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Center for Integrative Chiropractic Neurology I am a Chiropractic Neurologist, Functional Neurologist and author of The Symbiont Factor: How the Mi

Your microbiome doesn’t just sit in the gut — research maps its reach into specific brain neighborhoods.Research discuss...
09/18/2026

Your microbiome doesn’t just sit in the gut — research maps its reach into specific brain neighborhoods.

Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) notes that gut bacteria can alter neurotransmitter and receptor activity in regions including the cingulate cortex (emotional response, learning, memory, reward/motivation), the prelimbic and prefrontal cortex (planning, comparing outcomes, conscience, self-discipline), the amygdala (emotional memory and reactions linked to planning), the hippocampus (turning short-term memory into long-term memory with emotional content, plus navigation), and the locus ceruleus (panic or extreme stress ↔ the body’s physical response) (Bravo, Bonaz, Neufeld). Influence over those structures could change personality, emotional response, memory, and follow-through on plans — framed as a research map, not mind control.

Not a diagnosis. Not a claim that bacteria “own” your free will. A sharper map of which brain regions sit on the microbiome’s research trail.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

Ketones are not only fuel. In the research, they also show up as neuroprotective.β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) — one of the ma...
09/18/2026

Ketones are not only fuel. In the research, they also show up as neuroprotective.

β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) — one of the main ketone bodies — is framed in studies discussed in Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet as associated with protecting neural tissue under metabolic and oxidative stress. That is the book’s public talking point in plain English: nutritional ketosis is not just another energy line. It is also part of a neuroprotection conversation.

Not a cure. Not a guaranteed outcome for every reader. A metabolic option with a research trail that belongs in serious brain-health talk — next to fuel, inflammation, and growth signals.

If injury recovery, migraines, or “my brain feels fragile” keeps showing up, it is fair to ask whether protection mechanisms — not only willpower — are part of the picture. Then decide next steps with your clinician.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet
https://amzn.to/4zXt00n

Your brain can still grow new wiring.BDNF — brain-derived neurotrophic factor — is one of the signals that helps neurons...
09/16/2026

Your brain can still grow new wiring.

BDNF — brain-derived neurotrophic factor — is one of the signals that helps neurons survive, connect, and adapt. Research discussed in Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet links nutritional ketosis and the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) with inducing BDNF expression in cerebral cortical neurons — a growth-and-plasticity story, not a cure claim and not a guaranteed outcome for every reader.

That is why the book’s public talking points include triggering BDNF and new neuronal growth: ketones are not only another fuel line. In the research frame, they also show up in the chemistry that supports how brains remodel.

If fog, recovery after injury, or “my brain will not bounce back” keeps showing up, it is fair to ask whether fuel *and* growth signals are part of the conversation — then decide next steps with your clinician.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet
https://amzn.to/4zXt00n

Your brain gets better at whatever you practice — including the parts that run anxiety, worry, and anger.Research discus...
09/15/2026

Your brain gets better at whatever you practice — including the parts that run anxiety, worry, and anger.

Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) notes that plasticity depends on structures like BDNF and NMDA receptors, and that both sit under the influence of symbiont bacteria (Savignac, Schele, Jung, Logan). Microbes can also shape neurotransmitter receptors, emotional response, and memory (Neufeld, Diaz; Li, Gareau). The implication is practical, not mystical — when your microbiome colony bias nudges mood toward stress loops, the brain can rewire to build stress even more efficiently, unless you step in with conscious course-correction. Morning gratitude practice, for example, would help prevent this stress-building loop. Positive exposures can tune the other way.

Not mind control. Not a cure claim. A sharper map of why “practice” cuts both ways in the gut–brain partnership.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

Hunger is not only a willpower scoreboard.Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) notes that the microb...
09/14/2026

Hunger is not only a willpower scoreboard.

Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) notes that the microbiome helps set the host’s “metabolic phenotype” — the metabolic state that makes some foods feel desirable and others not (Rezzi; Li). The same section ties gut microbes to leptin and ghrelin, the hormones that help signal satiety and appetite, so the colony can steer what you want and how satisfied you feel until enough of that food has been eaten (Norris). Soft supporting thread in the chapter: microbes can also influence neurotransmitter receptor sites in several brain areas (Neufeld, Diaz).

