The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life

This book is fantastic--packs a lot of useful, credible, and detailed information in a succinct and readable format. Must read for everyone, not just those suffering from neurological disorders--this is because connections are drawn with many other health issues (excema, allergies, IBS, etc.).

Dr. Perlmutter's books have been a game changer for me. I started with 'Brain Maker' because my hair was falling out by the handful and I knew that was caused by my not being able to absorb nutrients via my gut. The supplements I was taking weren't enough. Now I've started making my own fermented foods and from there read 'Grain Brain', which explained to me why I wasn't able to absorb the nutrients from my food: I'm gluten sensitive.

Christmas 2014 I was calling around to find out the cost of having knee replacement surgery. Many nights I couldn't sleep except by using pain meds, even a sheet on my legs was too much.I was headed for crutches and then a wheelchair. Eight weeks ago I stopped eating gluten or using products with gluten in them. After cleaning gluten out of my life and eating probiotic foods, I'm almost pain free. Two day ago I sat on the beach in a 'lotus' position, not for long, but I could do it. I still can't jump up and down and run but I feel good enough to want to do those things.

Pastries, floury foods, sugary foods never temp me now, nor do I crave them and I was a sugar and flour junkie, for years. But now I know the price they really cost me: my health, mobility and brain health. My dad had early stages of dementia and my aunt had full blown Alzheimer's. I don't want that to be me.

My health has taken a 180 degree turn and I've never felt this good in my life, even as a child or young adult, and it's only been 8 weeks. I've taken gluten out of everything I touch and changing out my shampoo gave me huge results. Keeping my blood sugar in a 'normal' range is also of paramount importance to me. Dr. Rosedale's book has really explained to me why I could never lose weight by using Atkins or a Paleo diet: too much protein for me and the rest was turning to sugar which was keeping my blood sugar high.

I can't thank Dr. Perlmutter & Dr. Rosedale enough. They have literally saved my life and given me the health I always wanted. Believe me, there is no feeling of denying myself or having to be 'strict'. This is a joy to do each day. I feel amazing and I look forward to the results I'll have in 8 months, eight years.

This is slow reading, but thorough. Perlmutter goes after the mysterious chronic, Western diseases that are the hardest to prevent and treat by nutrition or medical care. It is mainly focused on brain disorders but it includes anything rooted in the gut and inflammatory and auto immune diseases, including Alzheimer's dementia, Leaky Gut Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic syndrome X, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, autism, ADHD, and overweight. He says the gut will be linked to asthma and cancer in the future. Frankly, I'm not sure which health problems are not related to an unhealthy gut. It is not just our gut and immune system that are affected, but the mitochondria bacteria in our cells and the Blood Brain Barrier.

The message is clear. The care and feeding of a healthy microbiome must take precedence over all other approaches to disease or health.

Doctor Perlmutter is on the same cutting edge as other doctors shedding light on the truth about nutrition in our modern day. All scientifically proven, not just anecdotal evidence, complete with specific suggestions and recommendations for a better brain in the fastest time possible.

This is an excellent review of new research and made easy to read and understand for the layman. Dr. Perlmutter is a pioneer in this area giving the reader an inside look at how research is crucial to bringing understanding of gut problems that affect all the systems in the human body.

Hold on to your hats! Modern medicine is taking a roller coaster ride to the future with Dr. Pulmutter and others at the wheel! Diseases of all types are subject to what you had for dinner, among other things. And guess what? You may have more impact on your own health through what you eat than what your doctor prescribes! Read this book!

Dr Perlmutter has definitely made the case that the gut is probably the most important area for the health of not only the brain but our entire body. His willingness to share recent research that will help everyone improve not only brain health but the health of the entire body through diet shows that he is a Doctor that is truly concerned about improving everyone's health without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs first. It takes guts for him to do that because I'm sure the pharmaceutical drug companies will attempt to label him a quack since he is going outside the box and may dent the billion dollar profits they count on. I wish more Doctors would be honest and make the break from the pharmaceuticals and begin making recommendations for diet changes and natural treatments before resorting to putting patients on drugs that may start a downward spiral causing the patient to take more and more drugs to handle the side effects they create. I realize there is a place for pharmaceuticals, but it should not be the only option when diet and natural remedies may remedy the problem.

I always enjoy reading books that offers natural ways to cure medical problems. This is such a book. How the gut works is fascinating as there are functions presented in the book that I was never aware of in the past. Bottom line this is one more book that should be read and followed for good health.

Excellent book. Very interesting read and full of information. Where was all of this information years ago when I was doing all the wrong things? Highly recommend this and his first book Grain Brain also.

Well written, researched book with lots of practical ideas on how to keep your body and brain healthy and prevent onset of disease. I love the recipes presented in the book. They are simple, easy to prepare and highly nutritious.

Another stellar work by the author of "Grain Brain." It cites a ton of cutting-edge research on the importance of gut bacteria (probiotics), but in a very accessible and even entertaining way. Dr. Perlmutter is one of the great medical visionaries of this century, and I can't wait until his views become accepted by the mainstream establishment.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Perlmutter's Brain Maker. Medicine is finally catching up with science. He has knocked this one out of the park! What struck me the most was the connection between gut and brain. I knew there was a connection. And he shows the data to support it. This is a game changer that can't be ignored.

Earth-shaking medical breakthrough!
My own disease, Behcet's, has greatly improved by healing my gut!
Still have flares but seeking more testing /clinical trial to achieve
a more perfect gut balance.

David Perlmutter’s book Brain Maker was recommended for me to read by a Physician’s Assistant that I wholeheartedly trust and respect. I am so glad that I read this enlightening book and recommend it without reservation to those who are concerned about their health and well-being.

