Salus June 4, 2025

Mitch

One of the overall things we’re talking about is catharsis. There is neurobiological catharsis, and there’s also the gut sense of catharsis. I don’t know how that ties in, but I think it’s really important. And I just want to say that the gut to me is an interface. Its job is protection and absorption. And then there’s an immune system just right beyond the absorptive center.  And the function of the gut is maintained by the health of the milieu inside the gut. And what’s put into the gut is so incredibly important. The health of the gut is determined by the diversity of the bacteria in the gut. So, there is the critical interplay between what people put into their gut, how it is going through the system, and the system’s absorption.

There is an opportunity to interact with the health of the people by reviewing what they’re putting in their mouth. What are they eating, and what is the environment they live in. And I think gut health and population health operate in very similar ways. Many people in health care may be missing that similarity.

Just to throw in a couple of facts. 90% of the serotonin in the brain is from the gut. Most of the dopamine is from the gut. Most of the norepinephrine is from the gut. And traveling via the Vagus nerve, which is parasympathetic, which slows down the heart, relaxes us, and is important in the digestion and slowing of the GI tract, making it work together. Its neurobiologically interesting that there are so many neurons in the intestine, innervated by the Vagus nerve, talking back and forth to the brain. I think that there is some potential there. The brain is neurons with dendrites communicating, and there’s a whole mystery there. Then the gut is a bunch of neurons with dendrites, probably not as rich as in the brain, communicating back and forth. And it sort of makes sense that there’s a factor of neurology and neurobiology of the gut. It makes sense to conclude that the gut has its own reasoning capacity, given what we see in the brain.

Bill B

So, Mitch, can you say a bit more about catharsis. What’s that about? it’s a very interesting use of that term.

Mitch

So, we were talking about Go Lightly, which quickly begins a cleansing of the gut. We talked about enemas. They used cayenne pepper. They used coffee. They used all sorts of things to clean the bacteria out of the gut, to decrease the bacterial count. They wanted to start over without realizing that real health, real catharsis, is what you put into the gut. How you treat that garden and why the composition of the gut is so important. The gut is so modifiable and so quickly adaptive that the real catharsis is how our gut is treated, and then the feedback the gut gives to the brain in terms of health. And we know that psychology works as well as the pills, and the two work well together. Then you add the nutritional component. These days, you’re catching a whole bunch of people getting better, but you’ve got to put all these components together.

And so, for me, the catharsis bears some more thinking about. It’s not just quickly getting rid of things. It’s holding on to them until they’ve served their purpose, until they’ve taught you what they need to teach you. I think that’s part of what my personal journey is about. It is not letting the problems and the issues that are irritating go right away. I don’t try to dismiss them, but try to see what I’m supposed to learn from them. Maybe that’s the best catharsis right there. So, just getting rid of the problem is kind of what healthcare does, right? And I really agree with the fee-for-service model. That’s disturbing and really like an enema. We have this beautiful outcome right there. Not always beautiful, but undeniable, but what has it done to the system at large? Probably throw it out of balance.