Science discovers: You are what you eat!
I love it when science reveals something new that effects how we treat our selves at work. Our “second brain” is in our digestive system (or gut)!
So, butterflies in the stomach are an immune system reaction to stress. And who doesn’t have stress in their workday? If you think it doesn’t make any difference to your well being and mental functions if you eat a donut or a power bar, or herb tea instead of diet soda–this article may make you think again.
No one can take better care of you at work than you can!
Selections from the article follow and a link to the complete article is below:
Think Twice: How the Gut’s ‘Second Brain’ Influences Mood and Well-Being
The emerging and surprising view of how the enteric nervous system in our bellies goes far beyond just processing the food we eat. The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body.
The second brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system, Gershon says. Scientists were shocked to learn that about 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain and not the other way around.
The enteric nervous system uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain, and in fact 95 percent of the body’s serotonin is found in the bowels. Cutting-edge research is currently investigating how the second brain mediates the body’s immune response; after all, at least 70 percent of our immune system is aimed at the gut to expel and kill foreign invaders.
For the complete article see:
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