YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT YOU CAN HAVE A LEAKY BRAIN AND A LEAKY GUT, BOTH LEAK!
The blood-brain barrier protects sensitive brain cells from attack by neurotoxins, and when the blood-brain-barrier weakens, it leaks. Like a leaky gut, you can have a leaky brain. Neurotoxins seep through and damage brain tissue by driving neuroinflammation, the root cause of most mental illnesses.
Leaky gut is an epidemic triggered by not-so-smart living and eating. The lining of your intestines also functions as a gut-brain barrier and toxins can damage the gut-brain-barrier, just like they do the blood-brain-barrier. Toxic food and artificial chemicals in the modern standard American diet can poke holes in the gut-brain barrier, leading to a “leaky gut”, the root cause of most intestinal inflammation, such as irritable bowel syndrome. A leaky gut is often the root cause of many of -its illnesses, such as colitis, thyroiditis, and arthritis.
In some ways, a leaky gut-brain barrier can get into the bloodstream and inflame many other tissues of the body.
HOW DO I AVOID A LEAKY GUT?
FIX YOUR GUT LINING, FIX YOUR BRAIN AND BODY
Wheat, dairy, and soy.
Allergies are thought to be the result of your overly sensitive immune system having an anxiety attack. This is the incidence of “gluten sensitivity’. When we no longer eat real wheat, we don’t get a real smart-gut response. Because we have messed up the biochemistry of wheat through hybridization, a double fault occurs: the messed-up wheat gluten causes gaps in the gut-brain barrier, and then the foreign wheat molecules seep through. This is the leaky gut phenomenon. This is also why so many people must go on a real food diet and eliminate the messed-up molecules in food such as wheat, dairy, and soy.
The standard American disease of “I feel sick and tired”, often begins in the gut. You feel sick because your internal immune system army is not
defending you in battle against germs and toxins; they are too busy focusing on foreign molecules in your food. You also feel tired because your internal energy batteries aren’t getting enough fuel to produce the energy you need.
How to open your gut pharmacy? Eat more fiber!
Good gut bugs take the leftover food that your upper intestines can’t digest, especially fiber, and make medicines out of it. This brings your leaky gut back into rhythm with your body!
Yes, you may be amazed to know!
We know that the head brain and the gut brain have an interpersonal relationship, where they keep each other accountable for their actions.
We still don’t know how biochemical text messages reach the brain but what’s clear is that your microbiome influences your mind!
Don’t eat junk food! Because the smarter the bacteria in your gut brain are, the smarter the tissue in the head brain becomes.
SEVEN SMART CHANGES FOR YOUR BRAIN HEALTH RECOMMENDED BY DOCTORS
1. EAT GUT-BRAIN-FRIENDLY FOOD High and easily digested soluble and insoluble fiber.
- Low in processed foods
- High in a rainbow of colors, red, green, yellow, and purple from fruits and veggies. Your microbiome feeds on colorful antioxidant-rich foods.
- Organic/pesticide-free
- Blended or well-chewed for easier digestion
Also avoid foods with “chemicals emulsifiers”, which may thin the intestinal mucus and harm the microbiota.
2. CHEW-CHEW TIMES TWO
- Eat twice as often.
- Eat half as much.
- Chew twice as long.
Salivate more, leak less. Saliva is one of the first “medicines” your upper digestive tract produces.
3. ENJOY THE SIPPING SOLUTION
The sipping solution is as good for gut health as it is for brain health. Because the blender does most of the work at the top end, it’s easier for the gut to do its work at the bottom end. And when your gut-brain feels good, your head-brain feels better.
You need to know, blend, don’t juice!
Because juicing removes most of your microbiome’s favorite food, fiber from fruits and veggies while blending preserves it!
4. DRINK LESS ALCOHOL, LEAK LESS IN YOUR GUT
Drinking too much alcohol too fast contributes not only to pains in the gut but a leaky gut. Drinking smart can help keep you feeling smart in your gut. Neurologists label alcohol as a “depressant” for the head brain, and new research suggests it works similarly in the gut-brain. One of our next blogs will be “Drink Smart”, you will learn how to keep alcohol from damaging both your head brain and your gut brain.
5. GO DRUGLESS!
Many prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, especially if used too strong for too long can damage the intestinal lining and contribute to a leaky gut. When possible, get the ants out: antacids, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants.
6. STRESS LESS, FEEL GOOD IN YOUR GUT AND BRAIN!
Try to be aware when your brain feels upset, because so does your gut!
How does stress cause pain in the gut?
How does Stress slow digestion? Under the influence of stress hormones, the body mistakenly believes that you are in danger! It shunts blood flow from the gut to elsewhere in case you need, for example, to pump up your muscles to flee a burning house!
Neurofeedback Brain training, particularly with our programs tailored to each brain’s needs helps the mind to not only feel better but eliminate anxiety generated by stress and help the brain to regain neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity helps the brain to heal itself and to easily handle stress.
7. MOVE MORE, MAKE YOUR MICROBIOME HEALTHIER
Why do exercises help with every aspect of your mental and physical health? It makes your microbiome happy! Read Scott C. Anderson, coauthor of The Psychobiotic Revolution. Also look at one of our previous blogs: A Pick in Your Brain and Movement.
We wish you a happy and healthy fall season! If you enjoy our blogs, do not forget that we are here to help! It could be for you or a loved one. Let them know about what we do.
We recommend you to read “The Healthy Brain Book” by William Sears, MD & Vincent M. Fortanasce, MD.
