WEBVTT - Is your gut a genius? 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:14.800 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. Uh. 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.880 This is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas and we 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.200 were just talking about food prior to Jerry rushing us 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:25.920 in here to actually record the podcast, about about how 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.360 satisfying a meal can be to the to the soul, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.240 but it can also have a huge effect on the mind, 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.159 as we're going to get into in this particular podcast. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.440 That's right, and what I'm thinking about specifically, are butterflies 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.880 in the stomach. Have you ever felt that? I'm sure 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:47.159 you have. Yeah, and yeah, definitely definitely, not so much recently, 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:51.320 but certainly the earlier podcast I would always get get 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.319 butterflies the old days, like a year ago. Yeah, yeah, 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:56.680 And I think that when I first started, I actually 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:59.160 mentioned to you once that my sphincter was talking to 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.840 me and had a horrified look on your face, and 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.000 I wanted to explain to you that I was having 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.959 an emotional response manifested in my vowels, but I didn't 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.200 know you well enough then we I either blocked that 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.160 comment entirely or um or didn't hear you. So yeah, 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.040 I think you blocked it. Yeah, yeah, But I think 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.440 the reason why we're talking about this today is that 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:25.720 there really is quite u a symbiotic thing going on 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.280 between the brain and the gut that we're just now 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.880 really discovering. Yeah, and when you do, when you have 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.160 a satisfying meal, like the effects that can have on 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.080 on the mind or or even if it's not satisfying, 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.560 just like an nutritious meal, and it's the effects on 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.520 the brain. We're gonna discuss some of that in this 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.959 particular podcast. Now. The idea of feeling something in your gut, 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.000 I mean, this is just a common phrase. I've got 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.240 a got a gut feeling about this instinct, yeah, and 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.320 and it goes back. It's it's it's a pretty old thing, 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.640 an old concept, and it's easy to think of it 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:57.960 into in the same same terms as like when someone 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.960 says they have a feeling in their heart, because unless 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.600 you're having like a heart attack, you know, there's a 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.440 you're probably not really feeling anything like when you love somebody. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:09.520 It's that really doesn't have anything to do with your 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.480 cardiovascular system, right, and yet you feel this in heartache 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.519 to an unrequited love, right, Yes, I have a great 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:21.200 quote here. That's a from a speech to the English 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:25.360 troops um to rally them against the Spanish Armada by 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.840 Queen Elizabeth the First, and she's reported to have said, quote, 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:30.680 I know I have the body of a weak and 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.720 feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.839 a king, and a king of England too. So well 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.520 see there's a great you know example. She's like, she's like, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:42.840 you know, I maybe be a lady, but I've got 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.960 one heck of a heart and one heck of a stomach. 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.160 She was invoking gut power. And there was a right 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.040 across another like really interesting thing from a Dutchman by 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:57.160 the name of Levinus Limnius Um and L yeah, l 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.080 l and uh in this is back in the He 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.200 had this whole thing where he's talking about how about 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.680 the stomachs of the English and the Scots, and uh 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.639 he had this whole bit about how though they will 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.040 quote stomach a matter of eminently and a long time 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.440 lodge an inward grudge in their hearts, whereby it happeneth 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.120 that when their rage is up, they will not easily 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.760 be pacified. Neither can They're high and haughty stomachs is 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:28.000 or stomach is. It's weird spelling. Lightly be conquered otherwise 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:32.640 than by submission and yielding to their mind and appetite. 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.480 So there's just more of you, you know, it's getting 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.760 the stomach and the heart. You know, these these older 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.840 accounts and uh, and people were identifying like that is 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.000 a it's a seat of who you are, Like if 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.000 you want to you want to get to the if 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:45.520 you want to get to the you know the quote 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.280 heart of the matter on on. You know what makes 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.760 an Englishman or a Scotsman look at their stomach? Great 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:57.480 stomach specimens these guys hence yes, yes, they're like you 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.880 want to here it is it's actually it's not a 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:05.680 pleae Scott's stomach. But anyway, but I think what I 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.440 think they were onto something there. Yeah, yeah, I think 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:10.240 we in recent ages we we kind of got more 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.440 into that brain. You know, it's all about the brain 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.600 and then you know everything else is just you know, plumbing. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.039 You know, yeah, it's just the generator to power it. 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:23.600 But it's not the case, um I really at all. No. No. 