For a long time now I’ve had a digestive disorder, which means the only way for me to eat well is to have a very restrictive diet. And yes, it can be a drag, because sugar is out, bread is out, spicy food–out. But I can have some old favorites, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee–fats. And I use them generously. Apparently, that’s not a bad thing…
On a stressful or depressing day, the gut goes straight for comfort food: potatoes and gravy, meatloaf, or, for the veggies, a grilled cheese sandwich piled high with cheddar, provolone, or mozzarella. The more the cheese oozes, the better the day gets.
In an emerging field dubbed neurogastroenterology, scientists are finding that the stomach knows more than we give it credit for. “The gut can work independently of any control by the brain in your head—it’s functioning as a second brain,” Michael Gershon, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University, tells Dan Hurley in Psychology Today (November/December 2011).
Original article “Positive Mental and Emotional Effects of Fatty Foods,” by Staff at Utne Reader, March/April 2012.
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