Could this be serious? You might not need psychotropic drugs to heal your brain? Who would propose such an idea? And why would any sane person accept this idea?
OK. I am not being serious. I just blogged about whether we can trust our own brain, and the answer is frequently we cannot. Our mind plays tricks on us because of its low computing power in the prefrontal cortex. That lack of computing power is dealt with by the brain in some increasingly predictable ways, like resistance to change. This idea is one that forms a part of my strategy to deal with ACEs and the many problems it causes in behavior.
Well, this psychiatrist came to the conclusion that drugs are not the answer. [LINK HERE]. Dr. Kelly Brogan is said to have described herself as a pharmaceutical cowboy. I have seen this in my work. When you want a psychiatrist on staff or contract, you schedule them out in 15 minute intervals for the purpose of issuing prescriptions. I don’t know any psychiatrists who actually have sessions with patients.
So can the bacteria in your stomach actually help heal your brain? A lot of professionals are trying it, and meeting with success. I have argued that our body is a system, with many components that have to work together. One component is referred to as the “microbiome.” In 2007, the Human Microbiome Project was started to catalog the different types of bacteria in our body. [LINK HERE]. There’s a lot in our system. In fact, it’s estimated that 50% of the dopamine and a vast majority of our serotonin originate from bacteria in our gut. If you don’t have the bacteria, your body and brain suffer.
This is one reason the second step in my restoration to health hypothesis involves a nutritional assessment. Our body is a system that has developed over millions of years, and we don’t know how it is supposed to function when we encounter changes in our diet. Many of us have deficiencies in Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D3, an inability to fully metabolize the B vitamins and a woefully unbalanced microbiome. Our diets don’t support health gut bacteria. Dietary changes and promotion of health stomach bacteria can make a significant difference in how our brain functions. If you don’t believe it, what do you risk by trying it? Do a “gut bacteria transplant” [LINK HERE] and see if your health improves. I am kidding. Unless you have server problems, you don’t need the transplant. Instead, you can just alter your eating habits and eat more gut friendly foods. Here’s a chart that shows what to change.
By the way, an estimate of the weight of gut bacteria in the average person is 5 pounds.
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