Gut-Brain connection? You bet! 

GAPS is a real thing, one that Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (human nutrition) discovered after working with hundreds of children and adults with neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Everything from autistic spectrum disorders, to ADHD/ADD, schizophrenia, dyslexia, depression, and more, GAPS is a powerful connection between your digestive system and your brain.
The flourishing colonies of bacteria in your gut, known as the gut microbiome, play an integral role in your health. Recent clinical studies have highlighted just how vital the health and function of your gut flora are in determining everything from metabolism and digestion to nutrient production and absorption, neurotransmitter production and transport, inflammation, and detoxification. And with the right dietary intervention, targeted supplements, and lifestyle changes, we can restore your digestive functioning, brain function, and overall health.

For a better handle on the Gut and Psychology/Physiology Syndrome, get wise with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride! As one of the preeminent authorities on gut healing, her words are worth taking to heart. After all, if you really want to understand GAPS, her insights are invaluable.

So don’t miss out on her wisdom – read up!

“After studying hundreds of cases or neurological and psychiatric conditions in children, a typical health picture of these children’s mums has emerged.
A typical modern mother was probably not breast fed when she was a baby, because she was born in 60s or 70s when breast-feeding went out of fashion.

Why is it important?

Because it is well known that bottle fed babies develop completely different gut flora to the breast fed babies. This compromised gut flora in a bottle fed baby later on predisposes her to many health problems.
Having acquired compromised gut flora from the start, a typical modern mum had quite a few courses of antibiotics in her childhood and youth for various infections.
It is a well known fact that antibiotics have a serious damaging effect on the gut flora, because they wipe out the beneficial strains of bacteria in the gut.

At the age of 16 and sometimes even earlier the modern mum was put on a contraceptive pill, which she took for quite a few years before starting a family. Contraceptive pills have a devastating effect on the beneficial(good) bacteria in the gut.

One of the major functions of the good bacteria in the gut flora is controlling about 500 different known to science species of pathogenic (bad) and opportunistic microbes. When the beneficial bacteria get destroyed the opportunists get a special opportunity to grow into large colonies and occupy large areas of the digestive tract.
A modern diet of processed and fast foods provides perfect nourishment for these pathogens and that is a typical diet a modern mum had as a child and a young adult.

As a result of all these factors a modern mum has seriously compromised gut flora by the time she is ready to have children. And indeed clinical signs of gut dysbiosis (abnormal gut flora) are present in almost 100% of mothers of children with neurological and psychiatric conditions.
The most common health problems in mothers are digestive abnormalities, allergies, auto-immunity, PMS, chronic fatigue, headaches and skin problems.

A baby is born with a sterile gut. In the first 20 or so days of life the baby’s virgin gut surface gets populated by a mixture of microbes. This is the child’s gut flora, which will have a tremendous effect on this child’s health for the rest of his/her life.

Where does this gut flora come from? Mainly from the mother.
So, whatever microbial flora the mother has she would pass to her new-born child.
Gut flora is something we do not think much about. And yet the number of functions the gut flora fulfils is so vital for us that if some day our digestive tract got sterilised we probably would not survive.

The first and very important function is appropriate digestion and absorption of food. If a child does not acquire normal balanced gut flora, then the child will not digest and absorb foods properly, developing multiple nutritional deficiencies. And that is what we commonly see in children and adults with learning disabilities, psychiatric problems and allergies. Many of these patients are malnourished. Even in the cases where the child may grow well, testing reveals some typical nutritional deficiencies in many important minerals, vitamins, essential fats, many amino-acids and other nutrients.

So, the modern patient (child or adult), who we are talking about, did not get normal gut flora from the start and then got it damaged even further by repeated courses of antibiotics and vaccinations. As a result these children and adults commonly suffer from digestive problems, allergies, asthma and eczema. But apart from that in people who then go on to develop neurological and psychiatric problems something even more terrible happens. Without control of the beneficial bacteria different opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria, viruses and fungi have a good chance to occupy large territories in the digestive tract of the patient and grow large colonies. Two particular groups which are most commonly found on testing are yeasts (including Candida species) and Clostridia family. These pathogenic microbes start digesting food in their own way producing large amounts of various toxic substances, which get absorbed into the blood stream, carried to the brain and cross the blood – brain barrier. The number and mixture of toxins can be very individual, causing different neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Due to the absence or greatly reduced numbers of beneficial bacteria in the gut flora, the person’s digestive system instead of being a source of nourishment becomes a major source of toxicity in the body.”
Dr Natasha Campbell- McBride

To learn more about the GAPS, please read Dr Natasha Campbell- McBride books. You can find them here.