food for thought

Even Vogue magazine has joined the bandwagon about food and health, in particular the relationship between the gut and the brain. (See Vogue Australia August 2015 page 101.)

In summary, the gut is a food factory, a long tube starting at the teeth which  sends the  intake of chosen food on its long voyage to tail off at the anus. If you have been to MONA in Hobart you might have seen the glass model. It has a farty smell but is instructive in showing component breakdown. The gut factory workers number in billions,  specialised micro-organisms known as Flora, whose health can be compromised by processed food and modern living. In particular, antibiotics cause carnage.

I am not knocking this class of drug because many lives have been saved. I prescribe and use them myself from time to time. Seen from the witness box, Penicillin, the first useful one,  harnessed as recently as 1943, was used to help wounded soldiers as well as syphilitic ones. Really a miracle cure.

Widespread use grew around 1970 when I was a young doctor so I have seen its growth in medicine.  Antibiotics are also now in the food chain.

Sadly many are now not effective but still harm the human gut flora, allowing overgrowth of harmful bacteria. If you are still reading, I’m sure none of this is new. I will take a further leap. I wonder, if the brain-gut connection is real, about the seeming increase of dementia in the ageing population.

What can we do on a personal level for protection? My current view is toward the daily use of a probiotic such as Kombucha, to nurture the poor demented flora. Some traditional cultures use fermented cabbage or grains as part of their standard daily fare.

• ← Snake bite
• The ship’s medical kit →