Review of "Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut”
An artistic primer into gut health that includes microbes!
TL;DR: You should watch this! It is fascinating and hints at a modern way of diagnosis and consultation in the gut health space. While not a list of hacks on “how to fix your gut”, it is informative with lifestyle changes: eating a diverse array of plants and avoiding processed foods is the most applicable hack. Also, could I get this type of consultation when I am referred to a gastroenterologist?
Hey everyone,
I’m currently on a doctor’s PTO (Pretend Time Off) to Costa Rica with the family. During the flight, I watched a fascinating Netflix documentary on gut health - Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut. The film was intriguing in a psychedelic Meow Wolf sort of way! It was full of gut-microbe analogies with fuzzy colorful claymation type microbes interacting with the gut. It felt like an artistic exploration of the field of neurogastroenterology covering what we know about fiber, sugar and microbes. While not a straight forward practical guide to gut health hacks it exemplifies the subtleties of how lifestyle choices can really help (or harm) our overall health.
Dr. Giulia Enders, MD, the narrator and a dedicated gastroenterologist, was a delight. She’s so much fun and you can feel the energy she has about this topic. It's reassuring to hear that her own gut & health issues focused her desire to understand gut health. The documentary begins with Dr. Enders performing an endoscopy, explaining the anatomy as she goes, and noting that everyone looks the same inside. This sets up a juxtaposition for the rest of the film. While we look the same inside from an endoscopic view point we all may respond to our food differently depending on our genetics and our microbes, which likely is the key to our differences or variances between us. It then explores the concept of microbial memories—how our gut microbes, shaped by lifestyle and exposures from birth to adulthood, might explain why some people develop autoimmune diseases, allergies, weight issues, and others do not.
70% of the immune system resides in our gut & is modulated through our microbes.
Dr. Enders in a relaxed, charismatic manner explains about gut health in various entertaining analogies. Her style reminds me of how the "glucose goddess," Jesse Inchauspé, explains glucose physiology. Dr. Enders explains how our gut cells take up sugar such as if we eat a donut it will be fast and furious uptake and if we eat broccoli it will be slow and steady uptake. However, due to differences in our genetics and microbes, four individuals eating the same apple might respond differently, particularly in their 2-hour postprandial blood sugar levels.
Another analogy I especially enjoyed was the segment where Dr. Enders walks through a forest, comparing our gut ecosystem to a forest needing light, soil, water AND for all of this needs to work together properly to function. The film highlights our low fiber intake, our fiber-starved microbes, and how we are losing microbes in our system because of this. We've lost microbial species in our guts, depicted in the film as trees being cut down in a forest, due to our modern, processed diet. Foods stripped of nutrients and loaded with chemicals and sugars are to blame.
Nearly 60% of our calories in the US come from ultra processed foods.
Leading experts in neuropsychology, epidemiology, neuroscience, microbial ecology collaborate with Dr. Enders to evaluate four patients who all have a strained relationship with food. These patients had a work up that included stool-based microbiome analysis and functional brains MRIs. This is not the typical gastroenterology work up. It was refreshing to see the collaborative efforts of doctors and scientists in the film. Patients had telemedicine consultations after these studies, with scientists and clinicians, who explained the results and necessary lifestyle changes.
This made me reflect: when was the last time I ordered a microbiome stool test or a functional brain MRI for a patient? Never! My hands-down favorite part of the documentary was the clinical part, the talking to patients’ part, the telemedicine sessions. Both the scientists and clinicians provided detailed explanations and potential lifestyle therapies for patients. They discussed mindfulness eating, reintroducing or microdosing foods and eating in a way that supports certain gut microbes and not others. The bottom line was these individuals learned to rebuild a relationship with their gut. And according to Dr. Enders after she understood gut physiology better, she developed “a feeling of loyalty towards her gut and even her butthole.” I think these patients just felt better by understanding their bodies.
We have more neurons in our second brain (the gut) than we have in our spinal cord.
I was glad to see that the experts were suggesting that microbial therapies were promising but not pushing for a specific therapy for the sake of entertainment. The analogy of a probiotic being like a living room plant expected to take up residence and flourish in a rain forest (aka gut microbiota environment) was ‘right on’ and so true! The review of all the mouse studies in fecal microbial transplants was balanced enough showing that ALL characteristics could be transplanted, the beneficial outcomes as well as potential negative outcomes, such as worsening depression, etc.
While the documentary was cute, informative and worth watching, I feel like I have to clarify a bit as to no mislead. You will not get this level of work-up or consultation from a traditional gastroenterologist. It poses the question that…maybe we should?!
To end, a POOPsicle reflection I learned from my 5-year-old daughter on the plane while heading to Costa Rica:
Let’s play:
POOPsicle: What was the worst part of your day? Sitting on this plane.
Popsicle: What was the best part of your day? Hanging with my daughter.
Dreamsicle: What are you excited for? The view of Arenal Volcano con cafe in hand!
May you have more DREAMsicles than POOPsicles!
End dictation.
Your lady MD,
Emily
Thanks!
I loved this review and the Poopsicle/Popsicle questions!