It’s an away game. There is US. And THEM.

At the end of the game – the lines will be blurred. Not because the human contenders in the game have become friends. No…. the game will produce WINNERS and LOSERS. Inflated egos and bruised egos.

The lines are blurred because during the game, the moments of physical contact will have caused the microbial members of the team to swop sides.

The final whistle

The final whistle will leave some microbes batting for the WRONG TEAM.

And these guys end up going home in the bus.

They serve as a semi-permanent memoir of the CLOSE ENCOUNTER. This is what researchers from the University of Oregon discovered, when they boarded the team buses, of three different roller derby sports teams.

NOTE : If you don’t know what a roller derby is…. think ice hockey on roller skates.

Counting up who is on the bus

The teams were selected because they came from different corners of the roller derby world.

The research team took a swab from the upper arm of each player, before and after a big game. The DNA inside the sample was analysed, to reveal exactly who was “living” on the arm.

Skin bugs are us

Yup, you don’t just have a couple of trillion bacteria hanging out in your gut, they’re all over your skin too, this is your skin microbiome.

These invisible passengers, just like gut bacteria, ALSO contribute to your health & wellbeing. We don’t really know too much about them, but we do know

• They help keep you clean, by mopping up sweat etc
• They’re involved in educating your immune system, about friends and foe, which stops your immune system acting crazy by attacking you.
• They help protect against FOREIGN invasions

Sometimes they can get up to no good……. but for the most part they are GOOD GUYS.

Team microbe changed sides

The results of the swab analysis showed before a game…. the microbial crew of each team, was very similar i.e. the microbes were wearing team colours.

Each member of a particular human team, had a very similar microbial crew. Just by looking at the bugs, the scientists knew which team the player belonged to.

But after the game…….. the bugs had swopped sides.

Stop panicking – it is more often than not a good thing. When it comes to your personal collection of “bugs”, THE MORE THE MERRIER.

The coming and going of your skin microflora

They’re GOOD GUYS.

Health gurus have got us thinking of ways to get them GOING. You are encouraged to forcefully remove those that arrive, by regularly scrubbing them off with ANTI-BACTERIAL soaps. And…………… CLEAN LIVING, limits the opportunities for new arrivals.

Playing dirty on the farm or on the sports field, encourages the COMING.

So…..

Play dirty

If you’re like me, AFRAID of leaving the sports field black and blue, hockey is a violent sport, you may opt to encourage the COMING in a more gentle fashion.

HUG someone. Try the scary movie dating technique – if you have no one to HUG.

There will be dollops of oxytocin flying, as the bacteria cross the GREAT DIVIDE. WIN-WIN.

Further reading

Oranges at half time help little athletes breathe easier	Do you really only have 5 seconds to retrieve that cookie from the floor ?	You don’t have to have a big personality to have A PRESENCE

Interested in learning more about the chemistry behind your microflora ?

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Did you learn something new or do you have a different perspective ? I’d love to hear from you so post me a comment below..