Journalist Katherine Harmon Courage shows readers why and how we should be eating for the 300 trillion bacteria, fungi, and Archaea our bodies depend on to keep us healthy. In Cultured, Katherine Harmon Courage investigated the essential role our gut—or as we now know it’s more accurately called, the microbiome—plays in our overall health and well-being. Through our efforts to keep our bodies and living environments clean and disinfected, we are actually wiping out the essential microbes we need to maintain our immunity. Fortunately, simple dietary changes may be all we need to right the ecology of our microbiome. By examining digestive health through a foodie’s lens—looking to other cultures and their gut-friendly food traditions, from kimchi to kefir, and teaching us the differences between probiotic and prebiotic foods—Courage is able to break down the complex science behind digestive health to make it accessible for all readers. Highly informative yet accessible and practical, Cultured is the resource readers need in order to learn what they can and should be doing to cultivate the essential microbes they need to live healthier, happier lives.