Neurologist Speaks Out About the
Importance of Gut Health for Prevention and Treatment of “Incurable”
Neurological Disorders
May 17, 2015
Story at-a-glance
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Your body is colonized by a vast array of microorganisms
that modulate every aspect of your health and
physiology, moment to moment, and you can optimize your
health by nourishing and protecting these microbes
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Gut bacteria manufacture neurochemicals such as dopamine
and serotonin, along with vitamins that are important
for brain health
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Beneficial bacteria act to prevent leaky gut, which
appears to be at the root of most autoimmune diseases
and neurological disorders
By Dr. Mercola
The quality, quantity, and composition of the bacteria in your
gut have enormous influence on your brain. Dr. David Perlmutter
explores this phenomenon in great detail in his new book,
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your
Brain-for Life.
Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of
the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He also has a clinic in
Naples, Florida, and he's been very active in publishing his
findings in peer-reviewed medical journals.
His previous book, Grain Brain, topped the New York
Times bestseller list for 54 weeks. In my view, Dr. Perlmutter is
probably the leading natural medicine neurologist in the US.
Certainly, most neurologists fail to consider how lifestyle
impacts the neurological disorders they diagnose and treat every
day, and prevention is an area of utmost importance as we still do
not have effective treatments for many of the most common brain
disorders.
"We're now recognizing from research at our most
well-respected institutions from around the globe that the
gut bacteria are wielding this very powerful sword of
Damocles," he says.
They determine whether we're going to have a healthy
brain or not, whether our brain is going to function well or
not, and whether our brain is going to become diseased or not.
Who knew that we'd be referring back to the gut?"
Microbiome Research Shreds Notion of Reductionism
It turns out that this notion of reductionism—where your body is
reduced to its individual parts—is completely nonsensical and
grossly flawed. As explained by Dr. Perlmutter, every system in your
body interrelates in a way that ultimately causes the manifestation
of either health or disease.
In a previous interview, Dr. Perlmutter discussed specific
dietary factors that influence your
brain health, but one of the primary mechanisms of action that
explains how a healthy diet "works" is that it upregulates,
modifies, and improves the quality of your gut microbiome.
"These hundred trillion bacteria that live within your
gut are so intimately involved in your brain at a number of
levels. They manufacture neurochemicals, for example. Things
like dopamine and serotonin.
They manufacture important vitamins that are important to
keep your brain healthy. They also maintain the integrity of the
lining of your gut," he explains.
The latter is important because when your gut lining becomes
compromised, you end up with permeability or leakiness of the gut.
This increases inflammation, which is a cornerstone of virtually all
brain disorders, from Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis (MS), to
Parkinson's and autism.
"We've got to really deal with it on a preventive basis,"
Dr. Perlmutter says. "[We must] understand what in our
Western culture, especially from a dietary perspective, is
threatening the health of our commensals.
We call these bacteria 'commensals' because they share
the table with us. We eat together with the bacteria. Basically,
they eat what we eat. Our food choices have a dramatic effect on
the health viability and even the diversity of those gut
bacteria."
Research Shows Swapping Gut Bacteria Can Reverse Type 2 Diabetes and
Other Diseases
A researcher in Amsterdam, Dr. Max Nieuwdorp, has published a
number of studies looking at changes in the microbiome that are
characteristic of
type 2 diabetes.
In one trial, he was able to reverse type 2 diabetes in all of
the 250 study participants by doing fecal transplantations on them.
Remarkable as it may sound, by changing the makeup of the gut
bacteria, the diabetes was resolved.
Dr. Perlmutter has embraced this new information full force, and
has even helped develop a peer-reviewed scientific journal,
Medicus, that focuses on this kind of research. They're also
holding an annual conference to which the leading microbiome
researchers in the world are invited.
In his view, and in mine, the understanding and practical
adjustment and modification of the microbiome is an important part
of the future of medicine. Fifteen years ago, we thought that the
Human Genome Project (HGP) would allow modern medicine to leapfrog
into new gene-based therapies that would solve all our ills.
That didn't happen, as HGP discovered that genetics are only
responsible for only about 10 percent of human disease,1
the rest—90 percent—are induced by environmental factors. Now we're
coming to realize that your microbiome is actually a driver of
genetic expression, turning genes on and off depending on which
microbes are present.
"The gut microbiome is 99 percent of the DNA in your
body, and it is highly responsive and changeable based upon
lifestyle choices, most importantly our food choices," Dr.
Perlmutter says.
"There's this beautiful dance that happens between the
gut bacteria and your own DNA. The gut bacteria actually
influenced the expression of our 23,000 genes. Think about that.
The bugs that live within us are changing our genome expression
moment to moment.
