Evidence for the Gut-Brain Axis Continues to Accumulate

This crucial connection is redefining how we understand many diseases and treatments

Doctors once knew the fundamental connection between diet and health, but that understanding was displaced as modern medicine came to emphasize drugs and surgeries. But as research reveals more about the gut-brain axis, the importance of diet has re-emerged. Shift Drive/Shutterstock

Good gut health is central to our overall health. For years, doctors and researchers thought that the delicate interplay between gut microbes, the immune system, and the cells lining the gut were solely responsible for this important balance. We have now discovered that nerve cells in the gut are critically important in this process as well.

That finding means that our gut has another direct connection to our central nervous system, further affirming the importance of the gut-brain axis.