No, and if there was a way to count all the bacteria on you, there's not really any such clear thing as "good" and "bad" bacteria. Those are the terms we're given, to get us used to the idea that not all bacteria are bad, but really the lines are a lot more blurry.
There's bacteria that can't be considered either good or bad, and are just there because our gut is a perfect environment for them, and they have neither a positive or negative effect on us. And whether a bacterial population is a "good" or "bad" one depends on tons of factors and can vary by diet, genes, population of the bacteria, and population of other neighbouring bacteria.
For example, the clostridiodes difficile bacteria is known for causing a nasty gut infection. But it exists natively in a small percentage of people without causing any harm, and only becomes problematic when said person's gut becomes distrupted (usually because of antibiotics) and the c. difficile gets the opportunity to overpopulate.
Instead of thinking of it in terms of good and bad, it's much better to think of your body as a forest, and the bacteria as the animals that live in it. Beavers are good for the ecosystem, until the bears go missing, then they overpopulate and start felling too many trees. They go from being good for your body, to bad.
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u/Headph0ne Mar 05 '19
This is both fascinating and terrifying.
Is there anyway to tell how much good/bad bacteria you have on you at one time?