Index
- Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life (Perlmutter, David)
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life (Perlmutter, David)
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Foods such as garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, jicama, and even dandelion greens, as well as fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kombucha, and kimchi open the door for heightened levels of health in general, and brain function and protection in particular
The vagus nerve, the longest of the twelve cranial nerves, is the primary channel of information between the hundreds of millions of nerve cells in our intestinal nervous system and our central nervous system. Also known as cranial nerve X, it extends from the brain stem to the abdomen, directing many bodily processes that we don’t consciously control. These include such important tasks as maintaining the heart rate and controlling digestion. And it turns out that the population of bacteria in the gut directly affects the stimulation and function of the cells along the vagus nerve.
How does the microbiome come into play? It regulates or manages the immune response. So it, in turn, takes part in the story of inflammation in your body.
The reason most of your immune system is deployed in your gut is simple: the intestinal wall is the border with the outside world. Aside from skin, it’s where your body has the most chances of encountering foreign material and organisms. And it is in constant communication with every other immune system cell in the body. If it meets a problematic substance in the gut, it alerts the rest of the immune system to be on guard.
Elevated blood sugar stirs up inflammation in the bloodstream, as excess sugar can be toxic if it’s not swept up and used by cells. It also triggers a reaction called glycation — the biological process by which sugar binds to proteins and certain fats, resulting in deformed molecules that don’t function well. These sugar proteins are technically called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The body does not recognize AGEs as normal, so they set off inflammatory reactions. In the brain, sugar molecules and brain proteins combine to produce lethal new structures that contribute to the degeneration of the brain and its functioning.
These studies together support the crucial role of microbiota in maintaining the intestinal barrier integrity, sustaining a normal metabolic homeostasis, protecting the host from infection by pathogens, enhancing host defense systems and even influencing the nervous system in type-2 diabetes.
Chinese herbal components berberine and ginseng, as well as the compounds found in tea, coffee, wine, and chocolate have anti-diabetic qualities through their effects on gut bacteria.
Dr. Fasano’s recent discovery that not only is there increased gut permeability when the gut is exposed to gliadin, a protein found in gluten, but in fact the blood-brain barrier also becomes more permeable in response to gliadin exposure.24
they can even produce various vitamins that are essential to brain health, including B12. It’s well substantiated that low levels of B12 are a huge risk factor for dementia, not to mention other neurological challenges such as depression.
An important byproduct of the work done by mitochondria is the production of chemicals, related to oxygen, called reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are more commonly known as free radicals.
MS patients almost always were either born by C-section, not breast-fed, or treated with antibiotics for some illness early in life.
the idea that people will take a pill to treat symptoms, while the underlying disorder is ignored. So there’s never any real focus on actually curing or even improving the root cause of the illness, let alone getting people off the medication.
High blood sugar, in fact, is one of the biggest risk factors for depression, just as it is for Alzheimer’s.
fructose has been shown to increase circulating LPS by 40 percent.
LPS make the gut more permeable, but it can cross the blood-brain barrier and allow pro-inflammatory chemicals to bombard the brain.
cocoa, coffee, and curcumin (turmeric), for example — can have the opposite effect of lowering the risk of depression by helping balance the microbiome.
obesity during pregnancy harms the developing fetus’s stem cells, which are responsible for creating and sustaining lifelong blood and immune-system function.5
Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes; between them, these two groups make up more than 90 percent of the gut’s population. The ratio of these two groups to each other determines levels of inflammation and squarely relates to such conditions as obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and inflammation in general.
higher levels of Firmicutes changes our genetic expression, noting that this paves the way for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and inflammation. But, as they also revealed in their study, you can change this. Just increasing dietary fiber can improve the ratio.
Our cells can accept glucose only with the help of insulin, which acts like a transporter and is produced by the pancreas. Insulin shuttles glucose from the bloodstream into cells, where it can then be used as fuel. When a cell is normal and healthy, it has abundant receptors for insulin, so it has no problem responding to it. But when a cell is mercilessly exposed to high levels of insulin through a never-ending presence of glucose — caused by consuming too many carbohydrates and refined sugars — the cell does something brilliant to adapt: It reduces the number of insulin-responsive receptors on its surfaces. It’s as if the cell closes a few doors so it can’t hear insulin knocking. This ultimately causes the cell to become desensitized or “resistant” to insulin. Once a cell is insulin resistant, it’s unable to take glucose from the blood, leaving glucose in the bloodstream. As with most biological processes, there’s a “fail-safe” backup system in place. The body wants to fix this problem, as it knows it can’t have glucose loitering in the blood. So it tells the pancreas to increase production of insulin to mop up that glucose, which the pancreas dutifully does. It will continue to pump out as much insulin as needed to push glucose into cells. And higher levels of insulin are needed because the cells aren’t as responsive to insulin
relationship between high carbohydrate consumption and diabetes is almost indisputable.
This same outcome — a lack of satiety — is also seen with artificial sweeteners. Although we used to think that sugar substitutes like saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame didn’t have a metabolic impact because they don’t raise insulin, it turns out that they can indeed wreak tremendous metabolic havoc and cause the same metabolic disorders as real sugar.
