Alanna Collen – författare

Obesity, autism, mental health problems, IBS, allergies, auto-immunity, cancer. Does the answer to the modern epidemic of ‘Western’ diseases lie in our gut?You are 10% human. For every one of your cells, there are nine impostors hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and bone, but also bacteria and fungi. And you are more ‘them’ than you are ‘you’.Your gut alone hosts 100 trillion of them and until recently we thought that our microbes didn’t matter. This is all set to change as the latest scientific research tells a very different story, one where microbes run our bodies and becoming healthy is impossible without them.In this ground-breaking book, biologist Alanna Collen reveals how our personal colony of microbes influence our weight, immune system, mental health and even our choice of partner. This is a new way of understanding modern diseases – obesity, autism, mental health problems, gut disorders, allergies, auto-immunity and even cancer – as she argues they have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our microbes.Illuminating many of the questions still unanswered by the human genome project 10% Human completely changes our understanding of diet, modern disease and medicine. The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better and this book shows you how. A revelatory and indispensable guide: life – and your body – will never seem the same again.

Obesity, autism, mental health problems, IBS, allergies, auto-immunity, cancer. Does the answer to the modern epidemic of `Western’ diseases lie in our gut?You are 10% human. For every one of your cells, there are nine impostors hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and bone, but also bacteria and fungi. And you are more `them’ than you are `you’.Your gut alone hosts 100 trillion of them and until recently we thought that our microbes didn’t matter. This is all set to change as the latest scientific research tells a very different story, one where microbes run our bodies and becoming healthy is impossible without them.In this ground-breaking book, biologist Alanna Collen reveals how our personal colony of microbes influence our weight, immune system, mental health and even our choice of partner. This is a new way of understanding modern diseases – obesity, autism, mental health problems, gut disorders, allergies, auto-immunity and even cancer – as she argues they have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our microbes.Illuminating many of the questions still unanswered by the human genome project 10% Human completely changes our understanding of diet, modern disease and medicine. The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better and this book shows you how. A revelatory and indispensable guide: life – and your body – will never seem the same again.

Six years ago, Alanna Collen began talking to the world’s leading weight scientists in pursuit of her belief that however much you dieted your body would always override your willpower. The evidence was everywhere, not least in the fact that after 70 or so years of bestselling diet programmes few people managed to keep the weight they had lost off. Historically, it was also obvious that people were far slimmer and healthier in the past, and not because there was less food.And then the research results began to come in which backed up Alanna’s scientific hunches, pointing to the existence of an automatic drive to make us over-weight. But why? What is this drive? Where does it come from?Alanna has pieced together a truly revolutionary answer: the hypothalamus, the tiny brain structure that acts as the control centre for so many of our functions, has been damaged. This is crucial as the hypothalamus not only regulates your sleep but keeps your body temperature constant and also controls levels of thirst, sexual function and more.Crucially, it’s the hypothalamus that decides what weight you should be, and it does everything in its power to divert calories to your fat stores, or to your muscles, in pursuit of you attaining that Weight Set Point. So the hypothalamus not only dictates how hungry you feel but it also manipulates how your body stores food, and it even dials your urge to exercise up or down. In a real sense, the hypothalamus controls you.But what happens if your hypothalamus is damaged, and it then sets your Weight Set Point at a higher level than it would normally be?What modern phenomena might cause that damage, though? There are three main answers: damage to the human microbiome; insufficient sleep; and the chemicals contained in modern, ultra-processed foods.All three cause your hypothalamus to raise your Weight Set Point, subverting every effort you might make to bring your weight down. It’s almost impossible to override an automatic process.But there is hope, for in talking to the leading scientists Alanna Collen has worked out practical ways that you can attempt to restore the hypothalamus to healthy functioning.Do so, and you recalibrate your Weight Set Point. Your hypothalamus then conspires to bring your weight down. You won’t have to diet.

Six years ago, Alanna Collen began talking to the world’s leading weight scientists in pursuit of her belief that however much you dieted your body would always override your willpower. The evidence was everywhere, not least in the fact that after 70 or so years of bestselling diet programmes few people managed to keep the weight they had lost off. Historically, it was also obvious that people were far slimmer and healthier in the past, and not because there was less food.And then the research results began to come in which backed up Alanna’s scientific hunches, pointing to the existence of an automatic drive to make us over-weight. But why? What is this drive? Where does it come from?Alanna has pieced together a truly revolutionary answer: the hypothalamus, the tiny brain structure that acts as the control centre for so many of our functions, has been damaged. This is crucial as the hypothalamus not only regulates your sleep but keeps your body temperature constant and also controls levels of thirst, sexual function and more.Crucially, it’s the hypothalamus that decides what weight you should be, and it does everything in its power to divert calories to your fat stores, or to your muscles, in pursuit of you attaining that Weight Set Point. So the hypothalamus not only dictates how hungry you feel but it also manipulates how your body stores food, and it even dials your urge to exercise up or down. In a real sense, the hypothalamus controls you.But what happens if your hypothalamus is damaged, and it then sets your Weight Set Point at a higher level than it would normally be?What modern phenomena might cause that damage, though? There are three main answers: damage to the human microbiome; insufficient sleep; and the chemicals contained in modern, ultra-processed foods.All three cause your hypothalamus to raise your Weight Set Point, subverting every effort you might make to bring your weight down. It’s almost impossible to override an automatic process.But there is hope, for in talking to the leading scientists Alanna Collen has worked out practical ways that you can attempt to restore the hypothalamus to healthy functioning.Do so, and you recalibrate your Weight Set Point. Your hypothalamus then conspires to bring your weight down. You won’t have to diet.

