Microbiome and the Brain

“All disease begins in the gut.” — Hippocrates.

Have you ever had a gut feeling? Or gone with your gut on an important decision? It’s very possible that these intuitions and instincts are actually being communicated from your subconscious via the gut, and they may be more telling than you think.

Recent research into gut health has revealed a strong link between the gut and brain. This link between the gut and brain is called the Enteric Nervous System, which is made up of two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract from the esophagus to the rectum. This is the hardware that allows your gut to give you these intuitions, which is why many gut experts refer to the gut as the “second brain.”

Inflammation and the Brain

Inflammation has been directly linked to depression. So what is inflammation? Inflammation is the immune system’s response to harmful stimuli such as pathogens, damaged cells, toxic compounds, or irradiation. Inflammation is a necessary process to keep your body safe from foreign invaders.

While inflammation is a natural, necessary process, chronic inflammation is where we experience disease and health problems. Because inflammation is a product of an overactive immune system, the question becomes: how do you control the immune system?

70-80% of your body’s entire immune system lives in the gut, in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). The job of the GALT is to mediate the response between the immune system and foreign invaders entering through the intestine. The immune system is then triggered because of a number of intestinal issues including intestinal permeability (also known as leaky gut), irritable bowel disorder, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.

To control inflammation, you must work to heal your gut.