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In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

quantamagazine.org

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Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#61
post #54
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a high powered blender. I try to get the fiber and the probiotics at the same time. Fruits and vegetables have probiotics inside the flesh, not just on the skin. The science is less clear on supplements. [1] The night before I soak: * chia seeds (1 tsp) * psyllium husks (1 tsp) * quick oats (1 tsp) * almonds 17g In the morning I add in: * a frozen banana * kefir / fermented yogurt drink (1/2 cup) * frozen berr…

What’s the point of eating collagen when you’re already eating protein powder? Why do you think your gut would process it differently from any other protein?

Collagen is made out of mainly 3 amino acids:(hydroxy)proline, lysine, and glycine. So in theory collagen powder is giving you very high levels of those specific amino acids which would help promote collagen formation. I can’t say I’m familiar with the literature and if there is any data behind that - but thats your reason

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#62

Breaking down food requires coordination across dozens of cell types and many tissues — from muscle cells and immune cells to blood and lymphatic vessels. Heading this effort is the gut’s very own network of nerve cells, known as the enteric nervous system... One of the things being studied is the involuntary contractions that move food through the gut.

Here is a real life video of such contractions: Intestinal Peristalsishttps://youtu.be/hKQ8eFpUKLs

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#63
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a breakthrough in studying the gut biome about a decade ago. Since then we have started to learn so much.

What was the breakthrough and what have we learned? I'm interested in reading more about this

There's been way too many papers. Here [1] is a link to Google Scholar for 'brain gut' which turns up a zillion results. Basically, your gut biome and brain are heavily linked. As a bonus, here's [2] a search for 'glyphosate gut microbiota.' Advances in biotech/consumables and dramatic unforeseen consequences seem completely inseparable.

[1] - https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=brai...

[2] - https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=glyp...

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#64

Gut health is absolutely linked to mental health. Besides actual scientific research that backs this up, I didn’t really get my mental health under control until I took care of my gut issues like IBS and stuff. Also avoiding certain foods, not gluten obviously that’s a crock of shit, but things that obviously don’t work with my body like cream sauces or whatever

I didn’t really get my mental health under control until I took care of my gut issues like IBS and stuff.

Honestly, if you had some chronic, untreated issues with your ankle and foot - something that plagued you daily - it would be hard to take care of your mental health too. Same if you had lupus, for example. Having something wrong with you - especially something chronic - always makes it hard to take care of your mental health. It makes sense that when you don't have the stress of pain and the other things that go with it, you find the mental energy to work on the brain.

Yours just happened to be in the gut, which makes it seem like these articles might be talking about you.

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#65
post #6

yogis were right

Indian culture places very strict restrictions about food. 1. No outside food. For even until a decade ago, eating out was considered a last resort. The idea is that one must be aware of what exactly goes into ones food, and that usually meant home cooked food. 2. There are a variety of foods and flavors in India, that are recommended for various circumstances and contexts. Pregnant women had a well defined diet regi…

> Food cooked more than 4 hours ago was considered poison.

tbf, a random dish left under Indian room temperature for hours probably is actually unsafe. Mumbai right now is 32C/90F according to Google, which is about the worst temperature to leave food in.

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#66

There was something about the vegus nerve being influenced by gut microbiota so it's also the parasympathetic not just the enteric nervous system but this is all hard to study I subscribed to u-Boime for a couple of years until that imploded spectacularly and the few snapshots I had are not enough of a sample size this whole field is so data poor and uncertain.

Then there's something about Heart Rate Variability (HRV), the vagus nerve, parasympathetic nervous system, and gut biome all being connected. I can measure one of those relatively easily with a chest strap.

It seems like the only thing we do know at this point is that we don't know anything. This is an interesting TEDx talk from Eran Segal "What is the best diet for humans?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z03xkwFbw4

My current conjecture / conspiracy theory / understanding includes:

* Bacteria near the roots of plants generate electricity.

* Plants grow faster in electrified soil.

* Electrical brain stimulation can enhance brain function.

* There are processes and interactions happening in our gut that we really don't understand yet.

* Many ubiquitous things in our environment wreak havoc on our gut biomes (e.g. chlorine, emulsifiers).

* There may be more to establishing and maintaining a healthy gut biome than simply consuming foods rich in pre/probiotics. The right kind of exercise and stress may play essential role in keeping it all humming along.

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#67

There was something about the vegus nerve being influenced by gut microbiota so it's also the parasympathetic not just the enteric nervous system but this is all hard to study I subscribed to u-Boime for a couple of years until that imploded spectacularly and the few snapshots I had are not enough of a sample size this whole field is so data poor and uncertain.

The vagus nerve is the weirdest thing. Had to dig into it a bit to figure out my acid reflux.

Basically if I eat stuff that doesn't digest well, my stomach bloats and causes a mild hiatal hernia, which in turn presses on the vagus nerve that travels right next to it.

This causes the _exact_ same symptoms as a panic attack. Cold hands and feet, the feeling of an increased heart rate etc. Not super fun when you have a history of actual panic attacks.

Then I take some medicine to forcibly relax the esophageal sphincter on top of the stomach and within 10-15 minutes I can literally feel the warmth getting back to my limbs just because of the decreased vagus nerve pressure...

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#68
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian culture places very strict restrictions about food. 1. No outside food. For even until a decade ago, eating out was considered a last resort. The idea is that one must be aware of what exactly goes into ones food, and that usually meant home cooked food. 2. There are a variety of foods and flavors in India, that are recommended for various circumstances and contexts. Pregnant women had a well defined diet regi…

> Food cooked more than 4 hours ago was considered poison. tbf, a random dish left under Indian room temperature for hours probably is actually unsafe. Mumbai right now is 32C/90F according to Google, which is about the worst temperature to leave food in.

There is a reason why salads aren't a thing in warmer countries. The same reason applies to people only drinking tea, not cold water. If it's not cooked, it might be actually dangerous.

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#69
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> not gluten obviously that’s a crock of shit Celiac disease [1] is a real and potential serious autoimmune disorder. Whether non-celiac gluten intolerance is a real thing is another question, though there's some evidence for it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

Celiac is real, but very rare. I think GP was referring to gluten intolerance where there’s not much evidence to support it.

It's not very rare, it's just highly undiagnosed.

My kid got diagnosed with celiac and it's hereditary so me and my SO had to get tested. I didn't have it, they do. Undiagnosed for decades.

Switched to gluten-free diet and they feel SO much better now. But the thing is that humans are really adaptive, you don't know what "good" feels if you've been feeling bad all your life - that's your normal level.

Re: In the gut's 'second brain,' key agents of health emerge

#70
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of evidence for gluten intolerances in non-celiac autoimmune diseases. Not conclusive, but I find it frustrating that there’s a growing number of people who dismiss gluten intolerance as a myth when we barely understand most autoimmune diseases as it is. It’s far more complicated and nuanced than people want to make it out to be, but it’s increasingly treated like homeopathy or worse. Patients with diseases li…

It's hard to know if it's the gluten restriction that's improving quality of life. Processed foods are often glutenous in addition to being over-sterilized, seed oil laden cattle feed. If you're cutting out gluten, you're mostly forced to cut out "food" from our wonderful conglomerates.

Modern grains are really weird, especially when combined with industrial leavening agents.

I get _really_ bloated if I eat "industrial" wheat bread. Like beach balloon levels of ridiculously bloated.

Sourdough wheat bread: pretty much zero issues. Same with rye bread with no other leavening agents than yeast.

I think this is part of the reason why people feel better when they leave out gluten, it's not the gluten per se but all the other stuff that usually comes with glutinous grains.

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