How gut health connects to the ground beneath our feet

After more than a decade in London’s fast-paced advertising world, Sam Hamrebtan made an unexpected pivot. She retrained as a nutritional therapist and, in 2020, founded The Life Larder. Her journey back to food – and the soil it grows in – was inspired by her Yorkshire farming roots and a longing to reconnect with nature.

“I’m originally from Yorkshire,” Sam explains. “I grew up around soil, but living in London, I felt this huge disconnect. I knew I wanted to do something with food, so I decided to retrain.”

While studying nutrition, Sam immersed herself in hands-on food experiences – helping out in friends’ kitchens and at wellness retreats. “I wanted to understand how food nourishes people, not just in theory or textbooks, but in real life.”

After completing a City & Guilds Level 1 qualification in Organic Gardening, she began to see food, health and soil as deeply interconnected.

“It clicked everything into place,” she says. “That’s why I now have this soil-first mentality.” 

Why soil matters

Sam’s curiosity led her to regenerative agriculture, which emphasises soil restoration, biodiversity and minimal chemical input

“People talk about organic labels, but few ask why that matters – or how soil quality affects the

To grow well, plants need a wide range of nutrients in various amounts, depending on the individual plant and its stage of growth. The three key nutrients usually taken up from the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Plants also need carbon, oxygen and hydrogen to make carbohydrates — their main energy source. Carbon and oxygen come from the air as carbon dioxide, while hydrogen is drawn from water absorbed by the roots. Other important soil nutrients include magnesium, calcium and sulphur. Most garden soils contain enough of these nutrients to support healthy plant growth.

Her curiosity led her to regenerative agriculture, which emphasises soil restoration,

The variety of living organisms (plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms) in a particular environment. Boosting the biodiversity of your garden has many benefits, including supporting wildlife, improving soil health and reducing the likelihood of pest and disease problems.

“Plants that grow without chemical crutches work harder to survive,” she explains. “That stress creates protective compounds – and we benefit from those when we eat them.”

“These companies are realising that if we don’t protect our soil, we’ll eventually lose the basic ingredients we rely on, such as tomatoes, grains and herbs.”

The gut-soil connection

Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and kefir offer greater microbial variety

“Healthy soil is alive with microbes – millions of them,” Sam says. “And our gut microbiome thrives on that kind of microbial diversity.”

Exposure to a broad range of microbes through whole foods and natural environments supports gut health far more effectively, she argues, than many commercial probiotics – most of which contain only a handful of bacterial strains.

Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and kefir offer greater microbial variety, especially when made with organic or homegrown ingredients.

Books like What Your Food Ate by Anne Biklé and David R. Montgomery have further reinforced Sam’s belief that soil health is essential to human health.

Let kids get dirty

Exposure to soil can improve immune markers and reduce rates of asthma and allergies

Whether it’s playing in the garden, having pets, or going foraging, she encourages exposure to nature’s microbial richness.

Grow what you can

Growing your own food, even in small ways, can dramatically increase nutrient density

She recounts a visit to RHS Garden Wisley’s World Food Garden, where she saw a “pasta pot” planted with all the herbs you’d typically use in an Italian dish. “It was a beautiful idea – fun, accessible and a great way to get people engaged.”

Growing your own food, even in small ways, can dramatically increase nutrient density. “When you pick something from your garden and eat it the same day, you’re getting peak nutrition. Compare that to supermarket produce that’s been harvested, stored and transported for days – its nutrient levels are already declining.”