprisingly analogous to the health of the planet. And for whatever reason, both continue to be undermined daily.

“One of the things we look at in terms of the health of the gut microbiome of a human being is the diversity within that system…If you look at ecosystems, whatever that ecosystem may be, it could the Amazon, it could be the Great Barrier Reef, and it can be our personal gut microbiome, diversity within the ecosystem is a measure of health.” — Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

During his second appearance on the Rich Roll Podcast, Dr. B dove deep into the dynamic relationship between gut health and a myriad of downstream impacts. But what stood out to me the most was his emphasis on diversity as a key indicator of one’s health and of planetary health more broadly.

Homogeneity is at odds with much of the natural world. Greater diversity allows for organisms to serve increasingly deliberate ecological niches—the unique role of an organism within an ecosystem. As we decimate vast swaths of land in favor of monocrops and urban development, we are in effect choosing to isolate ourselves from the natural world that is literally designed to aid in our health — a view some may still find they are instinctually at odds with.

The intrinsic value of diversity extends to our own communities as well. At a time when many seek to divide our world into this in-group and that out-group, our task is to hold the whole of life in perspective. To see we truly rely on each other as much as ourselves. Just as a gut with too few microbes lacks broad and bountiful fuel sources, a society lacking in nuanced perspectives across many issues and their potential solutions is not long for this world.