Healthy Reading: Brain Maker, The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

Brain Maker is such a valuable and important book to read if you want to understand the human microbiome, and the affect our gut health has on our overall mental health. Our current medical paradigm separates and compartmentalizes each body system. Each individual system, has a specific medical discipline. Many medical experts believe that what goes on in the gut, stays in the gut. Dr. Perlmutter challenges this paradigm, and teaches us just how much our gut health profoundly affects our brain health and all other areas of health. Dr. Perlmutter suggests the gut has everything to do with our general wellbeing, and our mental health.

What’s taking place in your intestines today, is determining your risk for any number of neurological conditions.

Dr. Perlmutter starts the book by introducing us to the microbiome. He discusses the germ theory and how we as a culture tend to view bacteria as a bad thing. Perlmutter teaches the reader how we have evolved to have a symbiotic relationship with our bacteria, and the essential role it plays in the health of our body. Perlmutter suggests that our gut bacteria affect our immune functions, detox, inflammation, neurotransmitter and vitamin production, nutrient absorption, and even signaling of hungry and full.

Dr. Permutter also discusses what makes for a healthy microbiome, and what makes a microbiome go “bad.” He discusses risk factors for having a microbiome imbalance, such as taking antibiotics while pregnant, being born via c-section, being diagnosed with autoimmune issues, and many more. He goes on to detail the function beneficial microbes carry out, such as creating a barrier against foreign pathogens, and aiding with digestion and nutrient absorption.

Perlmutter goes on to detail the gut-brain connection, and just how profoundly our gut health affects the health of the brain. He discusses the impact of stress and immune health in relation to the health of the brain.

The neurons in the gut are so innumerable that many scientists are now calling the totality of them the “second brain.”

Perlmutter details the three strongest forces that impact microbiome health, as well as details potential triggers and causes of a “sick” microbiome. He goes into depth about inflammation in relation to brain health, and the profound affect our modern diet has on the health of the brain. He educates the reader about the impact of gut health on depression and anxiety, two disease processes that are very common in modern culture. He also addresses dementia, autism, and other brain related conditions associated with a gut microbiome imbalance. Perlmutter details important dietary changes to make, as well as other lifestyle changes to address our gut and brain health.

The book portrays amazing passion, teaching the reader about their own gut bacteria and the impact this has on brain health. Perlmutter possesses an amazing ability to explain medical terms in a way that can be easily understood by anyone. I highly recommend this book to both practitioners and laymen alike. It is eye opening, easy to read, and life-changing in terms of understanding brain health.

About the Author:
Kathryn is a functional nutritional therapist, author, editor, and mama of two boys. She enjoys spending her free time out in nature-hiking and fishing. You can find her at www.primalmusings.com and her book “Forties on Fire” can be found on Amazon.