Gut Health and Your Brain: What Is the Link?

Give Up Diet Soda, Limit Antibiotic Use, and Eat Fermented Foods

Over the last several years, there have been exciting research breakthroughs linking gut health to your brain, immunology, and overall health.

Most people think bacteria are harmful, but the trillions of good bacteria in our stomachs are critical to our overall health. Most things we ingest enter through the stomach, so it’s no surprise that the stomach affects our immune systems. The strong link between the gut and other organs — including the brain — is new.

Doctors and scientists believe the balance of bacteria in a Western diet is key to higher instances of obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases.

Gut Health Is Your Body’s First Line of Defense

Inflammation is a leading cause of several dangerous ailments. The wrong balance of gut bacteria in the human digestive system leads to inflammation throughout the body.

You can learn a lot about gut health by reading Brain Maker by Dr. David Perlmutter, MD, and The Microbiome Solution by Dr. Robynne Chutkan, MD.

So, what are we doing in the West that’s destroying the balance of good gut bacteria? Several factors have led to poor gut health in the US and other Western countries.

High Carb Diet

Carbohydrates dominate the Western diet. Bacteroidetes (B-type) and Firmicutes (F-type) are two families of good bacteria in your gut. The F-type thrives on carbohydrates.

A 2010 Harvard Study found that gut bacteria of African tribes, who ate a high-fiber diet with few added sugars and less processed food, resulted in a microbiome dominated by the B-type bacteria. A Western diet resulted in a microbiome dominated by F-type bacteria.

The African tribes experienced little obesity or diabetes. We all know about obesity problems in Western countries. It turns out that F-type bacteria digest complex carbohydrates more efficiently for both energy extraction and fat absorption.

When we eat more carbs than we need, these F-type gut bacteria become great fat storage machines that create bigger and bigger waistlines.

Antibiotics

People in the US take antibiotics like candy. While antibiotics were initially intended to treat life-threatening bacterial infections, patients demand — and doctors often prescribe — antibiotics for many inconvenient illnesses.

Many of these illnesses, such as ear infections, strep throat, routine coughs, and even the flu, are not life-threatening.

Antibiotics don’t just attack harmful bacteria that make us sick; they also kill some good bacteria in our gut. They can dramatically change the balance of good and bad bacteria in your digestive system, leading to longer-term ailments.

Gluten

Gluten can weaken the intestinal wall of your stomach and lead to a ‘leaky gut.’

According to Harvard’s Dr. Alessio Fasano, exposure to gliadin protein in gluten increases gut permeability. That means microorganisms can sneak in and out through the walls. When gliadin and other compounds, such as lipopolysaccharides, pass through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, they cause inflammation and other issues throughout the body. The brain is particularly at risk. This gives rise to a number of dangerous ailments.

How Bioengineered Food Kills Gut Health

In a 2023 study by Bio-Engineered, researchers found that global pesticide usage has doubled between 1990 and 2022 to four million metric tonnes, with an annual growth rate of 4% since 2015. The rapidly expanding use of herbicides and pesticides fuels debates about the effect of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are now called bioengineered (BE) organisms. One of the chemicals used in herbicides is glyphosate, which can leak into our food and kill good gut bacteria. According to the CDC, 81% of the US population has had contact with glyphosate.

That said, new laws and research have changed the debate, and you should make an effort to understand the BE issue.

Artificial Sweeteners

I have bad news for you if you drink diet sodas because you think the lower calorie count helps control weight. Artificial sweeteners have been linked to obesity, and diet soda has been linked to higher chances of developing  Type 2 Diabetes and other life-shortening conditions. Studies are ongoing to determine these artificial sweeteners’ effects on the human microbiome, but they have already been shown to harm gut health in mice.

Lifestyle Makes All the Difference

Luckily, not all the news is terrible. You can repair your gut bacteria balance by making a few lifestyle changes, including but not limited to the following:

• Eating fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi, which are loaded with probiotics.
• Reducing carbohydrates, especially sugar and processed wheat.
• Eliminating most, if not all, artificial sweeteners.
• Choosing organic plant-based foods.

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[Editors’ Note: To learn more about this and related topics, you may want to attend the following on-demand webinars (which you can view at your leisure, and each includes a comprehensive customer PowerPoint about the topic):

1. Why Green Investing?
2. Challenges in the Food Chain
3. Connecting Investors to Firms’ Food Waste Solutions

This is an updated version of an article published on February 2, 2017, and updated on November 13, 2022. This article was most recently updated by the Financial Poise Editors.]

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