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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/12/beware--bacteria-growing-in-your-gut-can-influence-your-behavior.aspx
Excerpt:

Most people fail to realize that your gut is quite literally your second brain, and actually has the ability to significantly influence your:
  • Mind
  • Mood
  • Behavior
So while modern psychiatry still falsely claims that psychological problems such as depression are caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain, researchers keep finding that depression and a variety of behavioral problems actually appear to be linked
http://familyfirst.com/where-is-your-second-brain.html
Excerpt:
Of course you know –it’s what guides your behavior almost constantly…
Your stomach!
According to a January 25, 2011, Wall Street Journal article, “Hungry? Your Stomach Really Does Have A Mind of Its Own,” the over 500 million nerve cells of your stomach represents a powerhouse of sensation for your body, like another brain.
One of the ground-breaking experts in the field of health study, Dr. Earl Mindell agrees.  Mindell has written over 50 books including the classic The Vitamin Bible which celebrates its 30th year in 2011 with a new edition.  His other books include topics ranging from the benefits of soy, prescription drug alternatives to herbs, supplements and his newest book, The Nutrition Bible.
The second brain theory is a powerful idea. The problem is, our 2nd brains are telling us the wrong things. We continue to be hungry but for the wrong things.
Mindells tell Family First we are a nation of sugarholics. From the youngest age, we are rewarded with sugary treats – cake on our birthday, cookies for being good, pie on holidays. We train our bodies to crave sugar.
Sometimes, we don’t even know that we are eating sugar but foods such as breads and pastas also contain sugars. Mindell says there are 32 ways to say “sugar” on a label. Look for anything that ends in “–ose” and you’ve found a form of sugar: sucrose, fructose, and don’t forget corn syrup too.
This addiction to sugar has created a nation with 3 out of 4 people considered overweight and 25% of those people are obese.  In his book The Nutrition Bible, Mindell has even coined a new phrase “diabesity” the condition of our obesity causing Type II Diabetes (Adult On-set).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora
Excerpt:
Acquisition of gut flora in human infants
The gastrointestinal tract of a normal fetus is sterile. During birth and rapidly thereafter, bacteria from the mother and the surrounding environment colonize the infant's gut. Immediately after vaginal delivery, babies may have bacterial strains derived from the mothers' feces in the upper gastrointestinal tract.[13] Infants born by caesarean section may also be exposed to their mothers' microflora, but the initial exposure is most likely to be from the surrounding environment such as the air, other infants, and the nursing staff, which serve as vectors for transfer.[14] The primary gut flora in infants born by caesarean delivery may be disturbed for up to six months after birth, whereas vaginally born infants take up to one month for their intestinal microflora to be well established.[citation needed] After birth, environmental, oral and cutaneous bacteria are readily transferred from the mother to the infant through suckling, kissing, and caressing. All infants are initially colonized by large numbers of E. coli and streptococci. Within a few days, bacterial numbers reach 108 to 1010 per gram of feces.[14][15] During the first week of life, these bacteria create a reducing environment favorable for the subsequent bacterial succession of strict anaerobic species mainly belonging to the genera Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Clostridium, and Ruminococcus.[16] Breast-fed babies become dominated by bifidobacteria, possibly due to the contents of bifidobacterial growth factors in breast milk.[17][18] In contrast, the microbiota of formula-fed infants is more diverse, with high numbers of Enterobacteriaceae, enterococci, bifidobacteria, Bacteroides, and clostridia.[19][20] By the second year of life, the fecal microflora resemble that of adults.

http://headaches.about.com/od/migraineprevention/a/gut_brain.htm
Excerpt:
Dr. Michael Gershon, in "The Second Brain," explores the field of neurogastroenterology, which he says,

    "began when the first investigators determined that there really is a second brain in the bowel... the gut contains nerve cells that can 'go it alone'; that is, they can operate the organ without instructions from the brain or spinal cord."
You may have read about lesions being detected on the brains of Migraineurs. They're also found in patients with other neurological diseases, and the type of lesions found in the brains of those with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases have also been found in the nerve tissue of their enteric (digestive) nervous systems, what Dr. Gershon calls "the second brain." Gershon also states that "95% of the body's serotonin is made in the bowel." Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters affected by a Migraine.

http://pointofreturn.com/gut_health.html

http://www.natren.com/news/November_2010.html



Dr. Michael Gershon has devoted his career to understanding the human bowel (the stomach, esophagus, small intestine, and colon). His thirty years of research have led to an extraordinary rediscovery: nerve cells in the gut that act as a brain. This "second brain" can control our gut all by itself. Our two brains -- the one in our head and the one in our bowel -- must cooperate. If they do not, then there is chaos in the gut and misery in the head -- everything from "butterflies" to cramps, from diarrhea to constipation. Dr. Gershon's work has led to radical new understandings about a wide range of gastrointestinal problems including gastroenteritis, nervous stomach, and irritable bowel syndrome. The Second Brain represents a quantum leap in medical knowledge and is already benefiting patients whose symptoms were previously dismissed as neurotic or "it's all in your head."

What I want people to understand is that we agree that migraine is neurological in its origins.  However what many people, including most doctors, sadly, do not realize is the level of neurological function that occurs in the digestive system.  This is where the work of Dr. Gershon (author of The Second Brain) and others is truly opening new doors of possibility.

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