Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life

Dr. Perlmutter scores again with a great book, this time about the profound impact of gut flora on our health. As patients and people we have been taught that having a propensity to get fat, dementia or cancer is “genetic” and we are mostly helpless to change that. Yet, the research shows that our second genome, that of our gut population, could be a much more relevant and powerful factor than our own human genome.David Perlmutter enjoys a privileged position of being a physician, therefore people listen to him. This information is well cited, based on research and brings it to the masses with his approachable, conversational style as well as his unabashed enthusiasm for the potential of treatments and cures for his patients. He starts with the research that makes foundational concepts: sterile mice implanted with gut flora from slender mice stay lean, mice implanted with obese mice get fat when given the same diet and environment. Then he expands to the more abstract information like the detrimental effects of antibiotics and the study that showed women who have undergone the most days on antibiotics have twice the rate of breast cancer. He shows how poor gut health causes high blood sugar, inflammation, decreased resilience to stress, sleep and cognitive difficulties and more.The angle that is original in this book is the relationship of gut dysbiosis and brain diseases and practical application of gut healing. People suffering from major depression, Alzheimer’s and autism have high rates of gut dysbiosis. In his practice, when he corrects the gut imbalance in people with these and other neurological diseases, symptoms often decrease or sometimes disappear. These are diseases with no accepted “cure”. He peppered his book with anecdotal reports of his patients having mind blowing transformations like these after taking very intentional steps such as diet modification, eating fermented foods and even probiotic enemas. Hopefully there will be some real research in this area someday. His epilogue seems optimistic that sufficient research will happen. I doubt this field is getting the true attention it deserves. He shows no criticism towards the “system” at the fact that fecal transplants are only approved for C.diff patients yet people with IBS and other diseases get radically great results from them. He matter of factly tells us sends his patients that need a fecal transplant overseas. Well good for those who have the luxury of seeing the celebrity doctor then jet set to Europe to get their treatment. What about the rest of people suffering?I think this book is great in the way it shows the whole picture of the gut flora from the negative effects of cesarean birth, rounds of antibiotics, chemical exposure and a western diet. He clearly outlines a path to reversing a damaged gut. The one criticism I have is that he recommends a high fiber diet heavy with fermented foods and includes a week long diet plan. He also give instruction on how to ferment to make this lifestyle affordable and accessible to all. However, adding 3 servings a day of billions of bacteria a day can cause digestive distress to most people accustomed to the standard American diet. I would recommend a gradual introduction instead.Overall, it’s a great book. It’s well cited, clearly organized. He quotes top scientists and researchers that all share his enthusiasm for this frontier of healing and understanding the human body. It’s not dumbed down yet it’s understandable enough for the common reader. This book will be groundbreaking in increasing awareness of this emerging field that affects us all.

This book reinforced all that I had read online and was experiencing in my own life. I crashed BIG time (neurological symptoms)! After blood tests revealed nothing wrong, I looked elsewhere and eliminated gluten to see improvement in my health and a friend recommended Wheat Belly, another great book and one that Dr. Perlmutter references in his first book, Grain Brain. I enjoyed that so much that I went on to read Grain Brain and then Wheat Belly Total Health and then this, Brain Maker.Throughout all this reading, I was having further issues with my health and looking for answers while eliminating more foods until I finally saw a turnaround. By the time I read BRAIN MAKER, I had learned a great deal online and in these books. All of it has been invaluable information that led me on a journey to understanding what was happening to me and why I was improving with each change I made. Brain Maker gets into details that helped further my education and reinforced the necessary changes I had made in my diet. After making adjustments to my gut flora through diet and finding the right probiotics and realizing that all my symptoms matched a candida overgrowth (and I had been a sugar/grain addict before I crashed--perfect food for the bad gut bugs), I have recovered and am feeling wonderful and adding back in healthy whole foods that I couldn't tolerate for a while. Based on Dr. Perlmutter's recommendation, I added coconut oil to my cooking and fish oil supplements and these have made a positive impact. For a while, I could not tolerate fermented foods or enjoy the teas I love, but that has improved also and I will be adding them back based on his recommendations.All my life, I've had digestive issues and memory problems and depression that have grown worse over the last fifteen years and also started having anxiety attacks. I attributed these to getting older (I'm 40 now). However, since my big crash and changing my diet, that has improved, along with my sleep (always had a problem with insomnia). I'm so happy that I can more fully follow his diet recommendations, because what I've been able to experience of it so far has been magnificent.And best yet, I feel good to recommend these books because he is an MD and a neurologist at that. I also like that he grants for special situations where not everyone is going to see the same results, depending on their specific conditions and situations, that each of us is different.Also, he recommends high amounts of vitamin D but new studies show that vitamin K is also needed to metabolize vitamin D, which is not mentioned in the book. This can be found in leafy greens and other veggies that are recommended on his diet. And some of us are sensitive enough to anything that we don't need to use as much as he recommends. The caveat here is to make adjustments for your particular metabolism.I love this book and had already implemented 90% of it into the changes I had made to feel twenty years younger and more creative than I can remember being in a long time. This book is a worthwhile read. I love that he uses studies data, anecdotes and examples from his own practice, and recipes. He presents the information fairly, even going so far as to acknowledge that in studies, a relationship in data does not imply causation and doesn't just imply that it supports his point.

The main thing about this book is it gave me clear reasons and enough motivation to actually stop eating sugar and high glycemic carbs. That's huge. It also made me stop eating gluten, and got me to incorporate prebiotics and probiotics. I doubt that there's a one-size-fits-all diet, however, and believe everyone needs to intelligently adjust a touted way of eating to fit their particular situation. My sense is that the good fats on this diet could help one's nervous system and brain function, but I'd still want to be careful not to eat a lot of meat and dairy until it's clearer that animal fats and associated rise in cholesterol do not create their own set of problems.

Muy buen libro b

Il libro è di estremo interesse. La ricerca è solo agli inizi ma è indubitabile che il microbioma è responsabile di un grandissimo numero di patologie. Consiglio l'acquisto.

Great book. I'm reading it for the second time its so good. I sent one to my daughter. We have both read the Grain Brain book and have incorporated the information into our eating habits and lives. This book takes all that information a step further. If anyone could improve their long term health just by watching what they put into their bodies, why wouldn't you do it? Dr. David Perlmutter makes it easy to do. Its refreshing to have a doctor focusing on the cause of a disease and giving you the information to help prevent it from happening in your own life. Its an easy read, well written, full of facts and studies. I would highly recommend it for anyone concerned about aging well and remaining healthy.

Great book, highly informative. Has helped me to better understand the connection between good health and gut microbes.. I bought the Kindle version but also ended up buying the hard copy too. One criticism though, I didn't like all of the comments as to how me "evolved" to be that way. This is not an area of expertise for Dr Perlmutter and it would be better if he left those things unsaid. They were completely unnecessary in the whole scheme of things. But aside from that, very good.

Excellent!! Very useful information. For your life! Everyone should had the chance to read it! Also a good gift, for sure!