This is an interesting angle on the gut microbiome knowledge that we are just now starting to explore and establish. It is also an intriguing sidebar to Jared Diamond&#x27;s essay &quot;The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race&quot; [1] (see this [2] discussion for a more balanced commentary that tackles the essay&#x27;s actual points instead of the misleadingly sensationalist title).<p>There are some pretty sensationalist claims asserted for the gut microbiome at the moment, but it&#x27;s early days yet so we&#x27;re not certain what works for who, when, where, and why. I can say on a personal anecdote that after decades of not being able to eat the spicy foods that I enjoyed in childhood, I went through a course of probiotics for a year (they actually hang out here on HN), and now I can dial up the heat. It wasn&#x27;t a controlled, double-blind study, but I&#x27;m sufficiently satisfied with my N=1 experiment to tentatively ascribe the result to the probiotics until new evidence arises to show me otherwise.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;discovermagazine.com&#x2F;1987&#x2F;may&#x2F;02-the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;discovermagazine.com&#x2F;1987&#x2F;may&#x2F;02-the-worst-mistake-in...</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.internationalskeptics.com&#x2F;forums&#x2F;showthread.php?t=184150" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.internationalskeptics.com&#x2F;forums&#x2F;showthread.php?t...</a>