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.839 In fact, it was a Dr Michael Gershon who coined 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.800 the term the second brain when referring to the gut 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:36.000 because he actually brought in in into um into everybody's 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.279 uh conscious the fact that the gut is doing so 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:43.240 much more and has a lot more complexity to us 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.640 than we ever realized. And I mean, like you said, 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.680 people had an instinct maybe that their gut was pretty important. 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:56.200 And in fact, in the eighteen hundreds, scientists and doctors 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:00.160 began to make observations about the effects of the emotions 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.000 on the brain. And in nineteen o two they actually 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.560 did a study where they had a dog growl at 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:09.480 a cat and then they watched and noticed, uh I 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.920 think they used barium, and they noticed that the digestion 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.440 started to slow down as the cat was growled at 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.600 by the dog. And again, this is like a trackable 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.640 substance in the digestive system, so they can see at 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.000 what rate the cat's digestion system is moving right exactly, 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.760 so they could see this happening, and they went, ah, eureka, 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.680 the cats stressed and it's not it's not going to 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.279 poop us soon exactly, yeah, exactly, which is which seems 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.360 crazy that these scientists we even have to carry this out, 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.000 because I mean, had they never been on a vacation 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.919 before had they you know, they never I mean it 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.479 seems like I think everybody out there can probably attest 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.840 to there being some situation in their life where they 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.839 were out of there, you know, out of their their 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.480 comfy surroundings, and in their digestion changed in some way, 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:57.240 shape or form. Like I've talked to two friends who 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.280 like went on vacations and they're like, They're like, yeah, 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.720 I was on my second day there and I still 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:03.479 hadn't pooped. I don't know what was wrong with me, 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.920 you know, And it's just your again, your your digestion 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.360 system is altering to what may be a new rhythm, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.080 a new uh um, you know, a new level of 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.320 stress coming at you right right, Yeah. And then emotionally too, 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.000 I mean, things happen and then all of a sudden, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.560 you know, your stomach starts to turn and twist and think, 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:26.239 oh my gosh. But the thing that scientists, specifically neuro 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.599 gaster intrologists, are starting to figure out is that it's 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.119 not so much that your emotions are acting on your brain. 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.719 It may actually be that your gut, your second brain, 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.599 is responsible for initiating these responses in the first place. Yeah, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.720 and in some of the ways that, uh, that this 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.320 is happening. It it makes me think of the stomach 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.680 not so much as a second brain, but kind of 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.480 like a satellite office, yes, for the you know, for 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:55.600 the brain, the brain being the home office. Um, like 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.120 just some of the neural circuitry. I guess you could 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.840 say that it's while death in the stomach is pretty neat. Yeah, 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.440 And it's a really good design if you think about it, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.920 that that neural circuitry is right next to the digestive system, right, 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.600 because why would the brain expend the energy to send 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.520 a hundred million neurons you know, down to do the 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.280 job when it could just put it right there in 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.880 that what we call the entric nervous system, which is 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.480 embedded in the lining of the gastro intestinal system. So 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:25.760 it's really smart, sort of like putting the electrical panel 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:30.360 right where it's needed. And this this system is actually 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.880 independent in that it can start digestion processes independent of 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.200 the brain. It can get a lot of things going. Um. 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.920 As I mentioned, there are a hundred million neurons, which 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:44.640 is more than the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.720 There are five hundred million nerve cells and it uses 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:53.440 thirty transmitters neurotransmitters, just like the brain does. Like back 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.240 in the day, this was thought to be nuts, this 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.200 whole entric nervous system, and in fact it was first 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:03.400 described by a British physician, but he was pretty much 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.920 smacked down because people thought, no, no, it's all the brain. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.760 The brain is doing it, um, and so they're actually 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.720 Gershawan pointed out that that making that sort of claim 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.040 that there was this entering system was like saying that 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.160 New York taxi drivers never miss a showing of Tasca 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.160 at the met Yeah. So, I mean obviously they didn't 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:24.680 know how important the gut is and how much it 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:31.920 regulates our thoughts are feelings. And that's right, that's Tusca 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.720 is an opera. I was about to sing an operatic note. 