Based on current science, one of the most important roles of the gut microbiome—the community of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in our gut—is conducting an essential bit of biochemistry that provides us with short-chain fatty acids. These molecules are essential to our health and play several critical roles in the body.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are anti-inflammatory. That means they cool the fire of inflammation that our body uses to burn off pathogenic invaders. Unfortunately, this inflammation function is widely dysfunctional in modern people, because of constant triggering by stress, environmental toxins, and processed foods.