The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health

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HarperCollins, Jun 5, 2018 - Psychology - 336 pages

Cutting-edge neuroscience combines with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome to inform this practical guide to gut health that proves once and for all the inextricable, biological link between mind and body.

We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right;” the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Aryuvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the microbiome—the microorganisms that live inside us—communicate with one another, a crucial link that can impact chronic inflammation. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer, Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress, offers a revolutionary look at this developing science, teaching us how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of our health.

The Mind-Gut Connection shows how to keep the communication brain-gut communication clear and balanced to:

• Heal the gut by focusing on a plant-based diet

• Balance the microbiome by consuming fermented foods and probiotics, fasting, and cutting out sugar and processed foods

• Promote weight loss by detoxifying and creating a healthy digestion and maximum nutrient absorption

• Boost immunity and prevent the onset of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

• Generate a happier mindset and reduce fatigue, moodiness, anxiety, and depression

• Prevent and heal GI disorders such as leaky gut syndrome; food sensitivities and allergies; and IBS; as well as digestive discomfort such as heartburn and bloating

• And much more.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

 

Contents

The MindBody Connection Is Real
How the Mind Communicates with the
How Your Gut Talks to Your Brain
A Key Component of the GutBrain Dialogue
The Effects of Early Life Experiences on the Gut
A New Understanding of Emotions
Understanding Intuitive Decision Making
Lessons from HunterGatherers
What Evolution Did
The Simple Road Toward Wellness and Optimal Health
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
Copyright

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About the author (2018)

Emeran Mayer, MD, is the executive director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and founding director of the Goodman Luskin Microbiome Center at the University of California at Los Angeles. His research has been supported over decades by the National Institutes of Health, and he is considered a pioneer and world leader in the study of brain-gut microbiome interactions.