Perlmutter is an award winning board-certified neurologist and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition who is concerned with curing a variety of maladies as opposed to just treating the symptoms.

This is a very readable book that I found both intriguing and engrossing. Doctor Perlmutter is an open minded physician who explains complex medical studies in terms that the average reader can understand.

Many of us do not know that our stomach houses a plethora of a variety of bacteria that is called the Microbiome. These bacteria have been around long before humans inhabited the earth. In our gut, they are key to our health.

In advanced modern Western society, it turns out that what we put on and in our bodies upset the balance of that bacteria. Antibiotics, some medicines, soaps, shampoos, process foods, pesticides, and genetically altered meat negatively impact that balance.

Perlmutter provides example after example of medical conditions that have been reversed or improved upon through change in diet, use of prebiotics and probiotics.

It turns out that mental and physical maladies versus health are related more than we know to the bacteria balance in our bellies.

David introduces enlightening studies and recommendations while giving hope to those suffering from a variety of conditions that can be cured or improved through eliminating the extermination of helpful bacteria and living a healthy lifestyle.

The author teaches the reader how to make many of the foods that positively impact a helpful balance of healing bacteria that keep our bodies running at optimal efficiency.

I like this book so much that I am not only following the recommendations and losing weight, but also purchased the authors bestselling book, Grain Brain as well as books by other authors dealing with balancing gut bacteria that promote weight loss and a healthy way of life that improves our physical and mental well-being.

I whole heartedly recommend this easy to understand enlightening book that may extend your life as well as the quality of your existence.

Enjoy!

Such an interesting book and though there were passages that were a little too clinical for my tastes I did find the subject matter to be fascinating. Makes sense that the parts of your body that deal with feeding your body necessary nutrients have such a great impact on the brain.

I became interested in this subject after getting remarkable benefits from a recommended probiotic.
I appreciate the authors sharing recipes and remedies to promote a healthy gut resulting in overall good health.
This is a great primer for future health technologies.

I highly respect Dr. Perlmutter and his work. His writing is easy to understand and his advice clear. I highly recommend this work to understand why your brain depends more on your gut than vice-versa.

I am delighted to see medical doctors show interest in nutritional and other non-conventional modalities to treat important health issues. Information was clearly presented and well supported. Thank you for taking the time to write this book Dr. Perlmutter.

This an excellent book. We have implemented many sugestions. However, I don't see my family following 100%. My husband read it, too. I expected him to start and loose interest. He read it in its entirety. Very interesting. We plan to read Grain Brain (by the same author) next.

Dr Perlmutter explains everything we need to know about life, health, nutrition and the direct link between what we put in our bodies for fuel and our overall health in the short and long term. This should be essential reading in high school and will cut the costs of healthcare if people learn and understand that we really are what we eat.

An excellent book. I follow a stritc vegetable based Wheat Belly style diet and found this book illuminating re gut microbes. Also love Dr Davis Wheat Belly total health. I have done a regimen of microbe building because of these two doctors and am very pleased with how I feel.

Definitely, a must read book! If you are concerned about your health, you have to read this book. Dr. Perlmutter supports his point with a great deal of scientific research, and explains it in a very detailed manner.

This book was recommended by my neighbor and I am thrilled that I purchased it, When I started to read it I found that I couldn't put it down. The book is full of great information to help you eat a more nourishing and healthy diet.

Mike

Just verifies my own inner feeling that bread and sugar in excess is unhealthy. Sugar is my own addiction and this book along with Sugar Blues is motivating me to reduce and eliminate this from my diet. Thanks to the Dr.

Very interesting. There is more and more research available on gut microbes and probiotics. I have long been a fan of the J.J. Virgen Diet
and this seems to explain more fully the why of some of her statements and suggestions.

Dr. Perlmutter addresses many neurological disorders that plague our society today, from ADHD, Alzheimer's, and Autism to anxiety, depression, migraine headaches, and more. I found each chapter to contain so much helpful information .There are answers to many of the questions I had about my own health in this research-based book. The 7-day meal plan chapter toward the end of the book is a nice way to introduce gut-brain healthy foods. I especially like the recipes for making my own Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese, among others. I highly recommend this book to individuals who are truly interested in improving their health and willing to make the necessary changes required to achieve this.

Author has various books on this and related subject. His books document how we've lost track of our nutrition, how our current diet is unhealthy with considerable consequences for our wellbeing. It's an easy read, gives a lot of information and supports his hypotheses very well.

Brain Maker is an important book because it presents a foundational aspect of health still ignored by many professional medicationists. The book's text is written in understandable language, and Dr. Perlmutter's synthesis is supported by numerous citations from peer-reviewed medical literature.

A detailed book by which we learn about the rather new re-discovering by which some sicknesses can be solved by transferring into the gut some feces with good bacteria from a healthy person.

In the book we are getting some extremely interesting health problem, among other autism, which just was solved in this way after during years in vain having being tried solved in by the orthodox ways.

The only thing which make me wonder is why we first at the end of the book, actually on the side 271, then read about how already long time back in history the method was known, and used. There we read that already 1,700 years ago a Chinese alchemist wrote about it, and later, now “only” 400 years ago, again a Chinese knew the method. But especially interesting, to me, after these cases we are told that during World War II, German soldiers in Africa, by the Bedouin’s learned the efficacy by against dysentery to consume fresh warm camel feces. To me I would be most logical to have this information as the start of the book.

But again a very interesting book to read for getting knowledge about the new and rather logical solution to use for quite a couple of problematic sicknesses, and a method most doctors still not can tell us about.

As they say, "Getting old is not for Sissies!" Dr. Perlmutter's book, while of value to all ages, brings particular helpful information to those later in life. Its clear the science is there, and so is the author's caring attitude. Read it, apply it, and enjoy life all the more!