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The Gutbrain regulates transmitters, senses toxins, and ingests nutrients. Chronic conditions: ADD/ADHD, depression, leaky gut, autoimmunity, blood sugar dysregulation, fatigue, mental illness, OCD, memory loss, cognitive decline, colitis.

 

— CHALLENGES

Dysbiosis caused by antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria on factory farms and in hospitals. Inflammatory allergenic foods including pasteurized dairy and GMO wheat, corn and soy doused in herbicide. Leaky gut. Chronic dehydration causing low stomach HCL and indigestion, worsened by antacids. Sugar feeds candida fungus, the excrement of which is neurotoxic. Pharmaceutical meds cause chronic constipation. Nutritional deficiencies, including not enough good fats, damage gutbrain mucosal membranes.

 

— PREVENTION

Start with the basics—oxygenate, hydrate, eat smart. The gut is a vast expression of your nervous system. It senses what you have ingested from your environment. And then it becomes what you have eaten, in body and mind. If your gut is unhappy day after day, don’t expect happiness and mental acuity. Ask yourself: What does my gut really want? What does it really need? Take in what is in alignment with those wants and needs. Avoid what is not.

 

— OVERVIEW

Remembering, recognizing, ingesting, feeling. They're all connected to a healthy gut. Chronic gutbrain inflammation demonstrates that.

The gutbrain is at the core of the bodymind paradigm. Listen to your gut. Take note of your mood and if you're feeling good. And if you're not, imagine feeling good again. At peace, calm, centered. Neither thirsty nor hungry. Free of gas, bloating, constipation, or inflamed bowels. Imagine life without worry, brain fog and lethargy. Without OCD and constant anxiety. Imagine feeling energized, calm and awake.

This calm centered lucid state is what it feels like when our gutbrain is hydrated, nourished, emptied, and not inflamed. Think of all those membranes in your brain and gut. All those vessels. They want to be moist and supple, not dried out and hard. Drink more clean water. Your brain is mostly water, and your nervous system is electrical. It needs electrolyte minerals to make connections and it needs them in the right ratios, like 2:1 potassium to sodium, not vice versa like most Americans who eat too much refined salt.

Americans also eat too much cooked and processed foods. If you're eating smart, you don't need to eat as much food. Be more discriminating and selective about what you put in your mouth. And give yourself time for bowel movements between meals. Practice intermittent fasting. Avoid pathogenic antibiotic resistant bacteria in animal products from commercial factory farms, including dairy. Take personal responsibility to invest in organic farmers you can trust.

Your brain and gut also need enough good fats to sustain healthy membranes, in your gut mucosa and in your nerves. Your neurons are insulated in myelin sheath—80% lipid. Low-fat lattes will not get you to gutbrain health. Nor will that morning blood sugar drop that hurts your brain. Eat enough coconut oil (ketones) and good saturated fats for brain and gut health. Drink some butter coffee in the morning, followed by Dr. Kelly Brogan's brain food shake that has ghee, coconut oil, almond butter and collagen in it. All that fat is good for your brain, gut, heart and hormones. And that’s important for good moods.

Rest assured that candida fungus in your gut that causes depression won't be happy with fat for breakfast instead of sugary sweet treats. Kiss sugar goodbye and tame the demon. Your belly wants to be flat and empty at night when you go to bed, not full and inflamed.

Avoid allergenic foods, and seek a remedy for chronic inflammation rather than live with it. There is no pill for gutbrain health. Get hydrated, mineralized, and grounded. Take your shoes off and touch the earth barefoot for the anti-inflammatory effect of grounding to the Earth's surface electrons. Explore earthing products to ground when indoors. Grounding is one way to reduce inflammation, along with anti-inflammatory herbal teas and spices, and gut nourishing healing dishes and broths.

 

 

— FURTHER READING