Written by: Dr. Christine Sauer, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Many people nowadays are talking about the gut-brain connection, but this is largely still an area that is not well understood. In this article, I will “untangle” the interplay of our enteric nervous system and the “brain in our head” and how we can activate what I call the weight-gut-brain-connector switch or short the “metabolic switch” to help lose unwanted fat while calming your belly and increasing your brain power and energy.
Secret No.1: You Absolutely Can Lose All The Belly Fat You Want And Keep It Off – Without Having To Follow A Specific Diet…
The main thing you need to do is to eat more as our ancestors did. And here is what I mean:
Imagine you are a caveman or cavewoman about 10,000 years ago. How would you get your food? No supermarkets around, right?
You would have to go out, which means physically walking, and either gather roots and tubers or hunt and try to catch an animal to eat.
So let’s say you go and hunt down a rabbit or a deer or even a moose. Big feast. You took it home, and the whole clan had a feast of it and got well nourished by it. You would use all parts in some way since it was hard enough to get the animal and you had a whole lot of respect for your fellow creatures, even though you were happy to eat it.
So, after this meal, often there was a long stretch with no food. No methods for food preservation except for drying may be or freezing in the winter…
So what happened? You guessed it, nothing. You ate nothing for a while.
For how long? As long as it took to find something more to eat.
So, during this time, did you get weak and sick?
Well, no, if nature wouldn’t provide for us to go for a long time without food, we would have gotten extinguished as a species long ago.
So here we are. The whole notion of having to eat 3-5 small meals a day? Proven to be historical nonsense.
It’s just not true.
We humans have excellent mechanisms to keep our muscle strength and brain power while not eating anything. For up to a year, sometimes.
So if you are still thinking that not eating, or as we often call it, fasting, is horrible or makes you weak or sick, this is just wrong.
The human frame is made to go for periods of different lengths without food and thrive while doing so.
You may have heard of cars that can use different kinds of fuel, electricity, gasoline, hydrogen or such…We call this flex fuel...
Well, car makers didn’t invent this.
Nature invented this first, as most of the things that make sense…
So, actually, when we are not eating, the body switches on the metabolic switch and produces energy from fat in the form of ketone bodies.
These are very efficient and clean fuels for your brain, and many people find that when they activate this switch, their brain fog disappears, and they actually have more energy than before they switched fuels.
Some people are afraid that they would feel very hungry when activating the switch, and for some, that can be a problem, but we have many means to mitigate or eliminate this feeling of hunger, and after a few days of switching between gut and brain dominance, this feeling is completely gone and replaced by a feeling of clarity, focus and energy that can be quite addictive.
When you eat this way, you also activate autophagy. This is a process where the body “eats itself,” not in a negative sense, but what it means is that the boy cleans up the old and “garbage cells,” the cancer cells we all produce every day, and other faulty and unnecessary cells. This makes space for regeneration and new, healthy cells and better metabolism.
So, that’s to point 1. Not eating all the time activates the switch between fuels for your brain. Whether you call it time-restricted eating, intermittent fasting, or just fasting, it doesn’t matter. The effect is similar, and we help those people who choose to work with us to decide which timing and way of switching are best for them.
Secret No.2: You Can Eliminate The “Washroom Anxiety” And End Your Struggle with Constipation, Bloating, Gas Pains and The Runs
Most of us know the “butterflies in your stomach,” the runs to the washroom before a public speaking engagement or a big exam.
But sometimes, the “rumbles” hit us at the most unfortunate moment. In my webinar (go here to register for free), I talk about the most unromantic moment of my honeymoon in Paris…
Many people who struggle with what’s commonly called IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) have experienced washroom anxiety, which means that wherever they go, the first thing to check out is to locate a washroom and make sure it is accessible – fast.
But there are many reasons besides anxiety for the stomach trouble many of us experience:
Certain foods can cause our gut to react angry and upset, cause a food allergy, a sensitivity reaction, or an intolerance. These are different kinds of reactions to food. They are often confused, even by doctors,
Reactions to certain medications and antibiotics are best known…
Reactions because of a pathogen, an unwelcome bacterial, viral, or fungal infection,
And environmental toxins, often contained in processed and other foods, like glyphosate, can do the same.
But there’s hope: We can thankfully address all these issues with the right interventions.
