0:25

Hello everyone , welcome to this episode

0:27

of Brain Power with Dr Eko , so

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excited to talk with you today . And

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today we're going to be talking about two

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of the pillars of health that I love

0:36

to talk about , which are your brain

0:39

and your guts , and

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I know you've heard this being floated

0:43

around the brain guts connection . Well , it

0:45

is real , and I'm here to

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tell you how it affects you and

0:49

how it's definitely affects your little

0:51

ones as well . So what's

0:54

the brain guts connection really ? So

0:56

we'll start with the guts . So have you ever heard

0:59

this phrase like go with your guts

1:02

, or you felt butterflies in your tummy when

1:04

you felt nervous ? That's because you're getting signals

1:06

from what scientists now call the second brain

1:09

right , which is hidden in the walls of your

1:11

digestive system , and so

1:13

they call this brain

1:16

the enteric nervous system , or

1:18

ENS for shorts , right . It

1:20

consists of lines of

1:23

the lining of your GI

1:26

tract , which stands for gastrointestinal

1:28

tract , which goes all the way from your

1:30

esophagus , which is your food pipe

1:32

, all the way to your rectum . So

1:34

it lines that entire area

1:37

, which is the length of your body

1:39

, right , if you think about it . So

1:42

, unlike the way the brain works

1:45

right , the main role

1:47

of the enteric nervous system is to control

1:49

digestion , all the

1:51

way from releasing of the enzymes

1:54

that help to break down food Once you swallow

1:56

the food , to control

1:58

of blood flow that helps with neutral

2:00

absorption , to

2:02

eliminating the waste products

2:04

from your tummy after your food has been

2:06

digestion . That's what it controls . And

2:09

so you see how important it is

2:11

that we

2:14

recognize and we approach and we appreciate

2:16

the role of the enteric nervous

2:18

system , because when

2:20

we do that , then we're more likely

2:22

to fall in love with

2:24

the health of our brain , which I'm sure you've

2:26

heard me say before . But now we're falling

2:28

in love with the health of our of

2:30

the brain in our tummy Right , if we want to look

2:33

at it that way . But you know

2:35

, something that's really important is that

2:37

lots of research has shown that there

2:39

is definitely a direct

2:41

connection between what

2:43

happens in your tummy and what's happened

2:46

in your brain . Like I tell the parents of

2:48

the children I care for at Glow Pediatrics

2:50

children especially with ADHD

2:53

, autism or children on diagnosed

2:55

I tell them it's

2:57

so important that we fall in love with

2:59

the health of our brain

3:01

, and now I want to expand that to not

3:03

just the brain in our heads but the brain in

3:05

our tummy , because the two of them are

3:07

connected , and whatever you put in your mouth definitely

3:10

ends up here in one way shape or

3:12

form , because they are directly connected

3:14

, right ? So lots of research has

3:16

shown that when the enteric

3:19

nervous system or your tummy is inflamed

3:21

, eventually your brain will

3:23

get inflamed , and that's the premise for how

3:25

I treat children , meaning I

3:27

look at the root cause of what's

3:29

going on , of the symptoms that we

3:31

see . So , for example , a

3:34

lot of children I

3:36

would say 90%

3:39

or higher of children with

3:41

ADHD , autism also

3:43

are constipated and

3:45

or have diarrhea . So

3:47

, go figure , there's this brain-based

3:49

disorder , but there's also this strong

3:52

tummy connection as well , with the

3:54

constipation , the picky eating

3:57

and the diarrhea . So

3:59

is it any wonder that there

4:01

is a direct connection ? There is , and

4:05

so , even in the adult population

4:07

, there's lots of research that shows that people

4:10

with diarrhea or irritable bowel

4:12

syndrome also have a higher

4:15

rate of depression and anxiety

4:17

. Because , again , the two brains

4:19

are talking to each other . So that makes sense

4:21

. So now we have

4:23

an understanding of what

4:25

the enteric nervous system is . Then

4:28

that brings me to . So let's talk a little bit

4:30

about brain health , right

4:32

? Brain health to be simply means

4:34

falling in love with the way

4:36

your brain functions . Because

4:38

if you do that , then you're more aware

4:40

of the kinds of activities

4:43

you're engaging , the kinds of foods you

4:45

eat . Now you know that what

4:47

you put in your mouth directly affects

4:49

what's the output on your brain

4:51

, right . So it makes you more conscious

4:53

. It makes you question

4:56

is this good for my brain before

4:58

I put it in my mouth ? Because I know

5:00

that whatever I put in my mouth will end up

5:02

in the brain . So

5:04

take , for example , with

5:07

children with ADG and autism , one

5:09

of the first things I would usually recommend

5:12

is a trial of gluten

5:14

and dairy . And why is that ? I

5:16

explain so with

5:19

dairy , dairy gets

5:21

broken down and there's a molecule called

5:24

casein , right , which

5:26

, for the breakdown of that , creates

5:28

a molecule called casomorphine

5:31

. Did you hear the end of it ? Morphine , right

5:34

? And casomorphine acts

5:36

on receptors in the brain similar

5:38

to what morphine does , right

5:41

. The same thing with gluten

5:43

Gluten breaks down into

5:46

glaremorphine , right , which

5:48

again acts on

