Brain Maker
The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain—for Life
Ready to get your brain right? Start with your gut! In this compelling book, Dr. David Perlmutter walks us through the leading-edge science on how to dial in our microbiome to optimize our brain + overall well-being. In the Note, we explore Big Ideas ranging from the power of probiotics and your second brain to the importnace of focusing on root causes rather than just symptoms along with the 6 keys to feeding your microbes.
Big Ideas
- The Power of ProbioticsIs huge.
- Your Second BrainIn your gut.
- Your Immune System70-80% is in your gut.
- Symptoms vs. Root CauseLet’s focus on the root causes!
- Small Gut Changes= Shifts in perception of the world.
- DietPlays the dominant role.
- Top 2 Things to AvoidManufactured fructose + gluten.
- 6 KeysTo feeding your microbiome.
“New, leading-edge science from the most well-respected institutions around the world is discovering that to an extraordinary degree, brain health and, on the flip side, brain diseases, are dictated by what goes on in the gut. That’s right: what’s taking place in your intestines today is determining your risk for any number of neurological conditions…
The digestive system is intimately connected to what goes on in the brain. And perhaps the most important aspect of the gut that has everything to do with your general wellness and mental health is its internal ecology—the various microorganisms that live within it, especially the bacteria.”
~ David Perlmutter, MD from Brain Maker
David Perlmutter has quickly become one of my favorite teachers.
This is the third Note we’ve created on his books. (Check out Power Up Your Brain + Grain Brain for more goodness.)
As I mentioned in the Grain Brain intro, Perlmutter is the only medical doctor in the U.S. who is both a board certified neurologist and a member of the American College of Nutrition.
In Brain Maker, he focuses his decades of wisdom in both neurology and nutrition on the cutting-edge research that’s revealing the power of our gut microbes to heal and protect our brain.
Perlmutter gives us an introduction to the importance of the trillions (!) of friendly little microbes in our gut and then shares some simple practices we can adopt to optimize—showing us how this new science can help everything from ADHD, asthma and autism to chronic fatigue, mood disorders (including anxiety and depression), skin problems and obesity.
You can grab a copy of the book here. As with his other books, this one is packed with wisdom. I’m excited to share a few of my favorite Big Ideas so let’s jump straight in!
Download MP3
Download PDFWe call this complex internal ecology that thrives within us and its genetic fingerprint the microbiome (micro for ‘small’ or ‘microscopic,’ biome referring to a naturally occurring community of flora occupying a large habitat—in this case, the human body).
Get the Book
Listen to the PodcastThe Power of Probiotics
“Much of what we know about the microbiome comes from studying so-called germ-free mice. These are mice that have been altered to not have any gut bacteria, thereby allowing scientists to study the effects of missing microbes or, conversely, exposing them to certain strains and watching what happens. Germ-free lab rats have been shown, for example, to have acute anxiety, an inability to handle stress, chronic gut and general inflammation, and lower levels of an important brain-growth hormone called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). But these symptoms can be reversed once the rats are fed a diet rich in Lactobacillus helveticus or Bifidobacterium longum, two common probiotics.”
That’s nuts! Makes you want to go out and get some probiotics, eh? :)
We have 100 trillion microbial friends who help keep us dialed in. Getting on good terms with the right group of microbial critters is what the book is all about.
Before we explore some Big Ideas on how to optimize, let’s also say hello to our second brain:
Your Second Brain
“The neurons in the gut are so innumerable that many scientists are now calling the totality of them ‘the second brain.’ Not only is this second brain regulating muscles, immune cells, and hormones, but it’s also manufacturing something really important. Popular antidepressants like Paxil, Zoloft, and Lexapro increase the availability of the ‘feel-good’ chemical serotonin in the brain. You may be surprised to find out that an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the amount of serotonin in your body is manufactured by the nerve cells in your gut! In fact, your gut’s brain makes more serotonin—the master happiness molecule—than the brain in your head does. Many neurologists and psychiatrists are now realizing that this may be one reasons why antidepressants are often less effective in treating depression than dietary changes are. In fact, recent research is revealing that our second brain may not be ‘second’ at all. It can act independently from the main brain and control many functions without the brain’s input or help.”
First, “neurons in the gut”?
I thought neurons were only in your brain. Hah! Apparently not. :)
I shared a similar idea about serotonin in our Note on Grain Brain. Every time I read about the fact that 80 to 90 percent of our serotonin is produced IN OUR GUT I’m just blown away. Think about that: 80 to 90 percent of our body’s “master happiness molecule” is produced in our gut.
80 to 90%!!!!!
*rubs eyes*
Do you think that our nutrition might just have a slight affect on our mood?
Answer: YES!!
Unequivocally.
Why every psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the world doesn’t start with nutrition rather than traditional pharmacology befuddles me a bit. Thankfully, many do and it’s exciting to imagine more and more energy placed here in the years ahead.
