Gut-Brain Relationship In Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health through Diet, Gottschall documents the causes and cures of IBD in 1986. She noticed nervous system disorders disappeared when the diet was followed. Mental symptoms disappeared first, then physical. SCD and GAPS are known to heal intestinal inflammation and neurological disorders, including autism, Alzheimer’s and eating disorders. In intestinal inflammation, the current thin layer of epithelial cells on the gut wall is ruptured and leaking in most people. The ruptured epithelial cells allow lumen intestinal contents into the blood, to be circulated and to affect the brain. The brain is a large fatty organ of the nervous system that has tremendous energy needs. When the gut is fed well, the brain begins to heal. The gut contains the enteric nervous system within its four muscular layers. The enteric nerves allow gut muscles to develop peristalsis, the natural muscle movement of the intestines. The gut needs to perform well for the brain to do so.
Healing Mental Health through the Gut
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by Sheila Shea
ental illness is reversible, and one can heal through nutrition and coping skills. Mental health encompasses social and emotional behavior. Here, we’ll focus more specifically on three mental health issues: Alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorders and eating disorders. When the gut heals, the mind heals. That’s what both Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride and Elaine Gottschall found in their studies and case histories. The focus of Gottschall’s nutritional healing is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and her program, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). One of her daughters had ulcerative colitis, a form of IBD. Campbell-McBride developed the gut and psychology syndrome (GAPS) to heal her son, who was autistic. She has since published several books, including Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and last year, Gut and Physiology Syndrome. Dr. Dale Bredesen, author of The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, found through research and clinical practice that Alzheimer’s is reversible. His protocol is called ReCODE and uses SCD to promote healing. It attributes Alzheimer’s to three metabolic and toxic threats: inflammation (from infection, diet); suboptimal levels of nutrients, hormones and other synapse-supporting molecules; and toxic exposures (metals and microbes such as mold). In ReCODE, healing the gut is a priority. 18
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Influence of Hormones The hormone insulin stores fat and prevents fat burning. Predominantly, people burn glucose, however, the body has the ability to burn fat. The goal is to open both pathways and develop metabolic flexibility and potential. Insulin and glucose have to be low to allow fat burning and the formation of ketones that feed the body. The brain thrives on ketones and utilizes ketones more efficiently than glucose. Ketosis is the process in which the liver produces ketone bodies by breaking down fat. Develop metabolic flexibility, by utilizing both pathways. Raise serotonin and rebuild the happy pathway by cooking and coping. Ideally, open all energy pathways in the body.
The 4 Cs Are we in control of our executive function and decision making when we eat processed foods? Are we biochemically controlled by processed food? According to Dr. Robert Lustig, we are. In Hacking of the American Mind, Lustig lays out his 4 Cs: connect, contribute, cope and cook. Those behaviors
Sheila Shea
