Summary of Emeran Mayer's The Mind-Gut Connection

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The traditional approach to medicine does not seem to be able to explain the current problems with our health. We are beginning to realize that the brain and the gut communicate with each other, and that their cross talk is important for our health.

#2 The medical system’s disease model worked extremely well for certain acute diseases, such as infections, heart attacks, and surgical emergencies. It did not work so well for chronic health problems, such as cancer.

#3 The old mechanistic disease models did not consider the brain, and did not consider the changes in technology over the last forty years. They did not consider the brain’s computing power or intelligence.

#4 The traditional view of disease as a breakdown of individual parts of a complex mechanical device that can be fixed by medications or surgery has spawned a continuously growing health care industry. But while the U. S. health care system is the most expensive per capita, it ranked 37th by overall performance and 72nd by overall health among 191 member nations in a report by the Commonwealth Fund.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822517851

IRB Media

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Insights on Emeran Mayer's The Mind-Gut Connection

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The traditional approach to medicine does not seem to be able to explain the current problems with our health. We are beginning to realize that the brain and the gut communicate with each other, and that their cross talk is important for our health.

#2

The medical system’s disease model worked extremely well for certain acute diseases, such as infections, heart attacks, and surgical emergencies. It did not work so well for chronic health problems, such as cancer.

#3

The old mechanistic disease models did not consider the brain, and did not consider the changes in technology over the last forty years. They did not consider the brain’s computing power or intelligence.

#4

The traditional view of disease as a breakdown of individual parts of a complex mechanical device that can be fixed by medications or surgery has spawned a continuously growing health care industry. But while the U. S. health care system is the most expensive per capita, it ranked 37th by overall performance and 72nd by overall health among 191 member nations in a report by the Commonwealth Fund.

#5

The traditional, disease-based model of medicine has failed to address many chronic diseases, and has also been unable to address the rise in obesity and related metabolic disorders, autoimmune disorders, and diseases of the developing and aging brain.

#6

The connection between our gut and our mind is not just in our heads, but is hardwired in the form of anatomical connections between the brain and the gut. It is facilitated by biological communication signals carried throughout the bloodstream.

#7

The gut is the largest store of serotonin in the body. It is also the largest immune system, containing the largest number of immune cells. It is a sensory organ that encodes the vast amount of information contained in your food in the form of signaling molecules.

#8

The gut is connected to the brain through thick nerve cables that can transfer information in both directions and through communication channels that use the bloodstream: hormones and inflammatory signaling molecules produced by the gut signal up to the brain, and hormones produced by the brain signal down to the various cells in the gut, changing their functions.

#9

The brain-gut axis is the yin and yang of the gut-brain connection. The feelings and reactions are two different aspects of the same bidirectional brain-gut network that plays a crucial role in