Dr Giulia Enders believes the science of our bowels is actually quite charming.
As she said on TEDx, everybody wants to find the next trend, the next superfood smoothie, but nobody’s really taking a closer look at the organ where all this magic happens. The incredible mechanisms and anatomy behind it. Surprisingly, science disliked the gut for a long time. And with 40 times the surface area of our skin to deal with, different immune cells, 100 trillion bacteria and about 20 different hormones, you can’t be too hard on our medical predecessors. But these reasons are also what make our gut so fascinating.
We tend to think our brains make these commands and sends them down to other organs and it’s a done deal. But in reality, it’s only about 10% of our nerves that connect the brain and gut to deliver information from the brain to the gut. For example, in stressful situations, the gut will sense this and slow down to save energy for problem-solving. Which kind of explains why some people suffer from anxious cramps in their bellies or get nauseous. 90% of the nerve fibres deliver information from our gut to our brain. This means our gut does a whole lot more of the talking when it comes to our brain.
The gut could possibly be the main advisor to the brain, if you think about it. It’s our largest sensory organ, collecting information about nutrient quality, how our immune cells are doing, things like the level of hormones in our blood – that’s a lot of information to package up for the brain. It makes a little more sense why people with irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel syndrome are more likely to have anxiety or depression. Simply put, your brain feels sympathy for your gut.
It makes you think differently about your mood and how much of that input comes from your belly. And why. What did I eat yesterday, did it stress me out? What can I do to help my body? Do I have enough microbes or good bacteria in there? Our body needs the good, the bad, and the weird to be happy.
Well, Releaf Probiotic 12-Strain could assist with that. Since it’s estimated that 90% of our serotonin is produced in our gut, it makes sense to look after your gut health as best possible. Talk to your health care practitioner about supplementing your body with a daily probiotic.
