Gut health gets cooler and cooler every day! NASA are exploring the viability of microorganisms for space flight! Astronauts coming back from space found the diversity of culturable bacteria in their gut microbiome had decreased, coinciding with a decreased immune system and increased gastrointestinal distress. This is obviously a concern—not just for the astronauts living up on the space station, but for the pioneering first colonists of Mars! Because probiotics have been shown to help on Earth, NASA scientists are now exploring if they could work during spaceflight and they’ve found one with potential—Lactobacillus acidophilus could be the answer, but no fermented foods or probiotic products are currently included in ‘an astronaut food system’ because of the strict microbiological controls and lack of refrigeration on a spacecraft. ‘Could spaceflight-associated immune system weakening preclude the expansion of human presence beyond Earth’s orbit?’ Not if manufacturers step up!
