Alien Bacteria = Brain Control
We carry 100 times more bacteria inside us than our own cells. It’s a lot of bacteria, and while most of it is helpful, some of it is not. It seems that bacteria is a picky eater, favoring what they grow best in, not just accepting whatever we eat. Some like fat, other bacteria likes sugar, to go forth and multiply. According to an article in the journal BioEssays, researchers from UC San Francisco, Arizona State University, and the U of New Mexico, microbes influence human eating behavior and dietary choices. This, in turn, could alter our behavior, mood, and physiological responses because the digestive tract, the gut, is linked to the endocrine (hormone), the immunity, and the nervous system.
Gut bacteria interacts with the vagus nerve (100 million nerve cells) which connects the gut to the base of the brain. That’s the super highway nervous system connecting everything in the body to everything else. We know that the body talks to itself, so it isn’t surprising that the gut talks to the brain, and the brain talks back.
When you eat something disagreeable, tainted, or rotten, it sends a signal to your brain and makes you feel bad, or have a gagging reflex. You put it down and leave it alone. So, in my case, I stop eating liver. No, wait, I never started eating liver because I know that very shortly after eating anything livery, I will begin to barf. That’s a physiological and behavior response to even the thought of liver. This is the brain talking to the body. On the other hand, woofing a donut is sheer happiness, until I get on the scale. Or try to put on a pair of pants that I could comfortably wear 35 years ago.
I can already hear, “it isn’t my fault that I’m fat, sick, or cranky, and I can’t do anything about it because it’s all microbes in my body controlling me.” And of course, you’re wrong.
The good news is that gut bacteria can be managed with pre-biotics, probiotics, antibiotics, fecal transplants (what?), and dietary changes, according to Dr. Aktipis, currently in the Arizona State University Department of Psychology.
We get better at healthy eating by eating healthy, same as we get better at moving more by moving better. Food is practice, like anything else. The more we eat unhealthy food, the more we want it. And the less we eat unhealthy food, the less we crave it.
But it’s nice to know that there’s an alien in my mind that needs some tough love and governance. You really are what you eat, so think about smarter choices. Or be prepared for the consequences of alien mind control.
That’s Aging Intelligently