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.480 That's a let's not do that. Let's not talk about 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:43.240 poop and sing opera. It's just not gonna. That's not 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.440 a good pairing. Um. But so anyway, that goes back 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.200 to that sensation of feeling. You do feel things in 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.880 your gut because you do have all of that stuff 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:57.719 going on. And this is another crazy fact that of 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.520 the fibers and the primary visceral nerve just called the 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.280 bad just carrious information from the gut to the brain, 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.160 and that means that communication is mostly one way. This 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:11.320 is a one way situation with the gut communicating the 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.160 time to the brain. I mean that was a chatty, 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.640 chatty gut. Yeah. You made a great analogy earlier about 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.959 about the teenagers in love. Yeah, yeah, sort of like yeah, 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.960 teenagers in love, you know, getting on the phone all 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:24.120 the time. You're like, what are you doing? What do 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:25.920 you do? Know? What are you doing? What does this mean? 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.280 What does that mean? I mean, literally, the gut is 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.080 doing the same sort of thing and constantly giving the 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.880 brain all of this information about what's going on in 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.120 the gut. Yeah, satellite office constantly checking with the home 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:38.559 office and saying, hey, we just did this, Hey we 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:40.800 just did that. Yeah, yeah, I'm feeling this way. I 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:42.559 don't know, I'm a little bit anxious. What about you? 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:46.280 And so the brain is actually getting these these messages 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:50.199 of anxiety, and it's backwards from what we thought before. Right, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.280 we thought the braining was sending the gut messages saying hey, 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.000 I'm not feeling so great. As a sci fi fan, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:57.920 I can't help but think of the just the many 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.640 examples of you know, these like head head in and 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.160 jar kind of situations or like head transplants, you know, 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:05.960 where it's like the the human head or even just 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.560 the brain you know, as the seat of who we 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.280 are taken and like say attached to a robot body 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.720 or put in another body, etcetera. And I And granted 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.360 there's some sort of there's some grotesque aspects of that 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.599 that are you know, could be troubling, but in a 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.000 in a way, it's also a very kind of enlightened, 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.880 kind of enlightening kind of view where it's like, I'm 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.400 my brain and everything that I am really doesn't have 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.480 anything to do with all this gross stuff going on 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.440 in my in my stomach and elsewhere, you know, So 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:38.360 it's kind of this like liberation from from all things 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.960 related to a digestion and poop and all that. But 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:44.640 in reality, you have to look at it from more 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:48.360 of a holistic standpoint where you know, we're, yeah, we 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.360 we are in a sense, we are just our brains. 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.160 But I thought you're gonna say we are are poop. 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.720 No no, no, no, no no, but no, it's like 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.200 we are our brains, but we are we are, but 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.679 the brains connected everything else. It's like we are this system, 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.440 We're are this this, uh this organism and uh and 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.600 if you start trying to cut one system from the 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.480 next and trying to isolate who and what we are 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.360 to one particular part of that organism, it gets kind 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.920 of problem It gets rather problematic. Yeah, yeah, I know, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:15.480 I think we need to step away from the brain 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.040 centric and look at this a gut in a more 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.320 serious light. Um, especially the interplay between the gut and 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.880 the brain and specifically serotonin. Yes, this is a big one. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.880 This is the the what is known as the mood neurotransmitter, 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:37.199 and it's responsible, um when not insufficient quantity for actually 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.400 they think causing depression. So so yeah, if you've ever 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.440 dealt with depression or just or have ever walked into 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:49.199 a health store and then you've probably seen serotonin sited 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:55.559 on numerous bottles of either prescription medicine or um mysterious 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:59.120 vitamin pills. Right, and so just so you can kind 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.959 of get a better contact too of how important serotonin is. 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.239 Of our forty million brain cells, most are affected by serotonin. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:08.600 So this includes the brain cells as we said, related 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.960 to mood, but also sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:18.440 memory and learning, uh, temper temperature regulation, and some sort 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.560 of social behaviors such as you know sometimes when we 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.160 get manic or aggressive, that's attributed to low serotonin levels. 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.280 So the crazy thing about this is that your gut 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:33.760 in mine houses of our serotonin available to us, which 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.160 is nuts if you think about it. Yeah, and then 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:41.240 you also look at serotonin and depression, and you look 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:45.360 at antidepressants, and we know that with antidepressants also called 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:50.359 ssr I selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, that those increase serotonin 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.840 levels in the brain in the improved mood. Okay, okay, 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:58.520 So we can't actually measure how much serotonin is in 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.360 the brain, but we do know that if we give 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.000 someone a bunch of depressants that it helps to increase 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:05.840 the serotone and it makes us feel a lot better. 