“Melatonin is the absolute ruler of our sleep. It is essential for every stage of sleep and having really restful and proper sleep”
The concept of GAPS (Gut and Psychology / Physiology Syndrome) came into being as a result of Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride’s son being diagnosed Autistic at the age of 3. Natasha was determined to find a solution as her mainstream medical training had no answers. The reason I invited Natasha to discuss gut health is there is a strong link between gut health and cognitive function and both are related to quality sleep.
While Natasha focused on Autism in children and teenagers in her case studies, I invite you to broaden your perspective to gut health at all life stages and it’s impact on your overall wellbeing. Researchers are calling the gut our second brain for good reason.
Inspire yourself with these essential insights from Natasha
We spoke about
What the GAPS nutritional protocol is
The role and function of the gut microbes
How the GAPS nutritional protocol supports good gut health
The impact of “leaky gut” on the body and the brain
How autoimmune disease comes about
The impact of toxicity on the brain
The link between sleep, gut health and hormonal health
The impact of not getting good quality sleep
Value Quotes
“Recent research has discovered that 90% of all cells in the human body are in our gut flora”
“The basis of healing in any body is nutrition”
“GAPS nutritional protocol normalises the gut flora, drives out pathogens out of the digestive system and heals the gut wall”
“The more we study chronic disease the more we realise they all have an autoimmune component”
“The more we research neurotransmitters… the more we discover that most of them are manufactured in the digestive system and then transported to the brain to be used”
“Sleep requires a clean brain, not a brain that is intoxicated”
“Melatonin is the absolute ruler of our sleep. It is essential for every stage of sleep and having really restful and proper sleep”
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Until next time fabulous podcast listener, I’m Bev and I invite you to live the fab life with me now!
Episode Links
You can find Natasha at:
Website: http://www.doctor-natasha.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GAPSDrNatasha
Useful infographic on how gut bacteria affects the brain and the body
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What is the GAPS protocol?
GAPS protocol stands for two things GAPS stands for gut and psychology syndrome, and gut and physiology syndrome. Thankfully, in the English language, both abbreviate to GAPS.
What we have here we have a person with abnormal gut flora. Majority of people now know that we have some microbes in our digestive system. Well, the recent research has discovered that 90% of all cells in the human body are in our gut flora. So your body is only 10% a shell, habitat to host this mass of microbes inside us, and we ignore them at our peril.
The role of our gut flora
They fulfil many functions for us, which reach far beyond the digestive system. They ensure that the food is digested properly, that we are nourished properly. They protect the gut wall from damage, and they protect the whole body. The recent research now discovered that they even affect our thoughts and our attitudes and function of every organ in the body. So we cannot ignore the gut flora.
The impact of abnormal gut flora
People with GAPS have abnormal gut flora, because they have many antibiotics in their life or they had other influences, which have killed off a bunch of microbes in their digestive system. So there might be other microbes that they were controlling, suddenly got out of control, and overgrew and occupied large niches in the digestive system, and started digesting food in their own way, producing thousands of very toxic chemicals, toxic poisonous chemicals, at the same time that damages the integrity of the gut wall, making it porous and leaky.
So these toxins absorb, they get into the bloodstream, they get distributed around the body. And wherever they get you whichever organ in the body they get you, they would cause disease. Gut and psychology syndrome is a book that I have already written. It has been on the market since 2004, gut and physiology syndrome, I'm still writing. But the protocol which is described in the gut and psychology syndrome book (GAPS_ is the protocol that works for all of the conditions that I will be talking about today.
Our gut and our neurotransmitters
The more we research neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, endorphins and other neurotransmitters. More recently we discovered that most of them are manufactured in the digestive system, and then transported to the brain to be used.
Serotonin is our happy neurotransmitter. That's what makes us happy, content, positive enjoying our life. Dopamine is the motivational neurotransmitter. That's what allows us to jump out of bed in the morning, brush our teeth, brush our hair dress up and go and conquer the world. These people never knew these feelings. They always had low serotonin and low dopamine.
I believe that we are born to be happy. How do we achieve a state of happiness, of complete bliss, of being on top of the world? How do we achieve that? By the brain receiving a fountain of neurotransmitters to hit a certain ceiling. These people never experienced that feeling in their life. They have been depressed most of their life. They didn't have much motivation most of their life, these people, they never experienced this joy of life, the top of the mountain.
How are gut health and sleep related?
Of course poor gut health will impact sleep, the vast majority of these people have very abnormal sleep.
Sleep requires a clean brain, not a brain that is intoxicated.
The bacteria, the microbes which are sitting in an abnormal gut flora produce certain toxins which dissolve the junctions between cells in the gut wall. That's how the gut becomes porous and leaky. These toxins then absorb and reach the blood brain barrier. It's a special barrier which protects the brain from many things in the blood. And they do the same in the blood brain barrier. They open it up to invasion. As a result, the brain is bombarded by toxins, by undigested foods, by autoimmune complexes, by antibodies, by inflammatory complexes, everything gets in the brain. As a result, the brain is inflamed and it's unable to function properly. So every function of the brain is abnormal, including sleep.
Quite often these people can't fall asleep, they have to sleep in front of the TV or the computer, they have to have a screen in front of them to relax at all to be able to sleep. And then they wake up frequently. They're not rested properly. So they're chronically tired. These people, they cannot function, they have low energy levels, and everything in the body is connected.
It isn't just brain. In order to not to be tired in order to have good sleep, we need to have a good adrenal function. We have to have a good thyroid function in the body. We have to have good function of other hormones pancreas needs to be working properly and producing all these hormones in order to have good sleep for the body. And that that just doesn't happen.
The role of sunlight in good quality sleep
Many of these people find it difficult to face daylight, to go in the sun because they are malnourished, severely malnourished and if there is deficiency of vitamin A in the retina, we cannot tolerate light. So these people finish up wearing dark glasses, even on a cloudy day. And that means that melatonin a very important hormone is not produced in their brain.
Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland in the brain, when we are exposed to the daylight and to the sunlight in particular, without wearing dark glasses when our eyes can let the light in. So these people make the whole situation even worse for themselves. And because they're not producing any melatonin in their brain, and melatonin is an absolute ruler of our sleep. It is essential for having for every stage of the sleep, and for having really restful proper sleep.
What happens when you sleep?
Sleep is the time when the body recycles and processes all the information it receives during the day, the brain processes all that information, what's rubbish, what needs to be remembered, what you need, what's important, what's not important, and it's put into different compartments in the brain into different areas which can memorise these things. So that's very important to sort that out. And if the brain is not given an ability to do that, then the brain function gets reduced the memory goes down the short-term memory disappears and personality changes in the person.
People may become aggressive, they are unable to stand any pressure, to stand any stress. They have nervous breakdowns, they fly off the handle easily these people, they become irritable and have emotional instability. Sleep is absolutely important for us very, very important. And it is important to have a healthy body and a healthy brain, and all health and all disease begins in the gut.
There is no doubt about it. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine some 2000 years ago, made the statement that all disease begins in the gut and the more we learn with our modern scientific tools, the more we realise just how correct he was. Indeed, every physical and mental disease has its roots in the digestive system.
No matter how far away from the digestive system the organ, all your roots of your health are in the digestive system. If the roots of the tree are sick, the tree is not going to thrive, no matter how far from the roots, the twigs and leaves are in the top of the tree, they're going to wilt if the roots are sick and that's what happens with many people in our modern world.
The information shared here and in our programs and webinars should not be seen as medical advice and is not meant to take the place of seeing licensed health professionals.