Our genome has not changed over thousands of years. But
now, suddenly, because we're changing our gut bacteria, we are
changing the signals that are going to our own DNA; coding now
for increasing things like free radicals, oxidative stress, and
inflammation. That is a powerful player in terms of so many
disease processes...
Being a brain specialist dealing with brain disorders, my
whole career I've been stymied by not having really powerful
tools to implement to bring about changes in individuals who
have these issues. Now we're beginning to get those tools, and
they are in the gut. Who knew?
In neurology school, we didn't study the makeup of the
gut bacteria and how that would ever influence the brain, and
yet, this is leading-edge science.
This is what our most well-respected researchers and
peer-reviewed journals are talking about: not only are the gut
bacteria fundamentally involved in brain health, but you can
change the gut bacteria by interventions – taking probiotics and
choosing to eat foods that are rich in prebiotics and to enhance
the growth of good bacteria – and even more aggressive therapies
[such as fecal transplants]"
Nourish Your Microbiome, and It Will Nourish You
Two key strategies to nourish and protect your microbiome are to
limit your consumption of antibiotics to when they're absolutely
necessary, and be judicious in terms of the foods you eat. Ideally,
opt for whole, raw organic, non-genetically modified (GM) foods,
along with traditionally fermented and cultured foods. Good examples
include
fermented vegetables of all kinds, including sauerkraut and
kimchi, kombucha (a fermented drink), and fiber-rich prebiotic foods
like jicama (Mexican yam), Jerusalem artichoke,
garlic, and dandelion greens.
Avoiding
confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) meats is also
important, as the animals raised in these factory farms are raised
on antibiotics, which changes their microbiome as well.
This routine practice also promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria
that now threaten the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each
year.
Pesticides have also been shown to alter gut bacteria and foster
drug-resist bacteria in the soil and food, so organically-grown and
raised foods are really your best bet.
"These are all very relevant lifestyle choices that we
can make to enhance the health and the diversity of the gut
bacteria. That's going to give us a lifelong advantage in terms
of being resistant to the very diseases that we dread the most,"
Dr. Perlmutter says.
"The true definition of symbiosis: we're supporting their
health and they are supporting our health. We do that by the
foods that we eat. They are, as I said, commensals. We're
sharing this meal. We treat them right by eating fermented foods
that are rich in probiotic bacteria and prebiotic foods that
contain prebiotic types of fiber like inulin and
fructooligosaccharides (FOS).
These are nutrients that enhance the growth of good
bacteria with multitudes of studies indicating things like
weight loss, a better control of blood sugar, and reduction of
inflammation... One study came out just last month showing how
children with allergic rhinitis and breathing issues have
improvements by just giving them fiber to enhance the growth of
healthy bacteria."
The Link Between the Microbiome and Autoimmune Disease
Inflammation is a hallmark of autoimmune diseases such as MS, Lou
Gehrig's disease, Crohn's, and inflammatory bowel disease, just to
name a few. As explained by Dr. Perlmutter, many of the factors that
affect permeability of the blood-brain barrier are similar to those
that affect the gut, which is why leaky gut can lead to neurological
diseases as easily as it can manifest as some other form of
autoimmune disorder.
The permeability of your gut lining can be measured by looking at
a chemical called lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is the covering
over certain groups of bacteria in your gut. When you have higher
levels of antibodies against LPS in the bloodstream, it's a marker
of leaky gut.
LPS is also in and of itself a powerful instigator of the
inflammatory cascade. Higher levels of LPS in the blood dramatically
increase inflammation throughout your body, including your brain.
Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease, for example, are both
correlated with dramatically elevated levels of LPS.
"In Brain Maker I present pretty aggressive
treatments for maintaining and restoring gut health using a
variety of techniques – from using probiotic enemas to even
going as far as having people get fecal transplantation. And do
we see success? We sure do," Dr. Perlmutter says.
"I have a case history in Brain Maker of a young
man with MS who couldn't walk without two canes and who
underwent a series of fecal transplantations in Europe, and came
back and walks without any assistance whatsoever. His videotape
is linked to the book and is on our site. I use the video of
this man walking when I do lectures to physicians. They look at
this with their jaws hanging, because again, for you and me,
this was never even a consideration in medical school...
If you did pay any attention to the gut you'd become a
gastroenterologist, otherwise there'd be no interest in looking
at it. But it turns out that it's relevant whether you're a
gastroenterologist, a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a joint
specialist, a skin specialist, or even a cancer specialist.
We've got to pay attention to nurturing these bacteria if we're
going to keep people healthy."
Seven Essential Keys to Rehabilitate Your Gut, from Birth to Death
In his book, Dr. Perlmutter delves into seven essential keys for
rehabilitating your gut, starting at birth.
