Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Under-Rated Organ

by Giulia Enders

those in the brain — so how much of the relaxing effect of that ‘just one glass of wine’ in the evening actually comes from a sedated gut brain? What about the array of bacteria in the wide range of yoghurt on our supermarket shelves? Is Lactobacillus reuteri better for me than Bifidobacterium animalis? A team of Chinese researchers managed to show in the laboratory that Lactobacillus reuteri is able to inhibit pain sensors in the gut. Lactobacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium infantis could already be recommended as a pain treatment for patients with irritable-bowel syndrome. Many patients with a low pain threshold in the gut currently take substances designed to treat diarrhoea, constipation, or cramps. That might help with the symptoms, but does not address the cause of the problem. If, after eliminating possible food intolerances and re-stocking the gut flora, there is still no improvement, we must take the problem by the scruff of its neck — or, in this case, by the nerve-cell threshold. So far, very few treatments have been scientifically proven to be effective. Those which have, include cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnotherapy.