Full text of biochemist Erika Ebbel Angle’s talk titled “Your Gut Microbiome: The Most Important Organ You’ve Never Heard Of” at TEDxFargo conference.
Listen to the MP3 Audio here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Erika Ebbel Angle – CEO and co-founder of Ixcela
So, I am here today to talk to you about the importance of listening to your gut.
Brief hello, I’m a 38-year-old entrepreneur, biochemist, went to MIT BU School of Medicine and I have decided to dedicate my life to studying the gut and the gut microbiome.
Six years ago, I even started a company to address this issue and I’m a routine contributor. Some of the publications that you see here as a specialist in gut health. I’ve been really fortunate over the last few years, to have worked with professional athletes and professional athletic teams, to try to improve their gut health; because it’s so intimately related to things like increasing performance, decreasing sickness, and improving recovery time.
So, why am I here today?
Well, I’m here to talk to you about, what I think, is the most important organ; and that is the gut microbiome.
So, for those of you who don’t know what the gut microbiome is, it’s everything from your mouth to your colon, from entry to exit, all the bits in between; so your stomach, your small intestine, your large intestine, and all of the little critters that live in there. So, bacteria, fungi, viruses and cells – there are trillions of these little critters that are living in there. And we’ll talk about this a little bit more later, but diversity is so important in the gut.
So, why is it important to have a healthy gut?
Well, it’s really important for long-term health. So if you have a healthy gut, you’re going to feel more energetic; you’re going to get sick less often; you’re going to have better mental clarity, and ultimately have better emotional well-being.
Versus if you don’t have a healthy gut, a lot of research is showing that this is related to things like autoimmune conditions, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, and even emotional issues like anxiety and depression.
So, our theme for today is, ‘You are what you eat.’ so you’re probably sitting there, thinking, ‘Yeah, you know, as a kid, my parents always used to tell me ‘You are what you eat’ as they tried to foist broccoli off on me, or if you were really really lucky, Brussels sprouts and other things like that.’
But the reality is, they’re actually right. Eating poorly can do really two things. So the first one, it can prevent you from getting the nutrients that you need to stay healthy. And second, it can actually damage and change the entire composition of your gut, which will render it unable to digest things properly and create the nutrients that you need to function.
So today, we’re going to look at three molecules that you get from dietary intake; you have to eat these things.
So the first is something called ‘Tryptophan.’ You’ve probably heard of this. Thanksgiving comes, everybody talks about the tryptophan induced coma that happens after you have your food. It’s found in Turkey, but it’s also found in things like eggs and chia seeds.
So, your body takes tryptophan and converts it into a lot of other really important molecules; two of which, we’re going to talk about today. So, one called ‘Serotonin.’ Serotonin is something that makes you happy, super important, and something called melatonin, which actually helps you to sleep.
So, imagine if you don’t have any tryptophan or you’re not consuming enough tryptophan, well, no matter how many roses or diamonds or chocolates your significant other brings you, it’s just not going to make you happy; and that’s kind of sad. Also, you won’t be able to sleep; so you won’t be able to count sheep at night.
Another example is a compound called ‘Tyrosine.’ So, tyrosine, another amino acid, is found in foods like almonds, but it’s also found in lentils and seeds and edamame. Tyrosine is converted to a variety of really important things as well. So, we’ll talk about dopamine.
[read more]
Dopamine is a compound that you may have heard of; and essentially, it motivates you to do stuff. So, it’s this initiative oriented behavior that it helps to propel. An epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline, the fight-or-flight molecule which is really helpful when you’re up on this stage.
So, you know, imagine if you don’t have these things, what would happen?
Well, here’s what would happen. one, you’d be drooling on your couch; or worse yet, if you were being chased by a mountain lion, which I’m sure, you know, who knows, may happen at some point in everybody’s life; the emoji being, you know, ‘huh?’ you don’t want this to happen, right? You need a body to respond to these types of situations.
Third, we’re going to talk about something called indole-3 lactic acids. So, it’s really important. It’s found in fermented foods; things like pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir. ILA is super important because your body takes it in, and there’s certain bacteria in the guts that actually convert the ILA into something called IPA (Indole Propionic Acid). That Indole Propionic acid is actually one of the strongest antioxidants in the body.
And again, you guys might have heard of what, you know, this word ‘antioxidant’ but I’ll explain what it does. So, in your body, you have a variety of different chemical processes that happen; and many of them create things called ‘free radicals;’ these are bad. They’re reactive species that go and damage your cells. They damage DNA, and then ultimately, can lead to things like cancer.
So, these antioxidants come in and actually break down your free radicals, keeping you healthy longer. IPA, very important.
Pages: First |1 | ... | Next → | Last | View Full Transcript