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.600 So it searched to beg the question of what's going 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.600 on in the gut and whether or not there are 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:16.800 imbalances in the gut there which are causing disorders depression, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:26.880 um even related to Parkinson's for instance. This presentation is 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:36.200 brought to you by Intel sponsors of tomorrow now mentioned disorders. Um, 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.880 it's I think it's important to then touch on disorders 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.800 that we've long attributed to is more of a gut 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:48.000 centric thing, such as IBS. Right, irritable bowel syndrome. Uh 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.160 and in in in, I don't know, can you do? 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.560 Can you describe what your bow syndrome is? It's basically 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.560 brought on by anxiety and depression because this is what 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.240 we thought about are typically in the past, and this 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:06.800 manifests itself with diarrhea, cramping, and it's I mean, it's awful, right, 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.959 it's it's debilitating. It's not just so you know, I've 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.120 got a stomach ache. It can be really horrible for people. 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:15.960 And it's like a day by day thing. It's not like, 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:20.080 you know, it's chronic ate something weird. No, yeah, yeah, 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.680 And it affects of the American population, which is crazy. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.760 So the previous answer was, oh, you have IBS, Well, 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.680 you know, it's it's all psychosomatic. You need to cheer. Basically, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.000 you need to get your get your mind together and 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.920 then your bowel will follow. That's a song, right, yeah, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.880 for your mind. Uh. But but what they're starting to 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.760 figure out is that people with IBS don't have enough 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:51.640 sert in. SERT is basically a serotonin transmitter, which, um 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.480 whisks serotonin out of your digestive lining. And so let 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.480 me back up a little bit. Serotonin one of its 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.200 jobs is to leak it off into your gut and 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:06.640 basically start the digested digestion process, right, So it basically signals, hey, 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:08.920 that we need to go ahead and start breaking this down. 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:13.120 But if you've got IBS, you you've got the serotonin 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.240 floating around in your gut and you don't have enough 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.480 of that set to take it all away. So what 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.080 happens is that you just you've got horrible things going 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.760 on your digestic system that you cannot stop. So it's 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.200 an imbalance in your gut. It's not necessarily brought on 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:33.400 by anxiety or depression. Those are actually the secondary results 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.280 of that now there. But there's also the argument right 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.480 that that, I mean, the whole idea of not being 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:41.880 able to leave your toilet for an extended period of 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:46.080 time is pretty depressing. So um, yeah, I guess there's 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.040 that chicken egg question, right, Yes, Like maybe maybe I'm 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.280 a mind am I you know, do I have irritable 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.440 bowsing room because I'm depressed or am I depressed because 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:55.760 I have irritable bow syndrome? Who's running this show? The 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.800 brain or the gut? Right? Right? And can I ever 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.560 leave this toilet anytime soon? Yeah? I can see how 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.200 that would be depressing. But I think it's a really 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.200 interesting piece of research that's emerged, and it tells us 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.240 a lot more about how our mood is actually being 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:16.360 regulated by our gut. And some some scientists are even saying, well, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:21.080 maybe it's not especially with ibs and mental disorders, maybe 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:25.360 it's not so much that the person is, you know, 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:29.040 having these problems because they are anxious or they're depressed, 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.600 but maybe some mental illness of the gut itself. Because 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.000 you can't blame someone for not having enough serat to 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.440 whisk away the serotone and that just happens to be 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:42.160 the way that their gut is, right, that's not necessarily 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:47.960 um a primary factor of their disease. Now, this is 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.480 an area of study, this the inter relation between gut 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.880 and brain that that hopefully we're gonna have more and 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:56.400 more data on in the in the years ahead. And 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:58.400 uh and it and it's it's kind of if you 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.440 look at the medicine as a as a as a whole. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.200 It's like you've seen that, you know, nutritionists playing a 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.040 more of a vital role in medicine, uh in recent years. 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.640 So so I you know, I'm tempted to see those 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.800 as as two prongs of the same movement. You know, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.679 as we as we get to realize that that you know, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.000 more and more that we are what we eat and 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.600 we are this full system and uh, you know it's 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:21.800 it's you know, our what's what our brain, the chemicals 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.560 are brain received, the chemicals are in our stomach. Deals 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.600 with that, it's all a part of of who we are. Yeah, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.240 And I think that another interesting aspect of this is, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.120 you know, we've talked about internal versus external, but there 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.919 is one study in which young rats were separated from 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:40.800 their mothers and the layer of cells that line the 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.320 gut weakened and that allowed bacteria from their intestines and 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.680 it stimulated a bunch of immune cells. So basically the 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:52.280 immune system went into full force. And so um, the 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.280 person who noted this and in the rats said it's 