This episode is brought to you by Rupa University, Pique, and Super Simple Grassfed Protein. Our gut bacteria regulate many of our bodily functions, from creating vitamins to regulating our immune system, our brain function, and of course, our metabolism and weight. They are critical to our long-term health. One such bacteria is Akkermansia muciniphila, which accounts for 1%–5% of our gut microbiome—or at least it’s supposed to!  In today’s episode of my series I’m calling Health Bites, I dive into Akkermansia—what it is, what role it plays in chronic disease prevention, and what you can do to increase it. This episode is brought to you by Rupa University, Pique, and Super Simple Grassfed Protein. If you’re a healthcare provider who wants to learn more about Functional Medicine testing, go to rupauniversity.com to sign up for a free live class or a boot camp! For a limited time, get up to 12% off plus an exclusive gift on Pique’s Fasting Tea bundle. Just go to Piquelife.com/farmacyfasting today. Right now, you can get 10% off Super Simple Grassfed Protein by heading to drhyman.com/protein and using code protein10. Here are more details from our interview (audio version / Apple Subscriber version): Healing my own gut and recovering my health (4:12 / 2:46)  What is Akkermansia, and how does it work? (7:54 / 5:12)  Akkermansia and chronic disease prevention (13:48 / 11:46) Foods that increase Akkermansia (24:26 / 22:20) Mentioned in this episode Pendulum Akkermansia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices