The Gut as Man's Second Brain

Herbert Watzke recently presented a TED talk titled "The brain in your gut". Watzke is a food material scientist who has set up a department in this discipline at Nestle. This research focusses on how a multidisciplinary approach (chemistry, nutrition and neuroscience) can bring about ever better food sources (and maybe even better chocolate). His recent TED talk focussed on how we should see humans as benefiting as a species from the development of cooking and how our gut serves as a second brain. I have previously published a post looking the function of the brain insula--a region that appears to map for sensations from the gut and other body regions.  Here are my notes from his presentation that is just over 15 minutes if you have the interest and time.

We should call ourselves the coctivor rather than carnivore--we live to cook

Cooking was key to brain development in humans
Our brain growth has been key to our the development of our species

Food+Cooking=Energy

Cooking caused the brain to grow and the gut to decrease in size
Our stomachs are 60% of the size of the stomachs of similar sized primates
Cooking allowed the human species to migrate and colonize remote locations

Our gut has a silent voice

A tale of two brains---

Our gut has connection to the brain in decision making
A "gut feeling" influences our cognitive brain in decision making
Gut in innervated with complex nervous tissue

The gut is 40 feet long with 400 square feet of surface are it has 500 million nerve cells, 100 million neurons--around the size of a cat brain

• 20 types of neurons with autonomic microcircuits
• Senses both chemical and mechanical
• Control muscle movement of gut
• Controls the secretion of enzymes and hormones

How do these two brains work?
Gut lumen sends signals to the big brain for behavior integration
Gut lumen through chemical and mechanical sensing serves as a brain-in-gut digestion defense that sends hunger satiation signals to the big brain integration of behavior
The higher brain can interfere in the function of the gut-brain
Over-ride the hunger signal can result in anorexia nervosa

His research shows how food matrix breakdown occurs in ingested olive oil
How can we change cooking so that we have molecular language development in the gut?
Taste and Reward and Food Matrix can produce energy balance
Coquo Ergo Sum
I cook, therefore, I am