Gut Feeling part 1

We all know the expression, but what does it mean?

Well, when we talk about ‘Gut Feeling’ we often use it in terms of intuition, tummy butterflies, and either a sense of foreboding or as a reason to take a particular decision…’go with your gut’ is advice that we have all heard many times.

And, as advice goes it is often perfectly sound, and there is a reason for that.

The Body’s Second Brain

The Enteric Nervous System (ENS), often referred to as ‘the second brain’ is a deeply complex network of more than 100 million nerve cells and up to 600 million neurons that line the gastrointestinal tract from the oesophagus to the rectum.

Human bodies are packed with miracles of nature, and the ENS is right up there with the most miraculous. It determines the movements of the gastrointestinal tract, regulates the secretion of gastric acid, and the release of gut hormones all the while interacting with the immune system in the gut.

But why, you may ask are we telling you all this?

Because it will give you some idea of the complexity of the ‘moving parts’ of the gut, and why we stress the importance of diet to good gut health. In the companion article to this introduction we explore the connection between diet and a healthy gut, and we even make a quick reference to a possible link between gut microbiota, also known as intestinal flora, and some neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

You can read the second part of our article on our website, right here.

Go on, you know that you want to.