We are our bacteria

Ruminant animals depend on bacteria to digest cellulose.
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Recently, evidence has accumulated that humans too require a complex intestinal ecology to thrive.
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Hundreds of species of yeasts, bacteria, and other organisms inhabit the healthy human gut in numbers far exceeding our own cells.
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They produce K and B vitamins, protect us from colonization by pathogenic bacteria and fungi, assist digestion.
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They also interact with the immune system in ways that are not fully understood.
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There is even evidence that human beings are meant to host certain species of "parasitic" intestinal worms.
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These have been used to successfully treat hundreds of cases of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease.
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Not just our intestines, but all of our mucosa, skin, and even eyelashes are host to bacteria, yeasts, and microscopic insects.
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These are not competitors drawing down our resources, but partners in health.
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Since we are partly or even wholly dependent upon them.
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No less than we are on our heart and liver.
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By what right do we exclude them from the definition of self?
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Charles Eisenstein