Obviously, B. fragilis, or any other single probiotic for that matter, is not a guaranteed treatment. But I have no doubt that future therapies for autism will include probiotics, some of which might work wonders on some symptoms of autism in some patients. I also have a hunch that in the future, we’ll begin to view brain disorders like autism as mitochondrial diseases that have strong ties to the gut’s tribes.
best of all, these new therapies won’t be pharmaceutical drugs that come with side effects. They will, for the most part, come from dietary choices and probiotic treatments to rebalance the microbiome. They will be lifestyle interventions that are highly accessible and economical for everyone.
What’s empowering about this is that we can change our health’s destiny, as well as the destiny of our children’s health, if we make the right choices. Now that we have evidence to suggest that food, stress, exercise, sleep — and the state of our microbiome — affect which of our genes are activated and which remain suppressed, we can take some degree of control in all of these realms. To be sure, we may never be able to totally eradicate the possibility of autism or another brain disorder, but we can most certainly do our best to reduce the chances. And now that we know that the gut bacteria factor in somewhere, harnessing the microbiome for the benefit of the brain becomes key. What also becomes key is knowing how a good microbiome can go bad. Hence the purpose of part II.
Knowledge, after all, is power.
it has the lowest GI of all the natural sugars because the liver metabolizes most of the fructose, so it has no immediate effect on our blood-sugar and insulin levels.
I call gluten a “silent germ” because it can inflict lasting damage without your knowing it. While its effects might start with unexplained headaches and feeling anxious, or “wired and tired,” they can worsen to more dire disorders such as depression and dementia.
Gluten is made up of two main groups of proteins, the glutenins and the gliadins.
exposure to the gliadin protein in particular increases gut permeability in all of us.5 That’s right, all humans have some degree of gluten sensitivity. Once you have a leaky gut, you’re highly susceptible to other food sensitivities in the future. You’re also vulnerable to the impact of LPS making its way into the bloodstream. Lipopolysaccharide, or LPS as you’ll recall, is a structural component of many microbial cells in the gut. If LPS gets past those tight junctions, it increases systemic inflammation and irritates the immune system — a double strike that puts you at risk for myriad brain ailments, autoimmune disease, and cancer.
Although there’s a huge market now for gluten-free products, the bottom line is they are just that — products, and they can be just as junky and nutrient-poor as processed products that don’t come with a “gluten-free” claim. Many are made with refined, gluten-free grains that are low in fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients. That’s why it’s crucial to pay attention to ingredients and choose gluten-free foods that are authentic in their nutrition and wholesomeness.
Based on studies of chlorine’s effects on human cells, the EPA sets the safe level in drinking water at no more than four parts per million. Even that dilution can wipe out lots of organisms, as anyone knows who has killed a goldfish using tap water. in chapter 9, I’ll offer ideas on how to avoid chlorinated water. It’s easier than you think, and you won’t have to call a plumber or invest in a water delivery service.
changes in the array of gut bacteria can take place in as little as six days after instituting a new dietary protocol,
coconut yogurt
coconut kefir,
Kombucha tea.
Tempeh.
great source of vitamin B12, tempeh
Kimchi.
Sauerkraut.
Pickles.
Even setting aside the gluten factor, one of the main reasons that consuming too many grains and carbs is so harmful is that they spike blood sugar in ways other foods, such as meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables, do not.
This particular diet supplies the ingredients to nourish not only healthy biology (and thus a healthy microbiome) but also a healthy brain. A diet that keeps blood sugar balanced keeps gut bacteria balanced. A diet high in rich sources of fiber, which you’ll get from whole fruits and vegetables, feeds the good gut bacteria and produces the right balance of those short-chain fatty acids to keep the gut lining in check. A diet devoid of injurious gluten will further tip the scales in favor of healthy gut ecology as well as healthy brain physiology. And a diet that’s intrinsically anti-inflammatory is good for the gut and brain.
sizeable portion of vegetables (two-thirds of your plate) and about 75 to 115g of protein.
You’ll get your fats from those found naturally in protein, from ingredients used to prepare the protein dish and vegetables, such as butter and olive oil, and from nuts and seeds.
Coffee also stimulates a specific gene pathway called the Nrf2 pathway. When this is triggered, it causes the body to make higher levels of protective antioxidants, while reducing inflammation and enhancing detoxification. Other Nrf2 activators are chocolate (another bonus for cocoa), green tea, turmeric, and resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine.
Interestingly, the effect was the same even when the alcohol was removed. The researchers also analyzed the bacterial composition of the stool of such individuals and found a significant increase in bifidobacteria. Red wine is also a rich source of those gut-loving polyphenols. Just be sure that you don’t drink too much. A glass a day for women, two for men at the most.
Prebiotics occur naturally in a variety of foods, including chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onions, leeks, and jicama or Mexican yam;
Researchers have determined that beta-HBA, which is easily obtainable just by adding coconut oil to your diet, improves antioxidant function, increases the number of mitochondria, and stimulates the growth of new brain cells.
No food but lots of water (avoid caffeine) for a twenty-four-hour period.
My fasting protocol is simple: No food but lots of water (avoid caffeine) for a twenty-four-hour period.
I recommend fasting at least four times a year; fasting during the seasonal changes (for example, the last week of September, December, March, and June) is an excellent practice to keep.
Louis Pasteur famously said “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
Consider and then act, don’t react.