Sept 7, 2026: Our gut-brain axis

Welcome to this month’s edition of Boost Gut Health. As  Hippocrates, the father of medicine, observed: all disease begins in the gut. 

Two Gut Healthy Habits

Eat berries, beans and greens. Food that works for you and your gut could be as individual as your fingerprint, though there are proven principles.

Think berries, beans and greens.

Avoid food that comes in a package with more than five ingredients. The higher the number of ingredients, the more the food is processed. You can choose your own number of ingredients as a limit: five seems a fair number.

Ideally, most of what we eat doesn’t have a label.

One Lesson

Food and brain health. What’s on the end of our fork is emerging as critical to our mood. Out gut and our brain talk to each other through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

A Mediterranean diet, rich in fiber from fruit and vegetables, whole grains and fish, leads to subtle changes in our microbiome that increase the number of good bugs and decrease the bad ones.

A western diet with lots of processed meats, added sugar and saturated fats does the opposite. It increases the bad bugs.

So, if you’re feeling a little low, know that what’s on your plate matters. Open a can of sardines or anchovies, add half a plate of leafy greens and some whole-grain rice, and know that you’re making a difference to your mood.

One Quote

“To me, hope is informed optimism.”

Michael J Fox