5:50

receptors in your brain that mimic

5:53

the morphine effect . So

5:55

have you noticed , moms , that

5:57

when your children eat certain foods , they

6:00

act like they're spaced out , like

6:02

they're unresponsive , they're like in a world

6:04

of their own , or you

6:07

call to them , they don't answer and

6:09

they're non-interactive . Those

6:11

are morphine-like effects that the

6:13

food they're eating has

6:16

on their behavior . Remember

6:18

, the brain controls everything that we do

6:20

, and so I have seen it over

6:22

and over and over again when

6:25

the parents are able

6:27

to do a trial of dairy

6:30

and gluten free for

6:32

at least three months , I've even seen kids

6:34

get better after a few weeks . It's

6:37

amazing . That effect

6:39

, that morphine-like effect , clears

6:41

up and guess what ? I have

6:44

seen children that

6:46

were non-verbals that have

6:48

some words . They are no longer

6:50

acting like they're in the brain , like

6:52

they fog over their brain . They

6:54

are able to interact better , they

6:57

are more responsive when you call them , it

6:59

seems like it's a new child . They

7:01

sleep better because , again , what

7:03

the foods that our bodies don't

7:06

digest well , yeah , that's the big

7:08

thing is that these foods

7:10

are undigested , right Partially

7:12

digested , so they

7:14

create inflammation in your

7:17

tummy and , for sure

7:19

, if anything inflames your tummy

7:21

, it's going to inflame your brain , and

7:23

so that's what I want you to remember and

7:25

you may say . I hear parents

7:27

often say what , that's all they want

7:29

to eat , and I hear you , and

7:32

that's why you're going to do it as a slow

7:34

approach , right , slowly

7:36

. For example , if you're

7:38

going to decrease the amount of dairy

7:41

they are drinking . You can start mixing half and

7:43

half with coconut milk

7:45

or almond milk or oat milk

7:47

, but slowly but surely

7:49

decrease the amount of dairy , increase

7:52

the amount of the substitute milk , and

7:54

thankfully now there's so many substitutions

7:56

that we have and that we can use , right

7:58

. And so as you do that , over

8:00

time then the child gets used to the

8:02

substitute milk and then you

8:05

can start to see the difference that

8:07

being off of dairy has . And

8:09

the same thing with gluten . Thankfully

8:12

, rice is gluten free , potatoes

8:14

are gluten free , so it's not a

8:16

huge change in the diet

8:18

, right ? So if your child

8:20

loves spaghetti , there's rice

8:23

pasta now that you can substitute

8:25

, and it tastes the same . And I

8:27

know that for sure because I've had to institute

8:29

this in my own home , because my

8:31

daughter had really severe allergies

8:34

and I couldn't find out why . We

8:36

did all the conventional testing and it

8:38

didn't show anything . It showed

8:40

she was not allergic , but I knew , as a mom

8:42

, that something was wrong and so I kept searching

8:45

until I found a blood test that I

8:47

could do an IgG blood test

8:49

, and it showed she was sensitive to

8:51

gluten dairy eggs . So

8:53

I decided , as a mom , I wasn't going to give

8:56

her one set of foods and give everybody

8:58

else another set , and so I went back to the entire

9:00

home . We all became gluten free , egg free

9:02

, dairy free . Was it an adjustment

9:04

? Yes , but I did it slowly over time

9:07

, so it's like they don't . They

9:09

can't even tell the difference anymore . And , yes , her

9:11

allergies cleared up . Her lips had turned

9:14

black like my jacket and

9:17

it went back to being pink in a few

9:19

weeks from taking all those foods

9:21

out of her system . So it definitely

9:24

plays a part , and when I'm

9:26

saying this , I'm saying it as

9:28

a mommy , from one parent to another

9:30

, was had to experience

9:33

the substituting of food , and

9:35

it certainly can be done and there is hope

9:38

and that's the biggest message I have

9:40

is there is hope . We

9:42

can definitely boost the health of

9:44

our children's brain and the health

9:46

of our children's God , and that's why

9:49

it's so critical for us as parents

9:51

, and for anyone listening , is

9:53

that we are mindful of

9:55

what goes in our mouths , because

9:57

it definitely affects the way our brain functions

10:00

and we know our brains run us

10:02

, and so , therefore , I

10:04

want all of you this is my parting message

10:06

to you fall in love , fall deeply

10:09

in love with the health of your brain

10:11

, because when we start , as adults

10:13

, to take care of ourselves , then we can help

10:15

our children . Right ? We can't

10:17

help our children if we haven't helped ourselves as well

10:19

. And I'd

10:21

like to hear from you , parents , if you've tried

10:24

this and it's made a difference in your life

10:26

and in your child's life . Please

10:28

leave me a message . I'm always happy

10:30

to hear from parents . Leave me a message

10:32

and please share this with other

10:35

parents you know may have similar struggles

10:37

to you . Share this , because that's

10:40

the reason I'm here is to share

10:42

as much knowledge as I can and to help as many

10:45

children as I can be the very

10:47

, very , very best version of themselves

10:49

, and for parents as well , because

10:51

we're all in this together . It takes all of us

10:53

to raise our families . So , have

10:56

an amazing day . I hope this was helpful

10:59

. Again , please subscribe to the YouTube

11:01

channel . If you're on the podcast

11:03

, please subscribe to the podcast and

11:06

, more importantly , I'd love to hear your

11:08

feedback . Okay , have an

11:10

amazing day .