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1-Page Summary of Brain Maker

Overview

In Grain Brain, the author outlines how what you eat can cause or mitigate serious brain disorders like anxiety, ADHD and depression. You need to take care of your diet if you want a healthy brain, and here are some key points that tell you why.

It is said that the way to a person’s heart is through his stomach. Turns out, it may be true for health as well.

Alzheimer’s, autism, depression and obesity are all diseases that could potentially be stymied or cured by the right balance of miraculous little creatures that live in our gut. It turns out that the health of your brain is closely linked to the health of your gut. Gut bacteria provides your body with valuable vitamins and helps to ward off infection, not to mention other nasty bacteria that would rather trigger inflammation and lay siege to your system.

The good news is that you can have a say in which group of bacteria prevails. In doing so, you’ll be able to prevent diseases by being smart about what you eat.

In this article, you’ll read about how the chemicals in plastic notebooks can cause weight gain. You’ll also learn that good gut flora can reduce autism symptoms and why eating a curry with turmeric may improve brain function.

Big Idea #1: The type and amount of microbes in your gut can affect how big your waistline is.

The human gut is filled with tons and tons of bacteria. This fact seems strange, but it’s actually critical to your health.

Let’s start with your weight. The type of bacteria you have can determine whether you stay slim or become obese.

Two types of bacteria account for 90 percent of the gut’s microbiome. They are firmicutes and bacteroidetes.

Scientists don’t know the ideal ratio of these groups, but they do know that when you have more firmicutes than bacteroidetes, you can suffer from inflammation and potentially obesity.

Bacteria are critical for extracting energy from food. They help you consume more calories by breaking down food into smaller components that your body can use. In contrast, bacteria don’t break down foods as much as they break down plant fibers and starches.

Researchers at Harvard looked at the connection between obesity and a person’s microbiome. They focused on two groups of people: those living in Western countries, where obesity is common, and Africans, who have virtually no cases of obesity. The researchers found that there were notable differences in the microbiomes of both groups.

Scientists found that Africans had more bacteroidetes in their gut, while Westerners had more firmicutes. This suggests that obesity may be partly due to having too many firmicutes.

Your microbes help you maintain your weight. They also support the liver, which is responsible for getting rid of toxins in your body.

However, a healthy gut can also help the liver in its work by acting as a second line of defense against toxins. By neutralizing these toxins, the gut microbes take some pressure off the liver and keep it healthier!

Big Idea #2: Your body protects you from harm, but sometimes it can go haywire and cause damage.

The body reacts to insect bites by producing redness around the area. This is called inflammation and it’s a natural process that helps your body fight off infection and disease.

Inflammation is necessary to fight infections and injuries. However, it can sometimes be harmful when it gets out of control. Most people think that inflammation only affects the skin or throat, but it actually has a much larger scope than that. The body’s inflammatory response helps the immune system fight off infection and injury.

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Brain Maker Book Summary, by David Perlmutter, Kristin Loberg