A Gut-Reaction to Antibiotics

Reading is a great pastime for me, and right now I am learning about the enteric nervous system which is that part of the nervous system that regulates the entire digestive tract. The book is called ‘The Second Brain’; it is by Michael D. Gershon, MD.

What caught my attention was the fact that our digestive system, particularly the colon, is host to a myriad of bacteria, all in perfect balance so the good guys are controlled by the bad ones. I had been reading about the concern about the extensive use of antibiotics but I had not understood to consequences as well as I do now. We all know that it takes quite some time to create a new antibiotic; but a bacterium can reproduce after about 20 minutes! No wonder that they can be resistant so quickly! You may think that this is not a problem if you rarely, if ever take antibiotics. However, it you eat meat and chicken, chances are that you are ingesting antibiotics after all because many farm animals get that added to their feed because of the farming conditions in which they are kept.

I do not mean to spoil anybody’s appetite, and I am also not suggesting that you become a vegetarian (which I am) but it may be wise to look for meat and chicken that has been raised without the use of antibiotics. It may cost a little more but this could be a small price to pay in the long haul.

Turning Back the Clock?

On my forays into the audiobook section at my local library, I recently stumbled into the book “Counter Clockwise: Mindful Health and the power of Possibility” by Ellen J. Langer. As I listened, I was more and more intrigued by the findings.

The Romans already declared that there is a healthy mind in a healthy body (mens sana in corpore sano), some believe in “Mind over Matter”, and the researchers are looking into the relationship between mind and body.

The subject of Ellen Langer’s book explores this relationship, and she does so from an interesting angle. Henry Ford observed quite correctly: "Whether you believe you can, or you can't, you are right", and it appears that this statement extends well beyond academic accomplishment.

Ellen Langer demonstrates in an experiment that it is possible to turn back the clock. She took nursing home residents and placed them into an environment reminiscent of a time many years earlier, and – in a way – people were told to role play for the duration of the study. And – guess what – at the end of the study, the participants had many significant improvements on a vast array of measurable parameters.

Ellen Langer also looks at language and how it can empower or disempower. This struck a chord for me because – as a trainer – I always like to challenge my clients to do new and different things even though I am careful to only pick things that are within their reach. I sometimes encounter clients who initially will state that they do not believe that they can do it. Usually they then proceed to do the ‘impossible’, and this budding believe into their own abilities then feeds on itself.

It is not possible to do this book justice in just a few paragraphs. I want to encourage you to read it for yourself. You may just end up being several years younger at the end of it.