Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Dylan Wyatt says “germs” may get a worse reputation than they deserve.

“When we talk about germs, we are thinking mostly bacteria and viruses. Especially bacteria, there are healthy bacteria. There are even ones that are helpful to our bodies,” he said. “You’ve probably heard the term probiotics before. Those are things like live and active cultures in yogurt that you see on food labels. Those are bacteria that are actually helpful.”

When it comes to probiotics, Dr. Wyatt says to look at them with a critical eye.

“There are a lot of claims that are made about probiotics. And usually, it’s under this sort of umbrella of improving gut health,” Dr. Wyatt said. “However, there’s a lot of research that needs to be done, and foods that include probiotics that are healthy like low-fat yogurts and there are a lot that are tasty too like kombucha and kimchi, they’re a really good part of a balanced diet.”

Whether or not probiotics improve gut health, Dr. Wyatt said there’s no harm in a healthy diet. Those good bacteria are part of our microbiome.

“One of the things that they do is they actually sort of take up space so that bad bacteria can’t come in. Think about it like a front lawn. If that area has grass in it, you can’t have the ability to grow as many weeds,” Dr. Wyatt said.

A new area of research he finds very interesting suggests the good bacteria also works to synthesize neurotransmitters or serve as precursors to neurotransmitters.

“Higher amounts of those are linked to people not having depression, and decreased numbers of those have been linked to people having depression. The suggestion being, of course, that the diet can then influence someone’s mental state,” he said.

He expects we will learn much more in the next 10-15 years.