Chronic Illness Becoming Mainstream?

Yesterday I ended up listening to a terribly rambly podcast called Internet Business Mastery. In between my musings on how much douche-ier that name could get, these two ruthless capitalists started talking about, of all things, their trials with the Paleo Diet and how they learned about it from another podcast. This spelled a few things to me:

1) podcasts are changing the way health is discussed. They’re so unfiltered, yet becoming so mainstream that it seems the way health is being discussed on the airwaves (ahem, the interwebs) is beginning to resemble the way you & I probably talk to our favorite open-minded doctors about health.

2) Hopefully podcasts will begin to force public health radio to become more open-minded. Every time I turn on NPR and “Zorba Paster On Your Health” comes on, I cringe at nodding approvals of the new food pyramid (more whole grains, less fats!) and other advice that comes straight from the ivory towers of med school. Zorba Paster, where your mind gets put out to pasture. I know that I’ll never listen to this show again when I can stream an integrative health podcast on MiPhone.

So back to the Paleo Diet: to which I say, hype is good! Mainstream interest in Paleo is happening at a time when research is showing a strong gut-brain and gut-immune connection, essentially pinning the gut as the center of everything that leads to becoming chronically ill. In 2008, I first heard about GALT (not from Ayn Rand but my doctor), which stands for the digestive tract’s immune system, making up 70-80% of our entire immune system. This has led to the understanding that the balance of beneficial bacteria & bad bacteria is key to our immune system. More recently, we’ve heard about the gut-brain connection which talks about how unhealthy gut can result in brain disorders and which has led to the gut being called the “second brain.” So yeah, we get it, the gut is important.

So let’s gut out the noise & get to the point:

If you have a neuroimmune condition, now what? Check out Part 2 here

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.