Netflix’s new documentary Hack your Health, The Secrets of your Gut says the bacteria in our gut can make us depressed. Some people say the gut is a second brain. Is this fact or fiction?
There is an indisputable link between the brain and the gut — your oesophagus, stomach, large intestine and small intestine. Peer reviewed.
I could point you to any one of hundreds of studies proving this, but I will speak from personal experience instead. At Rhodes University more than two decades ago, when it was still an aspirational place to attend (or was I delusional?), whenever I went to the library my stomach would turn and I would have to rush back to the res bathroom — no-one used the library toilets, did they? The idea of all those books, all that knowledge, all the potential it could unlock in me, made me so nervous I became a cramping wreck. Perhaps I am too sensitive. My gut responds to my brain the way X and the media, excluding Business Day, respond to manufactured crises.
The gut-brain connection is wired into our cultural heritage. Follow your gut. A gut feeling. It takes guts to stand up for what you believe in.
What do I know in my gut? Our health minister takes us for a fool, that’s what. He is defending National Health Insurance (NHI) like a ravenous Viking — precisely to bring decent universal healthcare to all because those without medical aid can’t get it — yet he was “genuinely” surprised when Tom London’s viral video exposed Helen Joseph Hospital as a disgusting swamp. So surprised, in fact, he sent in the health ombudsman to investigate. Come on!
A few years ago, some drugged-up kids were racing and smashed into me while I was at a traffic light. It was a horrific accident. I was between jobs ... and medical aids. The ambulance took me to Helen Joseph and after seeing what I saw while waiting in triage I signed myself out, concussion or no concussion, internal bleeding or not. A young Wits student warned me of the potential consequences. I preferred them. And signed up for medical aid.
Scientists say the gut has a brain. It is called the enteric nervous system (ENS). According to Johns Hopkins University: “The ENS may trigger big emotional shifts experienced by people coping with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional bowel problems such as constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, pain and stomach upset. For decades, researchers and doctors thought that anxiety and depression contributed to these problems. But our studies and others show that it may also be the other way around. Researchers are finding evidence that irritation in the gastrointestinal system may send signals to the central nervous system (CNS) that trigger mood changes.”
According to a fascinating paper in the journal Frontiers this year called “Depression-associated microbes, metabolites and clinical trials”: “The most significant new discovery in this research was the connection between Sellimonas and depression symptoms. Bacterial species belonging to the Sellimonas genus are involved in various inflammatory diseases, potentially linking them to inflammation in individuals with depression.”
The Netflix documentary is likely to be as accurate as it can be in 2024. I enjoyed it, but found the silly animated stuff off-putting. It was good to watch because it resonated with me.
I live with a holistic health fanatic. One of the most difficult evolutions in our relationship was her comfort discussing gut health and bowel movements. Including colour and viscosity. Culturally, we are shaped to feel shameful about that which is flushed and forgotten. Her father was a forward-thinking holistic health practitioner, decades ahead of his time, and he taught her that for her to be healthy and happy, her gut needs to be, too. She takes it seriously.
It would appear to come down to what we eat, the dogs that lick us, the unwashed hands we shake and the people we are intimate with. The latest research suggests it may also be down to what we think and how we manage life’s stress.
As we learn more, it appears to be more fact than fiction. The Water Cooler loved that the documentary wasn’t pro-vegan propaganda. Nothing wrong with vegans, just their propaganda. Eat cleanly, and if you need it, get help to manage stress and depression. Your two brains depend on it.
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