Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut

We're thrilled to bring you another installment of the Flowly Documentary Review Series. This week, join Flowly team member Kimberley and explore Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut.

What’s it about?

“Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut" is a 2024 Netflix documentary that delves into the importance of gut health and its impact on overall wellness. The film tracks the journey of four individuals who take part in a study analyzing their gut bacteria through stool samples. It also includes insights from renowned gut specialist Dr. Giulia Enders, who explains the connection between gut health, brain function, mental health, and overall well-being

Why did you choose to watch Hack Your Health?

I chose to watch "Hack Your Health" after hearing about it from a friend who is a Marriage and Family Therapist. She had recently watched the documentary and was excited to see a film explaining the complex interplay between the brain and our "second brain," the gut. She was particularly thrilled that discussions about the gut's impact on anxiety and depression were becoming more mainstream.

As someone with no medical credentials, I was drawn to "Hack Your Health" for a couple of reasons: I enjoy a good documentary, and I have personally struggled with gastrointestinal issues for most of my life without receiving a clear diagnosis or answers from physicians. Additionally, the documentary's focus on the relationship between gut health and mental health, particularly anxiety and depression, resonated with me because it's a topic that many of our Flowly heroes live with. This made the film even more compelling for me to watch.

What are the main takeaways?

• The Microbiome's Crucial Role: Dr. Giulia Enders emphasizes that "hardly anyone has really adventured into their own gut," yet it profoundly influences our health, impacting weight, disease susceptibility, hormonal balance, and the overall course of our lives. Neuroscientist John Cryan further highlights that our gut affects the entire body, including specific brain conditions.
• Our ability to digest food properly hinges on a diverse community of microbes, including bacteria and viruses. This collective community, known as the microbiome, is essential for digestion, immune function, and inflammation reduction. Approximately 70% of our immune system resides in the gut, where bacteria train it to respond to harmful organisms and produce essential chemicals we cannot make ourselves.
• The microbiome is highly sensitive to lifestyle choices, such as diet, travel, relationships, and stress. In industrialized environments, the lack of diversity in our diets, often filled with processed foods rather than a variety of fruits and vegetables, leads to a decline in microbiome diversity. This reduction can negatively impact our bodies in ways we are still discovering.
• Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiologist, encourages us to embrace the power we have over our microbiome: "All of us have the ability to change our own microbes through simple changes to our diet and our lifestyle." By making mindful choices about what we eat and how we live, we can nurture a healthier, more diverse microbiome, thereby enhancing our overall health and well-being.
• Eat Mindfully: The documentary emphasizes the importance of mindful eating throughout. It highlights the practice of listening to your body to recognize hunger and fullness cues, encouraging you to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. One of the participants, a competitive hot dog eater, underscores this point by seeking answers to why he never feels hungry or full after years of purposefully ignoring his fullness cues. Additionally, the documentary suggests paying attention to how you feel 2-3 hours after eating different foods. If you notice feelings of tiredness, sluggishness, or bloating, it may indicate that the meal you ate is difficult for your current microbiome to digest. By being mindful of these cues, you can make more informed dietary choices that support your gut health.
• “ABC” – Always Be Counting: Hack Your Health encourages viewers to be mindful of their fruit and vegetable intake, aiming for a weekly goal of 20-30 different varieties of plants (this includes different fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes, etc.). For those who rarely eat plants, starting with 10-15 varieties per week and gradually increasing over time is recommended. This emphasis on fruits and vegetables is due to their high fiber content, which is crucial for gut health.
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  Scientists suggest consuming 50 grams of fiber per day for optimal gut health, while the FDA recommends 28-40 grams per day. However, the average American only consumes about 15 grams daily. By increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables, you can significantly boost your fiber consumption, supporting a healthier gut microbiome.
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  Additionally, eat a variety of plants to feed your gut microbes. The gut microbiome consists of trillions of microbes and their genes that inhabit the intestinal tract. A balanced gut microbiome is essential for overall health, as these microbes aid in digestion, manage inflammation, support the immune system, regulate hormones, and more. The documentary highlights the significance of consuming a diverse array of plants, such as fruits and vegetables, to enhance the beneficial bacteria in the gut. By diversifying your diet with various plant-based foods, you can help maintain a robust and healthy gut microbiome.

How did Hack Your Health affect you?

Watching this documentary served as a valuable reminder to diversify and increase my consumption of plant-based foods. Living in America, it's easy to gradually reduce the variety and quantity of plants in my diet without realizing it. Additionally, it emphasized that while spending money on probiotics or microbiome kits can be beneficial, it's not necessary to start improving your gut microbiome. Simple dietary changes can make a significant difference.

The film also sparked my curiosity about future research and discoveries related to the gut microbiome. Hidden within our gut health might be answers to common illnesses or mental health conditions.

Who should watch Hack Your Health?

"Hack Your Health" is a must-watch for anyone keen on exploring the fascinating connection between the gut and the brain. This documentary breaks down complex information about the gut-brain relationship into easily digestible (pun intended) segments, presenting the content without significant bias. Our heroes, in particular, might find this film invaluable as it offers practical insights on how to enhance their microbiome. This can be especially beneficial for those dealing with depression, anxiety, or gut-related issues. Keep in mind, however, that current research on the gut is still in its infancy, and there is much more to uncover.

Are you interested in learning more about the gut-brain connection? Click here to check out Nourishing Your Brain: The Gut-Brain Connection.

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or position of Flowly.