Secret NO.3: How You, Too, Can Establish A Firm Basis For Your Gut-Brain Connection, So Your Gut Finally Starts To Produce The Feel-Good Neurotransmitters You Need To Feel Focused And Confident Instead Of Contributing To Your Brain Fog And Memory Lapses
Here are the steps I use with my clients:
Create a working Supplement and Food Plan
Calm the Gut microbiome and resolve the belly issues
optimize the digestion, absorption, and assimilation of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that together are responsible for keeping us going, fueling our metabolic powerhouses, the mitochondria, and building the building blocks of our cells, the hormones, the enzymes, and the neurotransmitters that determine how our gut – and our brain feels, thinks and acts…
And then we adjust the timing and environment for our eating…
Lastly, the coaching process will resolve leftover thought processing and brain health issues, remove self-defeating beliefs, and create an environment for lasting health and energy.
Secret No.4: How To Build Up Your Brain Power, Memory And Stamina Without Spending All Day On Meditation, Exercises And Other Things You Don’t Really Have Time For…
There are really only 3 causes of Weight Gain, Stomach issues and Brain Health Issues:
Inflammation
Toxicity
Nutrient Deficiencies
I will just talk about the latter since I am convinced that our brain has receptors that sense whether we have enough nutrients, not just macro-nutrients like fat, proteins, and carbs, but also micronutrients, like vitamins, minerals, and such. I am convinced that if our brain senses that we don’t get enough nutrients from our food, for example, if you were going on a twinkie diet, it would tell you in no uncertain terms:
“I am still hungry. I may have enough calories, but I didn’t get the nutrients I need to function as required.”
So, if we do not listen to our brain- or misunderstand it ‒ and just keep eating junk food, the brain eventually is forced to downregulate the production of molecules that help us to think and feel clear and we end up with brain fog, fatigue, or worse.
That makes sense, right?
Secret No.5: How To Safely Get Off All The “Zombie” Pills – And The Gut Upset They Create – The Pills That Make You Feel Tired, Foggy, Fat And Unfocused And Keep You From Creating The Good Life You Desire And Deserve.
Now a topic that is close to my heart. Psychiatric medications like antidepressants, antianxiety pills, and antipsychotics. There are other pills, too, that impair your metabolism and make you hold on to your fat, but these are definitely at the top of my list.
Quite often, people will tell you that when they first go on these pills, they feel like “zombies.”
Besides changing the structure and chemistry of our brain – and we really shouldn’t be so proud to play with this organ in the way that we do it these days, given we just started to understand a minuscule part of it, they also tend to cause weight gain, metabolically shift you into a pre-diabetic or diabetic state and can lead to gut disturbances.
All this upset they create in your body can make you feel tired, foggy and unfocused and keep you from creating the life you desire and deserve.
Now, don’t get me wrong: If you or someone you know are taking psychiatric drugs, DO NOT suddenly stop them. The withdrawal symptoms are terrible and can be fatal. So, if you feel that you may be better off without these drugs and want to safely get off them, please consult someone with ample experience in drug withdrawal, read the book by Dr. Peter Breggin: “Toxic Psychiatry” or “Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal” or talk to me to co-create with your healthcare providers, if this is possible, a plan to slowly and safely withdraw from the medications that you are better off without.
Now, there are a few people that benefit from these drugs or that are not willing to do the work involved to get well without them, and if you belong to this group, please do not stop them.
To summarize this article, hopefully, I have you some insights into how our brain, gut, and weight go together.
If you would like to go deeper, I want to invite you to register for my FREE webinar, where I will explain these topics in more detail:
“The 5 Secrets of how to shrink your belly and grow your brain by switching on the weight-gut-brain connection – Even if you tried dieting, meditation, or all kinds of other “stuff” and exercises before”
To register free, go here.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit my website for more info!
Dr. Christine Sauer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Christine Sauer is a German-trained physician and naturopath, as well as a gastrointestinal disease specialist, currently working as a Holistic Brain and Mental Health Professional, Coach, and Educator. Her own struggles with chronic pain, weight loss, and mental health issues have led her to dedicate her life to improving the gut health and brain/mental health of others and enabling them to drop unwanted pounds - all with natural means. She wrote 1 bestselling books and lectures on the topics and coached individuals, groups as well as families. As “The Doctor who Knows how You Feel,” she is known to make a lasting impression and positive difference in the lives of her clients and followers.