For now, know that the health of our gut has a huge impact on the health of our brain. If you and/or someone you love struggles with mood issues, pick up the book and try out the approach. You might just be blown away!
Gut = 70 to 80% of your immune system
“Your gut has its own immune system, the ‘gut-associated lymphatic tissue’ (GALT). It represents 70 to 80 percent of your body’s total immune system. This speaks volumes about the importance—and vulnerability—of your gut. If the events that take place in the gut weren’t so critical to life, then the majority of your immune systems wouldn’t have to be there to guard and protect it.
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.”
Alright. So, we know the gut produces 80 to 90% of your body’s serotonin and has so many neurons that it qualifies as your “second brain.”
Got it.
Did you know that 70 to 80% of your IMMUNE SYSTEM is also in your gut?
Think about that for a moment as well.
The vast majority of your immune system IS IN YOUR GUT!
As Perlmutter tells us, “If the events that take place in the gut weren’t so critical to life, then the majority of your immune systems wouldn’t have to be there to guard and protect it.”
Yet another data point to emphasize just how important it is for us to focus a proper amount of energy on optimizing our good ol’ gut, eh?! :)
Treating Symptoms vs. Root causes
“By 2005, antidepressants had become the #1 prescribed drug class in the country.
But these medications do not treat depression. Whether it’s Prozac, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Elavil, Lexapro, Wellburin, or any of the other commonly prescribed antidepressants, these medicines simply treat symptoms, and only minimally so… I am saddened by the fact that the billion-dollar psychotropic pharmaceutical industry is predicated on 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…
All of the antidepressant medications currently on the market are designed to artificially alter neurotransmitter activity in the brain. Yet, when we consider the fact that these same chemicals found in the brain are also produced in the gut, and that their availability to the brain is largely governed by the activity of gut bacteria, we are forced to realize that ground zero for all things mood-related is the gut.”
Several things to note here.
First, antidepressant medications are not actually treating depression. They’re treating symptoms *not* the root cause.
As Perlmutter puts it “… they [anti-depressants] aren’t getting to the source of the problem and putting out the fire. They are, in a sense, poorly constructed Band-Aids over cuts that won’t heal.”
It’s kinda like putting ice cubes into a boiling pot of water. You might reduce the boil temporarily but you’ll need to keep on dropping in ice cubes. It would be a lot more effective to focus on turning off the flame that’s causing the water to boil, eh?
This isn’t just relegated to a discussion on depression. Perlmutter dedicates a chapter to depression, obesity, and autism and touches on a range of other issues throughout the book.
He tells us that today more than 11 percent of kids are diagnosed as having ADHD. He reminds us that it doesn’t just come out of nowhere.
But, if you go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, “the homepage for ADHD includes facts about symptoms and diagnosis, then moves right to treatment options, none of which include a dietary protocol. There is not a single mention of prevention.”
Symptoms vs. root causes. Let’s focus on the root causes!
And, in this context, let’s focus on optimizing our microbiome! Here’s more on how to do that…
Small gut changes —> Changes in perception of world
“A team of UCLA researchers conducted a nifty little experiment published in 2013, also in the journal Gastroenterology, that produced some of the first evidence that friendly bacteria consumed from food can affect brain function in humans. Although it was a small study, it nonetheless got people in the medical community talking, because it basically showed how small changes in the gut bacteria affect how a person perceives the world.
Thirty-six women were split into three groups: Group 1 consumed, twice daily for four weeks, a yogurt mixture containing several probiotics; Group 2 ate a dairy product that looked and tasted like yogurt but didn’t have any probiotics; and Group 3 ate no specific product at all. At the beginning of the study, each subject underwent a functional MRI (fMRI) scan of the brain that was repeated after four weeks. Rather than looking at the structures of the brain, fMRI evaluates brain activity so that researchers can determine which areas of the brain are active and how active they are at any particular time. When we neurologists observe such activity, we technically call it ‘excitability’—how the brain responds to stimuli or changes in the environment. At the four-week point, participants were shown images designed to induce an emotional response. Specifically, they viewed a series of pictures of angry or frightened people and matched them to other faces showing the same emotions.
What the scientists found was truly remarkable. The women who ate the yogurt that contained the probiotics showed decreased activity in both the insula and the somatosensory cortex during the emotional reactivity task.”
Wow.
In short: Two servings of a probiotic yogurt per day for four weeks = significant changes in brain activity.
That’s simply amazing.
As Perlmutter says, “The fact that changes in our gut affect our brain’s response to negative activity or emotionally stirring images is just mind-boggling.”
We recently did a Note on Richie Davidson’s great book The Emotional Life of Your Brain where he talks about the neurological signature of your brain’s “emotional style.”
He demonstrated the power of meditation + cognitive behavior therapy + other means by which we can optimize our brain’s “excitability.”
It’s truly mind-boggling to imagine the direct (and shockingly swift!) effect dialing in our microbiome can have on our brain’s emotional expression.
