Welcome to Gutsville

Hear what your microbiome is thinking about what you eat.

I discovered I was harbouring an entire civilisation inside my gut. A health test revealed the microscopic ecosystem that keeps me alive: billions of bacteria working tirelessly to maintain my wellbeing. For a brief, shining moment, this knowledge transformed how I ate. I became the curator of my own internal garden, feeding the good bacteria, starving the bad ones.

Then, inevitably, I returned to ultra-processed foods. The knowledge remained, but the connection had severed. The bacteria became abstract again, reduced to numbers on a clinical report that I'd filed away and forgotten.

This disconnection fascinated me. What if I could hear them? What if my gut bacteria could actually voice their opinions about my dietary choices? Would their protests make me reconsider that packet of crisps or that sugary drink?

Using my test results as a baseline, I created something unprecedented: a television show starring my own microbiome. Through careful prompting with Gemini, I began feeding my daily food choices into the system and translating the bacterial responses into entertainment. Each meal became an episode. Each snack became a subplot.

The bacteria developed personalities, conflicts, alliances. They celebrated when I ate fermented foods and staged dramatic interventions when I reached for processed sugar. What emerged wasn't just data visualisation: it was genuine storytelling, with my gut health as the central narrative tension.

The results astounded me. I responded to animated characters far more powerfully than I ever had to clinical charts. My bacteria had found their voice, and I finally started listening.