Monday, October 10, 2011 by: Paul Fassa

(NaturalNews) Your mind is your most important asset, but it can become your worst enemy. And your gut may be your most important organ when it comes to mental health. The awareness of intestinal flora deficiencies as the root causes of a wide spectrum of mental problems is constantly expanding. The gut is often called the “second brain”. This is something you can easily manage.

Gut flora importance

Gut flora is the term for micro-organisms that live in the gastrointestinal tract. There are 100 trillion of them compared to our 10 trillion cells. If the intestines were opened and spread out to expose their inner linings, they would cover a tennis court.

We have a symbiotic relationship with all these friendly bacteria that cover so much territory. Not only do they deter invading pathogens or kill some of the bad guys, but they also signal other aspects of our immune system in other parts of our bodies. That colony of helpful bacteria is sometimes called our “forgotten organ.”

The relationship of friendly gut flora to pathogenic bacteria needs to be rather lopsided, around 85% good guys to 15% bad guys. When it goes the other way, all sorts of physical and mental problems arise.

Mentally, disorders ranging from ADD to autism in children and depression to mental fogginess in adults have been connected to intestinal flora imbalances that create inflammation of the gut and elsewhere. This is known as the “gut-brain axis”.

Physically, a gut flora imbalance allows pathogenic bacteria and fungi to infect our bodies. Candida yeast overgrowth occurs, and guess what, people with Candida suffer from fatigue and depression.

There are many environmental and dietary issues that kill our friendly bacteria. The whole idea of killing bacteria has been overdone in our culture. Pasteurization, irradiation, processed foods and sugar are the main culprits.

Medications, especially antidepressants and antibiotics, are the enemies of your friendly bacteria. GMOs wreak havoc on friendly bacteria too. Even if you don’t take medications and antibiotics or eat GMO food overtly, they have all surreptitiously invaded our food chain through other sources.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride has gone a step further and has actually cured autism and other mental and physical problems by restoring the intestinal flora balance through mostly dietary changes.