brain gut axis

BRAIN GUT 10: The Other Trip through the Rabbit Hole:

My name is Danielle Thatcher and here is my story of the rabbit hole I fell into with MJ when we met Dr. Kruse on his vacation:   When I first sat down to write about my experience with meeting Dr. K, I had the highest of hopes of writing something that would and could inspire [...]

Brain Gut 9: What Really Killed Michael Jackson

Today, we are going to dive into the gut flora story a bit deeper than we did in our first gut flora post to help you understand how a a change in gut flora might lead to changes in your health by altering your hormone panel. Obesity is an inflammatory brain condition. Where does the infection come from? The gut flora actually is what causes humans to become fat. It has to due with shear numbers and the species of bacteria in our gut. There is a particular flora that produces adiposity and obesity in humans. These bacteria make something called FIAF (Fasting induced adipose factor) that control this process. This factor blocks lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in fat cells. LPL allows us to convert dietary Free Fatty Acids carried in lipoproteins into neutral fats that are stored in adipocytes. Non Geeks: Our gut bacteria makes humans fat. Geek Alert: The FIAF is made by our liver, muscles, and our small bowel wall when food sources are in short supply. This is the signal to stop storing fat in our fat cells when food is scarce. What is not well appreciated by many is that the FIAF in our intestinal wall is controlled 100{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} by our gut flora. When we have a simplified gut flora it favors fat cell creation. When our gut flora is complex and healthy, it has 100 trillion cells with 250 species. We tend not to make fat in this instance either! Moreover, when the bacteria are active metabolically due to the presence of simple sugars, production of FIAF ceases, and fat creation is signaled. This implies that our gut flora is directly tied to fat creation in humans. The gut flora’s action is directly signaled to the brain via the afferent nerve fibers in the vagus nerve. In those newly created fat cells, a protein called leptin is also produced, and acts as a score keeper for the brain of how much fat is stored in the body. This messenger is sent to the brain around midnight when we are sleeping allowing the brain to assess total energy balance in the body.

Brain Gut 8: Their Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

READERS SUMMARY: 1.  What is a day in the life of a vacationing doctor like? 2. Accept that your epigenome is a loaded gun, and your lifestyle is the trigger. Your lifestyle can't change you. It reveals who you really are. 3.  Is there an important difference between giving up on somethings and letting go to [...]

BRAIN GUT 7: INTRO TO YOUR GUT MICROBIOME

Many of you know I believe obesity if an inflammatory disease of the brain. Where this disease begins may surprise some of you. It begins in our gut flora. How does this happen? Read this link! Sub optimal bacteria which contain bacterial toxins called lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which are found in bacterial cell membranes. As gut LPS rises, it has been shown to cause a rise in serum leptin levels. Once leptin levels are raised high enough it stimulates SOCS 3 signaling in the hypothalamus to cause LR.

Brain Gut #5: Paradigm Drifts Paradigm Shifts–Epi-Paleo Rx

Geeks: The implications of Brain Gut 4 mean that to develop a brain seafood is required part of the program to maintain it. Nutrients and many other environmental factors have also been found to influence epigenetic programing of our DNA either directly or indirectly via metabolic sensors. Peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR's), the vitamin D receptors, and the retinoid X receptors (RXR), and the retinoic acid receptors (RAR) are all examples of the nuclear receptors that interact with the brain cell membranes to control inflammation and metabolism all over our bodies. It turns out that PPAR's are the receptors that are at the crossroads of where inflammation and metabolism actually cross. These are specialized lipid sensors that pay attention to our balance of omega 6 and 3 levels. 3{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of the human genome is directly or indirectly controlled by the endocrine functions of the Vitamin D system. This shows you how environmental signals are intertwined into the expression of DNA in humans. The Epi-Paleo Rx controls inflammation at a hormonal level in the brain better than the more famous paleo diet. Non Geeks: What we eat is really damn important when you have 3 lbs of lipid in your head called a brain. If you eat outside our design you get sick.

Brain Gut 3: Look In The Past To See Your Prologue

READERS SUMMARY:   1. WHAT ARE THE EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS OF A LEAKY GUT AS A POSITIVE ADAPTATION AT OUR SPECIES ORIGIN? 2. WHY DID BIPEDALISM ARISE BEFORE BRAINS IN HUMANS? 3. DID THE CLIMATE AND TECTONIC PLATES DICTATE THE EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN THOSE TRANSITIONAL PRIMATES? 4. DID RAPID CHANGES IN INNATE AND CELL MEDIATED IMMUNITY [...]

Hormone CPC #1: DHEA

This blog post was created for my members who just heard my webinar on bioidentical and synthetic hormone replacement. It is specifically designed to further our discussions in that talk. DHEA has been an enigma to the public and to most physicians. I never once heard about this hormone in four years of medical school, seven years of residency or in any endocrinology lecture from my training. The general public did not learn about DHEA until 1996, when its benefits were mentioned in the media and several popular books that showed up on daytime TV shows. Most in mainstream medicine continued to ignore the science these books contained because they were not found in the usual ways via journals and continuing education classes. You actually had to be on the lookout for this information. With a busy medical practice, this is no easy task. DHEA became credible to the medical establishment when the New York Academy of Sciences published a book called DHEA and Aging. That book provided scientific validation for the many life-extending effects of DHEA.

Brain Gut 2: Viral Marketing

READERS SUMMARY: 1. To discover the unknown we must use the known to guide our thoughts to see the future. 2.  How should we think about evolution and health now?  Counterintuitive is an axiomatic cognitive ability  required for neurosurgical residency training and that is why I chose to tackle this problem in this fashion. 3. [...]

Brain Gut 1: Who Are We, Really?

READERS SUMMARY: 1. WHY CAN'T FOSSILS, BIOCHEMISTRY, TEETH, GEOLOGY, PALEOANTHROPOLOGY TELL US WHERE WE CAME FROM? 2. ARE WE REALLY PILOCENE OR PALEOLITHIC BEINGS? 3. DO WE STRADDLE THE FENCE OF BOTH ERA'S OR IS ONE MORE IMPORTANT? 4. HOW MIGHT NEUROSURGERY GIVE A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO THESE MYSTERIES? 5. IS HOMO HERE BECAUSE OF [...]

CPC #5 THE LEAKY GUT/ADRENAL FATIGUE CASE

READERS SUMMARY: HOW CAN A LEAKY GUT CAUSE ADRENAL FATIGUE? CAN OTHER THINGS COMPLICATE THIS LIKE A VIRAL INFECTION? CAN WE TREAT IT? HOW DO WE TREAT IT? CAN YOU HOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT TOO? A PATIENT TESTIMONIAL AFTER JUST 4 MONTHS OF TREATMENT We have talked at length on my forum about how a leaky [...]

Go to Top