Gut by Giulia Enders

Considering whether to purchase this book I read the dedication which was addressed to Giulia’s single parent mum – as a single parent myself… of course I am going to buy it!

Giulia Enders is working on her medical doctorate conducting gut and microbiological research.  Her book ‘Gut’ is an international bestseller, and on reading it is easy to see why.  It is very easy to read and divided nicely into chapters and sections where you can find the particular thing you want to know about your gut very easily.  I would nonetheless still recommend reading through from beginning to end as it gives such straightforward explanations backed up by science, as well as much common sense advice regarding how to put your best gut forward.  Yes!  That is a joke…

I wasn’t too enamoured with the illustrations which I think could have lent more to the actual content that was being described, but this is likely personal preference and some of them certainly made me smile.  They lightened the book’s content though sometimes seemed a little obtuse.

Gut is divided into three main chapters:

1. Gut Feeling describes the structure of the gut, talks about the kind of foods we eat and how they affect our management of allergies or suspected intolerances;
2. The Nervous System of the Gut informs us on how we experience food physically from our eyes through to our large intestine, and remarks on the relationship the brain has with the gut as well as why reflux and vomiting may happen, and best management of constipation;
3. The World of Microbes: 70-80% of our immune system resides in the gut and Giulia Enders describes very nicely how the gut flora develops and how to manage the good and bad bacteria we are faced with daily.

I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more in a common sense way of the impact the gut has on general health and well being, and what steps they can take to improve current gut management.  You will definitely learn something here.