Not mind control. Not a cure claim. A sharper map of why “I already know what to eat” and “I still want that” can both be true.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

In mice with a distinct behavioral pattern, transferring their gut bacteria to germ-free mice also transferred the behav...
09/12/2026

In mice with a distinct behavioral pattern, transferring their gut bacteria to germ-free mice also transferred the behavior — by altering brain chemistry.

Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) cites that transplant finding (Collins), then notes human work where probiotics can alter brain activity (Tillisch) and are discussed in anxiety and depression research (Bravo). The chapter’s shorthand: behavior goes with the bacteria.

The same section softens the takeaway with a practical caution researchers have raised: when f***l transplant therapy is considered, donor selection matters — lest brain imbalances transfer along with the microbes (Collins). Not a treatment pitch. A map of how seriously the gut–brain link is being taken.

Not mind control. Not a cure claim. A sharper picture of partnership.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

Mainstream news and entertainment skew toward stress, violence, and bad news — and that sells.Research discussed in The ...
09/11/2026

Mainstream news and entertainment skew toward stress, violence, and bad news — and that sells.

Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) frames a two-way street: a heavy stress-media load is associated with a gut milieu that favors less helpful organisms, and that milieu can bias attention toward more stressful content. Stress physiology and the gut are linked; the chapter treats the loop as a feedback pattern, not a verdict that “you have no free will.”

As a way to understand this — not a prescription — Chapter 10 suggests trying one month with no news, no movies, no television, and no radio; meditate or pray daily; eat a pro-gut, anti-inflammatory pattern; and sleep generously (research discussed includes Summa on sleep). Then watch the evening news again and notice what feels “out of tune.”

Illustration, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

Rats are hard-wired to fear cats.Infected with Toxoplasma gondii, that wiring flips. Research discussed in The Gut Bacte...
09/09/2026

Rats are hard-wired to fear cats.

Infected with Toxoplasma gondii, that wiring flips. Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) describes how the parasite alters frontal and olfactory pathways so an infected rat loses its fear of cats — even becoming drawn to cat scent — which helps the parasite reach its feline host to finish its life cycle.

Extreme case. Clear lesson: a microbe can change host behavior when it serves the microbe.

The same chapter also walks research on latent T. gondii infection in people — associations studied in the literature with personality shifts, reaction time, and mood-related outcomes. Not a scare story. Another reminder that “who is in the room” when behavior changes can include a symbiont or parasite.

Not mind control. Not a diagnosis from a social post. A sharper picture of partnership.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

09/08/2026

A pillbug is supposed to hide from light.

Infected with a parasite called Acanthocephala, that wiring flips. Research discussed in The Gut Bacteria Book (Chapter 10) describes how the parasite alters the bug's nervous system so it seeks light — and becomes easier for a bird to eat, which is where the parasite needs to finish its life cycle.

Extreme case. Clear lesson: microbes can change host behavior when it serves them.

Gut microbes are not zombie parasites. But the same chapter walks research linking the microbiome to mood, appetite, and behavior in subtler ways — so a craving or a mood shift is not always "just you" in isolation.

Not mind control. Not a miracle claim. A sharper picture of partnership.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

The Gut Bacteria Book
https://amzn.to/4qTgv1O

09/07/2026

Your brain is an energy hog.

It runs best when fuel is steady. When glucose delivery is shaky — from metabolic strain, injury recovery, or just a rough day of spikes and crashes — the brain still has to keep the lights on.

And a brain that is low on fuel is an unhappy brain.

Ketones are another fuel the brain can use. Research discussed in Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet shows nutritional ketosis can improve the brain’s fuel supply: ketones as an alternative (and, when available, often preferred) energy source for neural tissue — not a miracle, a metabolic option.

That is why ketogenic diets have a long clinical history in neurology, starting with drug-resistant epilepsy in the 1920s. The story is bigger than “weight loss.” It is about what your neurons are burning.

Educational, not medical advice. Listen to your doctor.

Better Brain Health with a Ketogenic Diet
https://amzn.to/4zXt00n

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