This past week we watched two amazing documentaries on Amazon: “What’s with Wheat” and “The Gut: Our Second Brain”. Both stories reinforced what I have been reading for some time now: Your gut is indeed your second brain.
People that consume grains (ALL grains: wheat, corn, soy, rye, etc.), processed food, sugar, and corn syrup (our new “Standard American Diet”) have little to no gut flora. Gut flora makes the world go ‘round.
“What’s with Wheat” explores the growing epidemic of wheat and gluten intolerance and why it is now linked to so many health problems.
According to Dr. Davis, author of the Wheat Belly books, “Cutting-edge research, for example, has revealed that consumption of modern wheat is the first step in triggering autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.”
Essentially, grains cause chaos all throughout your body.
“The Gut: Our Second Brain” was much more “sciencey” in their approach. They maintain that the design of the intestines and the design of the brain mimic each other, which is convenient because they talk to each other via the vagus nerve.
The disappointing takeaway is that they are working very hard designing a new drug (can you say Cha-Ching?) to help those who suffer from all the ailments that eating a horrible diet entail. At no point did food or diet ever come up.
That doesn’t discount the amazing research that the gut is indeed the second brain, it was just sad to learn that they are only focusing on drugs- a “Magic Pill” if you will.
The good news is you can fix broken gut biome! Dr. Davis has a short video here:
Eliminating grains, sugar, corn syrup, and processed, chemical-filled food is the first step to a healthy gut.
Taking supplements is necessary to rebuild what is essentially a hot mess. Here is what Dr. Davis recommends:
Iodine, Vitamin D, Fish Oil, and magnesium, as well as a probiotic, are a good start.
I highly recommend these two documentaries if you are interested in learning more about how powerful our gut really is.