Gut The inside story of our body's most underrated organ

Giulia Enders

Book - 2015

With quirky charm, rising science star Giulia Enders explains the gut's magic, answering questions like: Why does acid reflux happen? What's really up with gluten and lactose intolerance? How does the gut affect obesity and mood? Enders's beguiling manifesto will make you finally listen to those butterflies in your stomach: they're trying to tell you something important.

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Subjects
Published
Vancouver : Greystone Books 2015.
Language
English
German
Main Author
Giulia Enders (author)
Other Authors
Jill Enders (illustrator), David Shaw (translator)
Item Description
Originally published in Germany in 2014.
Physical Description
271 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliogaphical references.
ISBN
9781771641494
  • Preface
  • 1. Gut Feeling
  • How Does Pooping Work? And Why That's an Important Question
  • The Gateway to the Gut
  • The Structure of the Gut
  • What We Really Eat
  • Allergies and Intolerances
  • A Few Facts About Feces
  • 2. The Nervous System of the Gut
  • How Our Organs Transport Food
  • Reflux
  • Vomiting
  • Constipation
  • The Brain and the Gut
  • 3. The World of Microbes
  • I Am an Ecosystem
  • The Immune System and Our Bacteria
  • The Development of the Gut Flora
  • The Adult Gut Population
  • The Role of the Gut Flora
  • The Bad Guys-Harmful Bacteria and Parasites
  • Of Cleanliness and Good Bacteria
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
Review by Library Journal Review

The large intestine contains the biggest microbial community in the body as hundreds of species of bacteria, or microbiota, reside in the human digestive tract. While microbes are known to aid in digestion and stimulate the immune system, only recently have scientists began to study the complex, symbiotic relationship between the human gut and its microbes. In The Good Gut, -Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, professor and researcher of microbiology and immunology at -Stanford University respectively, explain the role that microbes play in the GI tract and how they relate to overall health, including possible links to obesity, autoimmune diseases, cancer, allergies, and more. While antibiotics and a low-fiber diet contribute to decreased microbiota, the good news is that gut flora diversity can be improved by consuming a microbiota-friendly diet that includes probiotics, fermented products, and high-fiber foods, especially those containing inulin, a natural storage carbohydrate. While aimed at the layperson, this title is acronym heavy: be prepared to understand SCFAs, MACs, FMTs, CDAD, EPS, and ASD. Gut, written by Enders, a medical student, takes a lighthearted approach to the "body's most underrated organ." Originally published in German and a best seller on Germany's paperback charts, the title covers the entire digestive tract-from the mouth and tonsils to the esophagus to the small and large intestine, humorously lauding the elegance of the bowels. Along the way, the author covers myriad topics: the proper way to sit on a toilet, vomiting, constipation, feces facts, and the influence the gut has on the brain. The third portion of the book covers microbes, both good and bad. -VERDICT With the increased attention paid to microbiota and the gut, readers will find each of these books noteworthy. Those interested in changing their microbiota will want to read The Good Gut; those who like a conversational approach to learning about the digestive system will prefer Gut.-Pauline Theriault, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Chapter 1: Gut Feeling The world is a much more interesting place if we look beyond what is visible to the naked eye. There is so much more to see! If we start to look more closely, a tree can be more than a spoon-shaped thing. In a highly simplified way, "spoon" is the general shape we perceive when we look at a tree: a straight trunk and a round treetop. Seeing that shape, our eyes tell us "spoon-like thing." But there are at least as many roots beneath the ground as there are branches above it. Our brain should really be telling us something like "dumbbell," but it doesn't. The brain gets most of its input from our eyes, and that information is very rarely in the form of an illustration in a book showing trees in their entirety. So, it faithfully construes a passing forest landscape as "spoon, spoon, spoon, spoon." As we "spoon" our way through life like this, we overlook all sorts of wonderful things. There is a constant buzz of activity beneath our skin. We are perpetually flowing, pumping, sucking, squeezing, bursting, repairing, and rebuilding. A whole crew of ingenious organs works so perfectly and efficiently together that, in an adult human being, they require no more energy than a 100-watt light bulb. Each second, our kidneys meticulously filter our blood--much more efficiently than a coffee filter--and in most cases they carry on doing so for our entire lives. Our lungs are so cleverly designed that we use energy only when we breathe in. Breathing out happens without any expenditure of energy at all. If we were transparent, we would be able to see the beauty of this mechanism: like a wind-up toy car, only bigger, softer, and more lung y. While some of us might be sitting around thinking "Nobody cares about me!", our heart is currently working its seventeen-thousandth twenty-four-hour shift--and would have every right to feel a little forgotten when its owner thinks such thoughts. If we could see more than meets the eye, we could watch as a clump of cells grows into a human being in a woman's belly. We would suddenly see how we develop, roughly speaking, from three tubes. The first tube runs right the way through us, with a knot in the middle. This is our cardiovascular system, and the central knot is what develops into our heart. The second tube develops more or less parallel to the first along our back. Then it forms a bubble that migrates to the top end of our body, where it stays put. This tube is our nervous system, with the spinal cord, including the brain, at the top and myriad nerves branching out into every part of our body. The third tube runs through us from end to end. This is our intestinal tube--the gut. The intestinal tube provides many of the furnishings of our interior. It grows buds that bulge out farther and farther to the right and left. These buds will later develop into our lungs. A little bit lower down, the intestinal tube bulges again and our liver has begun to develop. It also forms our gall bladder and pancreas. But, most importantly, the tube itself begins to grow increasingly clever. It is involved in the complex construction of our mouth, creates our esophagus, with its ability to move like a break dancer, and develops a little stomach pouch so we can store food for a couple of hours. And, last but not least, the intestinal tube completes its masterpiece--the eponymous intestine or gut. The masterpieces of the other two tubes--the heart and the brain--are generally held in high regard. We see the heart as central to life since it pumps blood around the body. The brain is admired for its ability to create a dazzling array of new mental images and concepts every second. But the gut, in most people's eyes, is good for little more than going to the toilet. Apart from that, people think, it just hangs around inside our bellies, letting off a little "steam" every now and then. People do not generally credit it with any particular abilities. It would be fair to say that we underestimate our gut. To put it more bluntly, we don't just underestimate it, we are ashamed of it--more "guilt feeling" than "gut feeling"! I hope this book will change that by making use of the wonderful ability that books possess to show us more than the world we see around us. Trees are not spoons, and a gut feeling is a good feeling! Excerpted from Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.