Here’s to making that happen! :)
Diet plays the dominant role
“In a beautifully written and well-cited review of what we know so far about the complex diet-gut-microbes-health equation, Canadian researchers stated the following: ‘Overall, dietary changes could explain 57% of the total structural variation in gut microbiota whereas changes in genetics accounted for no more than 12%. This indicates that diet has a dominating role in shaping gut microbiota and changing key populations may transform healthy gut microbiota into a disease-inducing entity.’
Let me repeat: Diet has the dominant role in shaping gut microbiota, and changing key populations may transform healthy gut microbiota into a disease-inducing entity. If there’s only one fact you take away from this book, that sentence is it.”
Want to take away one fact from the book that can change your life?
Here it is: “Diet has the dominant role in shaping gut microbiota, and changing key populations may transform healthy gut microbiota into a disease-inducing entity.”
In short: Want a healthy body? Create a healthy gut. Do that via diet.
Top 2 things to avoid
“So what kind of diet makes for an optimal microbiome? I’ll get to all those details in chapter 9. For now, let’s focus on the top two ingredients to avoid when it comes to preserving the health, balance, and function of your belly bugs…
I like to tell patients that cleaning up their diet to nix gluten and manufactured fructose, while limiting natural fructose from real fruit, is step 1 in preserving the health and function of their microbiome and brain. Step 2, as you’re about to read, is managing exposures to chemicals and drugs that can also have health implications—the focus of the next chapter.”
Check out the book for details on Perlmutter’s vision of an optimal diet. For now, keep in mind the two things he recommends we eliminate: gluten + manufactured fructose.
In Grain Brain, Perlmutter goes into detail on the damaging effects of gluten—what he calls a “silent killer.” (Remember: For 2.5 million years of evolution, we ate *very little* wheat + grains. Now, the average American consumes 133 POUNDS of wheat alone. You think that’s optimal?)
Again, check out the book for more. And, if you haven’t already, consider eliminating gluten.
The next killer? Manufactured fructose.
Here’s what the good doctor has to say about it: “As I’ve mentioned, fructose has become one of the most common sources of calories in the Western diet. Fructose is naturally found in fruit, but that’s not where we’re getting it from; most of the fructose we consume is from manufactured sources. Our caveman ancestors did eat fruit, but only during certain times of the year when it was available; our bodies haven’t yet evolved to healthily manage the prodigious amounts of fructose we consume today. Natural whole fruit has relatively little sugar when compared to, say, a can of regular soda or concentrated juice. A medium-sized apple contains over 70 calories from sugar in a fiber-rich blend; conversely, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains twice that—140 calories of sugar. A 12-ounce glass of apple juice (no pulp) is about equal with the soda, clocking in at the same number of sugar calories. Your body wouldn’t know the difference whether the sugar came from a juiced batch of apples or a soda factory.”
How’s your sugar/fructose intake?
Time to swap out your soda + fruit juice with water? Good idea. :)
P.S. Perlmutter describes how your no-calorie, artificially sweetened sodas/beverages are also wreaking havoc on your system. So, give your gut a break and drop those as well. Hah!
6 keys to feeding your microbiome
“I am frequently asked how long it takes to rehabilitate a dysfunctional or underperforming microbiome. Research shows that significant changes in the array of gut bacteria can take place in as little as six days after instituting a new dietary protocol, like the one I present in this chapter. But everyone is different; your Brain Maker rehab will depend on the current state of your gut and how quickly you can fully commit to making changes.
The following are the six essential keys to sustaining a healthy microbiome, based on the latest science.”
First: Know that we CAN change/rehabilitate an underperforming microbiome. That’s step 1 in any change protocol—we need to KNOW that change is possible.
And it’s super inspiring to know that we can see significant change in as little as six days!! (Wow.) Perlmutter dedicates a chapter to unpacking the six keys to feeding our microbiome. Here’s a super quick look:
Key #1: Choose foods rich in probiotics. Think: Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, live-cultured yogurt, pickles, etc. Assemble your friendly gut bacteria army!
Key #2: Go low-carb, embrace high-quality fat. Perlmutter is a huge advocate of a scientifically-based low-carb, high fat approach. I’ve personally experienced huge benefits in adopting a similar approach. Brain Maker foods include vegetables (go leafy greens + friends!), low-sugar fruit (like avocados, zucchini, squash, etc.), fermented foods, healthy fat (all things coconut, olive oil, nuts + seeds, etc.), and protein (whole eggs, wild fish, grass-fed meat, etc.)
Key #3: Enjoy wine, tea, coffee, and chocolate. Yum!
Key #4: Choose foods rich in prebiotics. Find prebiotics in a variety of foods including garlic, onion, leeks, jicama.
Key #5: Drink filtered water. Chlorine is one of the gut-busting toxins in our environment. Solution: Filter!
Key #6: Fast every season. Perlmutter is a big fan of intermittent fasting. Think: Water-only for a day every season!
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