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World Microbiome Day 2024: Feed your Microbes

20 Jun 2024

WMD 2024 highlights the foods that can ‘feed’ your gut microbiome

Diet and food choice play a crucial role in 'feeding' our microbiome- and the trillions of micro-organisms that make up this complex system. This year's World Microbiome Day, which takes place once again on June 27th, and is organised by APC Microbiome Ireland, a world leading SFI research centre and the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), will focus on celebrating the microbiome's remarkable role in our lives.

How does the microbiome impact our food?

From mothers-to-be to infant food and all the way through our adult lives, the range of food types and what we consume impacts the shape and composition of our microbiomes, which in turn has a major influence on our health and well-being, both physically and mentally. 

This is a fascinating and still relatively new and emerging area of science and is being explored by institutions such as APC to understand it better, help educate us on food choices, and through smart science, develop microbiome-based solutions that can be used in functional food ingredients, supplements, and health and medicinal treatments. 

Equally fascinating is our growing understanding and appreciation of the benefits that come with having a fresh, natural and diverse diet – from the Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruit, vegetables and healthy oils to the magic of fermented foods such as yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and pickled vegetables.

Researchers at APC have highlighted foods that support a healthy microbiome. You can read the full list of foods here.

How to get involved

Monday 24th June

Join our lunchtime lecture on Preventing Childhood Asthma and Allergy delivered by Dr David M. Patrick, an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist with a career interest in responding to emerging infectious diseases.

All are welcome to join this lecture online or in-person.

To confirm your attendance or to request a Teams link, please RSVP using the following link. 

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Thursday 27th June

Join our Microbiome Masterclass, jointly hosted by VistaMilk and APC Microbiome Ireland. This event will feature presentations from leading international researchers in microbiome science, offering an unparalleled opportunity to gain insights into the latest advancements and applications.

To confirm your attendance, please RSVP using the following link.

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Enter our World Microbiome Day children’s colouring competition and show off your artistic skills to be in with the chance to win some cool prizes! More details here.

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Are you up to the WMD 2024 challenge? Show off your culinary skills and include some microbiome friendly ingredients in your meals. Looking for some inspiration? You will find a list of microbiome friendly foods here. Share a picture of your creation on social media using the hashtag #feedyourmicrobes.

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Host your own World Microbiome Day event, add the details here, and promote it on social media using the hashtag #WorldMicrobiomeDay and #WMD2024.

You can explore the many events, activities and competitions happening globally on the World Microbiome Day website https://worldmicrobiomeday.com/.

Host Institution

Host Logos - UCC and Teagasc

Partner Institutions

APC Microbiome Ireland

Biosciences Building, University College Cork, Ireland,

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