Mind Your Gut

“Trust your gut!” I’m sure you’ve heard this before. But do you know where it comes from and what it actually means?

We should be saying “Trust your GUT BIOME!”

The term “gut biome” refers to the collection of microorganisms that live in our digestive tract. This micro-ecology includes bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, and viruses. Trillions of these organisms live in our intestines, each of which interacts differently with our bodies.

When we have an imbalance in our gut biome it can effect a myriad of things in our daily life like energy levels, mood, sleep, digestion, immune health, brain function, as well as our entire metabolic system.

One of the most important bacteria in our entire gut system is Lactobacillus. This lactic acid-producing bacteria is essential for pre/probiotic breakdown of foods, assimilation of vitamins from foods, and the proper balance of serotonin inside your digestive tract.

But wait… isn’t serotonin a neurochemical?! What is it doing in my gut?? The vast majority of your body’s serotonin is actually found in your digestive tract and that is why they call the gut your “second brain”. In fact, I would suffice to say it is in fact our FIRST brain. Our brain doesn’t do anything without the signaling from our gut microbiota.

All of this can be very confusing and there are MULTITUDES of biochemical loops and signals in between and like I said TRILLIONS of different things inside our guts… so… what is the point here??

I will use the old “car” analogy. You are the car. If you don’t change your oil and fill your gas tank with garbage, your vehicle won’t run very well for very long. Maybe you will get lucky and not have any problems for a while but trust me… bad fuel and a sludged-up engine will eventually lead to your vehicle puttering to a grinding halt… think about this. your gut is your fuel tank. Your brain is the engine. What type of fuel do you want feeding your meat vehicle?? No, eating like crap for one day once in a while isn’t going to kill you… it’s the cumulative effect of bad fuel that the problems start to arise…

FEED your gut the right fuel, nourish your brain with the right input and your meat vehicle will run like a top for years to come. You only get one body… why on earth would you NOT want it to operate as optimally as possible?!

I am going to go deeper into this in the coming weeks but I want to leave you with this…

Humans are the ONLY creature on earth that argues over what we should eat…Why are we, as humans, so confused over what we should and shouldn’t be putting into our bodies?!

The human body and brain, when properly fueled and nourished, make us the most powerful and capable species on earth… I think we have begun to forget that.

“Don’t Fucking Quit”

-Adam