Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
Giulia Enders · 2014
Giulia Enders, then a doctoral researcher in gastroenterology, takes you on a witty, science-rich tour of the digestive tract, revealing how this overlooked organ shapes your immunity, mood, and overall health. You'll come away with surprisingly practical habits for keeping your gut and its trillions of microbes thriving.
Bestselling, accessible tour of the gut and microbiome with practical digestive-health takeaways.
Two of the ideas you’ll keep
The Clif summary of Gut pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first two.
- Change your toilet posture: getting into a squat (by resting your feet on a small stool) straightens the kink in the rectum that the puborectalis muscle normally maintains for continence, letting waste pass with far less straining and reducing risk of hemorrhoids and constipation.
- Chew slowly and deliberately. Digestion starts in the mouth, where saliva enzymes begin breaking down carbohydrates; thorough chewing eases the work for the rest of the tract and gives your brain time to register fullness so you eat less.
The other 5 — and the full 8-minute summary — are in the app.
What’s inside: 8 chapters
The whole summary runs about 8 minutes, read or listened to.
- Why the Gut Deserves a Promotion
- The Journey of a Meal: Mouth to Stomach
- The Small Intestine and Its Helper Organs
- Allergies, Intolerances, and What We Really Eat
- How to Poop Properly (Yes, Posture Matters)
- The Gut's Nervous System: Your Second Brain
- Meet Your Microbiome
- Three Rules for a Healthy Gut
Finish Gut tonight.
Read or listen to the full summary in about 8 minutes, then keep the ideas with a minute of review a day. Start with the 2-minute quiz — no card required.