When I mention to friends that I have a web site about self care, I often get great ideas for future posts. My new friend Denise couldn’t contain her excitement about a book she was reading. And it wasn’t a murder mystery on the NY Times Bestseller List. Gut, The Inside Story of our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, written by Guilia Enders is a fun way to learn about this organ that plays such a crucial part in our health and self care.
Guilia Enders had a horrible skin rash with boils and blisters in her teens. She was referred to skin doctors for treatment. Nothing was working, so she started researching her ailment herself. She came to the conclusion that it was caused by what she was eating – and what was going on inside her body, not on her skin. With the right mix of probiotics to enhance the healthy bacteria in her digestive tract and mineral supplements, the ailment disappeared. Guilia says, “I experienced with my own body that knowledge is power.”
This lead Guilia to pursue a Medical degree and to write this book. Her enthusiasm about such an embarrassing subject is contagious. She believes shame is conquered with knowledge. “The more we know about our bodies, the more body-feeling we do, the healthier we become,” she says.
Guilia believes there are three things we can do regarding our gut for staying healthy and taking care of ourselves. 1) Acknowledge our guts and get to know them better. Learn what’s normal for you. Which foods make you tired? Which foods make you feel bloated? 2) Use knowledge to create what she calls a smarter body feeling. Understand how your body works. It takes your body two-three hours to digest food. How do you feel after you eat certain foods and which ones give you more energy? 3) Think about your gut bacteria and learn what you can do to keep the good balanced with the bad so your body can do what it does best: keep you healthy.
I understand my friend Denise’s excitement about Guilia’s book. I love to learn about my body. If your interest is piqued, consider learning more including: “Is it true that we don’t sit on the toilet properly? How can we burp more easily? Why can we get energy from steaks, apples, or fried potatoes, for example, but a car can only run on one kind of fuel? Why do we have an appendix? Why are feces always the same color? Is fructose intolerance more common than gluten or lactose intolerance?
Get excited about your own gut and let knowledge empower you.
Read more about Guilia’s new book in the recent New York Times article A German Writer Translates a Puzzling Illness Into a Best-Selling Book.