1. Vaginal birth |
Do everything you can to avoid a Caesarian section. When
you elect to deliver a child via Caesarian section – and
there are times when it needs to be done to save the life of
the mother or the baby—understand that by and large, you're
tripling the risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) and doubling the risk for autism in your
child. You're also dramatically increasing the risk that
your child will struggle with obesity, type 1 diabetes, and
allergies. These are all inflammatory issues that are
dramatically increased in children born via Caesarian
section.
Dr. Perlmutter describes a simple and elegant technique
developed by researchers at Yale University, whereby an
organic gauze sponge is placed in the birth canal before the
mother who is going to have a C-section is given the IV
antibiotics. The sponge is then removed, the antibiotics are
given, and as soon as the baby is born, the sponge is placed
over the baby's face, inoculating the child with its
mother's bacteria. This could be a good adjunct anytime a
Caesarian is required. Unfortunately, at present it's
unlikely you'd be able to get your doctor to do it. |
2. Breastfeeding |
Aside from providing the most appropriate nutrients,
breast feeding also affects your child's microbiome via
bacterial transfer from skin contact. |
3. Antibiotics |
When you change your microbiome, certain groups of
bacteria tend to be favored, such as the Firmicutes group.
When present in excess, Firmicutes increase your risk of
obesity. Animal research shows that when you change the
animals' microbiome using antibiotics, they gain weight. We
also give antibiotics to cattle to make them fatter, faster.
The same thing occurs in your body, which is why avoiding
unnecessary antibiotics is so important.
Disinfectant products like antibacterial soaps and hand gels
also fall into this category and should be avoided as much
as possible. |
4. Refined sugar and processed fructose |
Sugar and
high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) preferentially increases
the growth of pathogenic disease-causing bacteria, fungi,
and yeast, so limiting the amount of refined and processed
sugars in your diet is a key dietary principle for gut
health.
According to Dr. Perlmutter, fructose in particular promotes
gut dysbiosis, and there's also a good correlation between
fructose consumption and the levels of LPS, the inflammatory
marker that shows your gut is leaking.
Fructose is also far more aggressive in terms of causing
glycation of protein than other sugars, meaning high levels
of sugar in your blood that bind to proteins. This too is
correlated with leaky gut, and may explain why fructose
consumption is related to increased gut permeability, and
inflammatory diseases like obesity. |
5. Genetically engineered foods and pesticides |
Avoid genetically engineered foods. As noted by Dr.
Perlmutter: "Yes, there is a clear and present danger in
the notion of genetically modifying the food that we share
with our gut bacteria. The gut bacteria are expecting the
type of food that they have been provided for a couple of
million years.
Suddenly, we're introducing foods that are genetically
unlike anything the human microbiome has ever seen. The
research that allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
to allow genetically modified food has not even considered
looking at the
effects of GMOs on the human microbiome."
Glyphosate, which is liberally used on genetically
engineered Roundup Ready crops, and many non-organic non-GMO
crops as well, has also been found to alter the human
microbiome, so genetically engineered foods deliver a double
assault on your gut bacteria every time you eat it.
"We're poisoning the food that we eat. If that's not bad
enough, that's the food we're feeding our microbiome, which
are going to determine whether we live or die," Dr.
Perlmutter says. "It's a bit of a worry." |
6. Probiotic foods |
Focus on eating probiotic foods, such as fermented
vegetables, sauerkraut,
kimchi, kefir, and kombucha (a fermented drink). A
broad-spectrum probiotic supplements may also be
advisable—especially if you have to take a course of
antibiotics. |
7. Prebiotic fiber |
Consume plenty of prebiotic fiber. Not all fibers are
prebiotic, so not any old fiber will do the job here. Whole
foods are the best. Examples include dandelion greens, which
can be lightly sautéd, Mexican yam or jicama that can be
chopped up raw and put in your salad.
Onions and leeks are also excellent choices. These kinds of
foods will allow your gut bacteria to flourish, which is the
key to health, disease resistance, and longevity. |
Optimal Health and Disease Prevention Begins in Your Gut
By making new choices, following the recommendations outlined
above—which are not excessively complex by any means—you can
rehabilitate your gut bacteria so that they will do "the heavy
lifting" of preventing disease and promoting the healthy function of
your body and mind.
To learn more, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Dr.
Perlmutter's NY Times bestselling book,
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your
Brain-for Life. In it you will also find plenty of
references from well-respected medical journals that you can use to
make more empowered choices.
Ultimately, it's a magnificent handbook on how to take control of
your health and prevent and/or treat many diseases that are
considered "incurable" from the conventional point of view,
including Alzheimer's disease and MS.
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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