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.400 basically an adaptive response and that if they're born into 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:02.679 a stressful, hostile environment, that nature programs them to be 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.200 more vigilant and stress responsive in their future life. So 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.159 this same doctor is a neurobiologist. Doctor Mayor said that 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.440 sev of the patients that he treats for chronic gut 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:18.280 disorders had experienced early childhood traumas like a parents divorce 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.920 or chronic illnesses or parents death. So there is still 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:26.960 this relationship to how we are biologically responding to our 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.600 external stimuli in a sense, um, I'll raise your rats 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.199 with mice because I ran across an interesting study from 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:38.600 Yale Medical School where there's a there's this a substance 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:42.040 called guarillin, and this is released by the stomach when 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.480 it's empty and triggers hunger by by binding to the 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:47.840 hippothalamus and that's a part of the brain that controls 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.560 appetite and metabolism. However, the hormone is also known to 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.359 interact with the hippocampus, which is the seat of learning 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.600 and memory. So they injected mice with with with a 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.400 little extra of this substance and found that the these 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.639 mice consistently outperformed ordinary mice in memory and learning tests, 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:07.760 and it was like a rate of like by like 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:12.000 thirty or forty. And then they also um uh sapped 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.840 some mice of of this particular substance and found that 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:20.159 they underperformed on test. So their argument was in this 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.200 study was that if an animal was hungry, it needs 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:29.639 extra brain power to find that next meal. Um so, um, 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.359 you know, cognitive brain is a you know, side effective 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.200 hunger kind of argument, which I think is is kind 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.439 of interesting and it makes me makes me think of 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.720 like fasting situations, you know, where you know, especially you know, 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.240 you look at like old biblical accounts that you know, 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.439 someone will set out in the desert too fast and 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.639 contemplate some you know, some huge problem or you know, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:53.840 or theological inquiry. You know. So it's kind of it's 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:57.880 it's interesting. When I fasted, I mainly just um felt grumpy, 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:00.800 watched a lot of Buffy the Vampires air and chip 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:04.119 My Tooth on my coffee mug. But but in a 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.080 way I could I also there was like a weird 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.000 you know, I don't know, it's you definitely feel the 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.119 effects in your mind when when you do something like that, 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.159 which just you know, underlines again the connection between the 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.840 gut and the brain. Yeah. Yeah, and this is interesting too. 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:20.600 If if you don't sleep well, you actually the overproduced 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:24.080 grelling right in your because your body thinks that since 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.560 it didn't get enough rest, that it's in some sort 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.240 of panic mode and eats more energy and you end 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.040 up eating a lot the next day, which is again 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.960 that whole balanced thing. And yeah, you're you're probably a 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.480 little bit cranky, and uh, this is something we're going 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.560 to touch on in a future podcast more. But you know, 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.680 our gut is not just a part of us. It's 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:49.920 also an environment for a number of fascinating creatures. It's 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:54.639 not just the ones we ate trillions of bacteria that 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.040 greatly outnumber our own guts cells, which kind of makes 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.240 a question about whether or not we're just host for them. Yeah. Yeah, 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.119 if the if the contents, if the creatures in our 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:06.600 stomach are dictating on the stomach behaves, and the stomach 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.280 is talking to the brain, yeah, then maybe maybe these 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.119 guys are the true masterminds of all the really stupid stuff. 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:14.919 That's what I was thinking. It's sort of like the 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.200 matrix that we're just the host. It's not the aliens though, 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:22.280 that were the energy for it's just the bacteria in there. 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:24.320 I was really that you blew me away with this 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:29.240 particular fact about how the generally the Japanese in particular, 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.880 have bacteria in their guts that produce enzymes that help 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:36.440 digest seaweeds, and North Americans tend to lack this same 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:39.240 property in their system. Yeah. Yeah, so there was some 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:43.240 sort of exchange there between bacteria and man that found 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.320 its way into the genome for for Japanese who ate 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:50.120 sushi or eat sushi that we just don't have, which 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:54.240 is again another indication of how crazy that gut is 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:58.159 and what that bacteria, that wiley bacteria is doing to us. Yeah. Like, 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:00.399 so the next time you order seaweed salad at your 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:04.200 favorite Japanese restaurant, think about it is you know, I 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:06.160 look around that you had the restaurant and to say 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:09.080 that guy's gut is going to do a lot better 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:13.880 job than this, uh, the soul gout here. So it's say, sir, 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:18.320 I admire digestions or don't say that really. So, hey, 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.919 I have some listener mail here for us. We've had 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:27.000