The DL on Gut Health (aka your 3rd brain)
We have 3 brains? Yep, you sure do!
The first one is the one between your ears (obviously necessary). Science and Health experts call your "gut" your 2nd brain. It is interesting to note that 90% of the body’s serotonin and 50% of its dopamine, lie in the gut - (obviously VERY important as well). The authoritative journal “Brain Behavior and Immunity” published an article in 2010 entitled “Mood and Gut Feelings”. The article concluded by stating “It may be that we need to change the focus from the brain and look at the role of the gut in what have traditionally been thought of as brain-based disorders. #foodforthoughtAnd your 3rd Brain? In 2010, a team of researchers discovered a new organ that has gone undetected for for the thousands of years that human anatomy has been recorded. Researchers are calling this newly discovered organ the Microbiome.
The leading researcher, Dr. Ruggiero explains the Microbiome in layman’s terms; the microbiome (3rd brain) is comprised of trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts, parasites, and unknown microbes. Nearly 70% of the microbiome is plugged directly into the neurons that make up the 2nd brain. The other 30% is distributed throughout the body in the sinus cavities, blood, skin, and tear ducts.
This Microbiome is a community of microbial cells that outnumber your human cells ten to one and it plays a much bigger part in your overall health than previously thought. This Microbiome effects our energy, mood, the pH of your body, mental clarity, ability to focus, our digestive track, our ability to absorb nutrients in our digestive track, our adrenal system and thyroid, the ability of our body to naturally detox, the function of our organs, gut health, and more.
"The microbiome is much more than the gut microflora. It is a complex organ that is responsible for the development and function of all the other organs and systems, from the brain inside our heads to the immune system. The influence of the microbiome, that is located all over our body and not only inside the gut, on our behavior and intellectual functions is so significant that it can be aptly named “the third brain” as it is described in the book," "Your Third Brain" by Peter Greenlaw.
And as far as a topic that is close to home (as a breast-feeding mama)... "The microbiome is created at birth when a baby comes into the world. In natural childbirth the baby picks up bacteria, fungus, viruses, and yeast as it passes through the birth canal. As the mother feeds her baby with colostrum and then breast milk it obtains immunogenic proteins and healthy glycosaminoglycans. A very complex fermentation process starts to occur involving the mother’s milk and all the fungi, yeasts, bacteria, parasites and microbes. About 40 particular bacteria play a crucial role in the process of creating the microbiome. The formation of the intact microbiome takes from two to three years. Once fully formed the microbiome becomes, in essence, the operating system for the human body..." (Reference)
As you can see, this GROUNDBREAKING research is HUGE when it comes to the way we, as humans, operate - even from the beginning of conception. Dr. Ruggiero has done an independent study on the make-up of the shakes we use and coach people with and concluded that "it is perhaps the most perfect blend of essential nutrition that you can supply to your three brains and hence to your whole body." So while essential oils are great, non-toxic household and body products (and makeup) are a must, EVERYTHING still comes down to our building healthy cells at a microscopic level, which includes cleansing and our gut health.
There is a reason we will never go a day without this nutrition and why we wont ever stop sharing it...the health of the world depends on it...and the health of MY world - my family - depends on it too. Yours should too...