What is gastrointestinal discomfort?

Chronic gastrointestinal discomfort is divided into two categories; like chronic gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux, and inflammatory bowel disease such as a clear diagnosis of the discomfort; the other is not diagnosed; and no good attribution of gastrointestinal discomfort (without clear etiology), such as nervousness a day have no appetite; and sometimes always diarrhea, constipation. Or eat into the food half a day not digested (undigested food causes prolonged bloating), always feel bloated.

Pathways in the body: brain-gut axis

First of all let's make it clear that the root cause of this type of problem is the existence of a pathway in our body that links the brain to the gastrointestinal tract and its flora.

This pathway is bi-directional and is known in medical terms as the brain-gut axis. Similar to communication pathways, it is also divided into neural and hormonal pathways.

Our entire intestinal tract is covered by over 100 million nerve cells, densely distributed from the inside to the outside; the total number of which exceeds that of all other organs other than the brain. Which is why it is also known as the "second brain".

When the brain is under stress it will pass the message to the intestinal flora through this axis; so that the microbiota dysbiosis occurs, your gastrointestinal peristalsis will be accelerated or slowed down; the secretion of gastric acid and digestive juices will be reduced or increased. You will therefore appear gastrointestinal pain, bloating, belching, diarrhea, constipation and other symptoms.

Studies have also found that psychological stressors a gastroenterologist colleague at Xiyuan Hospital has come across a particular patient with gastric ulcers. The reason for the other person's illness was surprisingly that he had been receiving lectures from his supervisor at mealtimes for a long time.

Intriguingly Serotonin - as we said in the previous lecture on anxiety - is an important substance that affects people's moods and is generally secreted by the brain.

You might object When analyzing human cellular composition, he came up with this sentence: intriguingly some special cells in the intestine can secrete serotonin - as we said in the previous lecture on anxiety—which is an important substance that affects people's moods and is generally secreted by the brain. This serotonin secreted by the intestine, in addition to regulating the movement of the digestive tract, secretion, and digestion, can also govern human mood and behavior, making you feel down or happy.

It seems that the solution to making your stomach and intestines comfortable and your whole being physically and mentally happy is actually to make the gut microbiota in your body comfortable first.

You might object: Where are these microbiota? I can't even see them, so why should I be told to serve them first? Let me quote Nobel Prize winner Lederberg. When he added all the cells of the human body and the cells of the flora together to look at human beings, he came up with this sentence: ‘If you look at the proportion of cells, you are only 1/10 of a human being. If you look at the genetic ratio, you are only 1 percent human.’