“Doctor, what you prescribed changed my mood,” Amanda told me during a consultation. “But, besides, I no longer feel anxious about taking on the world at 4:00 in the afternoon,” was her conclusion. This response is common among my patients, when they tell me in amazement the changes that occur in their body just by starting to change their diet.
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At such times, I go back to my childhood and remember what my grandmother used to say to my mother: “Let her eat dirt, that helps her defenses.” This iconic phrase, which I think we have all heard at some point, is one of the wisest that exists when it comes to describing and understanding the truth that it carries, the truth that science has only recently, around 10 years ago, been deciphering and discovering.
The study of the bacterial flora known today as Microbiota. Billions of microorganism cells are inside our body, mainly in our intestines, and are responsible for our health or illness. Going to the bathroom every day, having a long bowel movement, not having food, not having difficulty, is part of our body not only functioning better, but also smelling good: mouth, vagina, armpit (the heavenly triad). Can you imagine heaps of bugs stuck in the intestines, where do you think they could go? Well, to the blood, to contaminate our cells and organs with toxins and generate substances known as “putrecines and cadaverines” (which) smell just like they sound. But, in addition to this contamination or intoxication, they also travel to our brain and affect our thoughts through the marginalization of brain neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, oxytocin) and generate emotional discomfort or what is known as mental fog (sensation of brain slowness).
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As a result: the resulting behavior is making bad decisions when eating. So, if you understand me, it is the bugs that choose for you, the ones that, when they are upset, make you eat badly, make worse choices, smell terrible and feel awful! You are right, grandma was right, you have to eat not dirt, but from the earth! Because the microbiota is fed with food from nature; it likes fruit, the jungle, you walking barefoot on the grass, fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, etc.), it likes diversity, that you eat differently every day, but also that you are not eating all day, that you move, that you sleep well, that you manage your stress, and many other things that you do not realize but change your bacterial flora for better or worse! And you know, we also owe our mothers that inheritance, childbirth, breastfeeding, and how your early childhood was influence up to 80% of how your microbiota is today.
So, as I read somewhere, “if despite knowing, you keep making bad decisions, look in your gut,” and add another question to your childhood. This story continues, because it is fascinating and enormous; and, thanks to advances in science, it grows daily by leaps and bounds. For me, as a functional physician, it is the present and the future of health and medicine in general. If you want to know more about this topic… this story will continue!
@karinamedicinafuncional. Course: “Microbiota, a look beyond the intestine”.
2024-09-17 17:14:15