Obesity, autism, mental health problems, IBS, allergies, auto-immunity, cancer. Does the answer to the modern epidemic of ‘Western’ diseases lie in our gut?You are 10% human. For every one of your cells, there are nine impostors hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and bone, but also bacteria and fungi. And you are more ‘them’ than you are ‘you’.Your gut alone hosts 100 trillion of them and until recently we thought that our microbes didn’t matter. This is all set to change as the latest scientific research tells a very different story, one where microbes run our bodies and becoming healthy is impossible without them.In this ground-breaking book, biologist Alanna Collen reveals how our personal colony of microbes influence our weight, immune system, mental health and even our choice of partner. This is a new way of understanding modern diseases – obesity, autism, mental health problems, gut disorders, allergies, auto-immunity and even cancer – as she argues they have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our microbes.Illuminating many of the questions still unanswered by the human genome project 10% Human completely changes our understanding of diet, modern disease and medicine. The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better and this book shows you how. A revelatory and indispensable guide: life – and your body – will never seem the same again.

An evolutionary biologist and science writer explores the widely-ignored role our gut microbes play in our health and well-being.You are just 10% human. For every one of the cells that make up the vessel that you call your body, there are nine impostor cells hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and blood, muscle and bone, brain and skin, but also bacteria and fungi. Over your lifetime, you will carry the equivalent weight of five African elephants in microbes. You are not an individual but a colony.Until recently, we had thought our microbes hardly mattered, but science is revealing a different story, one in which microbes run our bodies; remaining a healthy human is impossible without them.In this riveting, shocking, and beautifully written book, biologist Alanna Collen draws on the latest scientific research to show how our personal colony of microbes influences our weight, immune system, mental health, and even our choice of partner. She argues that so many of our modern diseases—obesity, autism, mental illness, digestive disorders, allergies, autoimmune afflictions, and even cancer—have their root in our failure to cherish our most fundamental and enduring relationship: that with our individual colony of microbes.The good news is that unlike our human cells, we can change our microbes for the better. Life—and your body—will never seem the same again.

La vida y tu cuerpo jamás volverán a parecerte los mismos.Solo eres humano en un 10 %. Para cada una de las células que conforman tu cuerpo, existen otras nueve células impostoras. De modo que no eres un individuo, sino toda una colonia. Pero no nos alarmemos: estos microbios desempeñan un papel fundamental en la salud. Mantenernos sanos es imposible sin ellos.La bióloga Alanna Collen se basa en las últimas investigaciones para demostrar cómo nuestra colonia personal de microbios influye en nuestro peso, en nuestro sistema inmunológico, en nuestra salud mental e incluso en nuestra elección de pareja. Y nos brinda una gran noticia: los microorganismos son fundamentales para nuestra salud, porque a diferencia de las células humanas, sí podemos cambiarlos a ellos para mejorar nuestra vida.Este libro fascinante nos convencerá de que, para ser felices, es importante que cuidemos la relación más fundamental y duradera: la que mantendremos durante toda la vida con nuestra colonia personal de microbios.

Alanna Collenin 10% ihminen avaa, kuinka suoliston mikrobit tukevat immuunijärjestelmää ja ruoansulatusta, sekä vaikuttavat mielenterveyteen ja allergioihin.Evoluutiobiologi Alanna Collen kertoo, miten suoliston mikrobit – nuo pienet, näkymättömät matkakumppanimme – hallitsevat hyvinvointiamme enemmän kuin koskaan osasimme kuvitellakaan. Vain 10 prosenttia elimistömme soluista on omia solujamme, loput ovat kehomme sisällä eläviä ystävällisiä bakteereja ja muita mikrobeja. Hyödylliset bakteerit peittävät kaikkia elimiämme tiiviinä kalvoina, jotka muodostavat myös ensimmäisen ja mahdollisesti jopa tärkeimmän puolustuslinjamme infektioita vastaan.Vaikka antibiootit ovat pelastaneet lukemattomia miljoonia ihmisiä haitallisten bakteerien aiheuttamilta sairauksilta, ne eivät valitettavasti osaa erotella hyödyllisiä ja haitallisia bakteereja toisistaan. Antibioottien turha tai liiallinen käyttö tuhoaakin hyödyllisiä bakteerikantoja ja köyhdyttää elimistömme sisäistä biodiversiteettia, mikä johtaa moniin nykyajan sairauksiin.Alanna Collenin vangitseva ja taitavasti kirjoitettu teos avaa uudenlaisen näkökulman siihen, miten mikrobit vaikuttavat paitsi immuunijärjestelmäämme myös mielenterveyteen, ruoansulatukseen ja painonnousuun. Monet sairauksistamme - liikalihavuus, mielenterveysongelmat, allergiat, autoimmuunisairaudet ja jopa syöpä - juontavat juurensa siihen, että tuhoamme mikrobitasapainoamme muun muassa antibiooteilla.Mutta tässä on hyvä uutinen: toisin kuin omia solujamme, me voimme muuttaa mikrobiyhdyskuntaamme parempaan suuntaan. Tämä kirja on mullistava ja korvaamaton opas siihen, miten voimme palauttaa yhteyden kehomme tärkeimpiin liittolaisiin.Alanna Collen on tietokirjailija ja evoluutiobiologian tohtori. Hän on paljon matkustellut eläintieteilijä, lepakoiden kaikuluotauksen asiantuntija ja trooppisten tautien satunnainen keräilijä. Tieteellisen uransa aikana Collen on kirjoittanut Sunday Times Magazineen, The Timesiin ja The Guardianiin. Hän on esiintynyt lukuisissa radioja televisio-ohjelmissa, muun muassa BBC:n seikkailu- ja luonto-ohjelmissa. Hän asuu Englannissa Bedfordshiressä tyttärensä kanssa.