The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long Term Health
Written by Justin Sonnenburg and Erica Sonnenburg
Narrated by Marc Cashman
4/5
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About this audiobook
Genetics and lifestyle are thought to be the two most important determinants of good health. But that is not the whole story. We have a second genome, our gut bacteria, that sets the dial on our bodies. Unlike our DNA, we can influence the gut bacteria, or microbiota, to optimize all aspects of our health.
In The Good Gut, noted Stanford researchers Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, who are doing cutting-edge research on the microbiota, investigate how the trillions of microbes that reside in our gastrointestinal tract help define us, affecting everything from our immune response to our weight, allergic reactions, aging and emotions; how they are under threat from the Western diet, our antibiotics, and our sterilized environment; and how we can nurture our individual microbiota.
This is urgent news. The recent change in our gut microbiota is linked to the alarming increase in obesity and autoimmune diseases. Our intestinal microbiota play an important role in the prevalence of predominantly Western afflictions, such as cancer, diabetes, allergies, asthma, autism, and inflammatory bowel diseases. These gut bacteria are facing a mass extinction, and the health consequences are dire. The average American has 1,200 different types of bacteria residing in his or her gut. That may seem like a lot until you consider that the average Amerindian living in the Amazon has 1,600 species and is much less likely to develop Western maladies.
How can we keep our microbiota off the endangered species list? How can we strengthen the community that inhabits our gut and thereby improve our own health?
Your prescription for gut health is unique to you, and it changes as you age. The Good Gut offers a new plan for health that focuses on how to nourish your microbiota, including recipes and a menu plan. Drs. Sonnenburg look at safe alternatives to antibiotics; dietary and lifestyle choices to encourage microbial health; the management of the aging microbiota; and the nourishment of your own individual microbiome.
The proper understanding and care of our gut may be the most important health choice we can make.
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Reviews for The Good Gut
45 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I found this book to be highly informative and potentially useful. The author provides information on the relationship between microbiota and ourselves. He explains how we live in a relationship with microbes, which is both beneficial and antagonistic. I found the information on microbial influence on our brain to be interesting. The authors practical advice on the influence diet on microbes in our gut and our health/aging is helpful. I recommend this book to anyone who is living in a microbial world.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awesome book! It is very helpful, detailed, and informative! I will definitely listen to more from this author.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sonnenburgs have written a well-researched and compelling read. I had no idea of the huge importance the microbes that reside in our guts play in our overall health and well- being. As a quick summary, the Sonnenburgs, through their research, have identified some things that have been proven to have a negative impact on the development and maintenance of a health microbiota:
- birth by caesarean section
- lack of breast feeding
- use of antibiotics
- use of antibacterial household cleaners and hand sanitizers
- increased dependence on processed foods
- diminished plant-based diet
- decreased consumption of fibre