Review: GUT by Giulia Enders

If you are interested in diet and nutrition you’ll know that there has been quite a buzz around gut health for some time now. Although it may seem like a fad, it is actually backed by an increasing amount of scientific evidence, and there’s no denying that the link between your gut and overall health is fascinating. Many experts and scientists are even nicknaming the gut as the ‘second brain’.

One such gut expert is Dr Giulia Enders, a German scientist and writer, passionate about gastroenterology. Her bestselling book ‘Gut: the inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ’, was published in 2015 whilst she was still a doctoral student. I was recommended this book last year by my play-write housemate. At the time, we would bond over our low energy levels, the latest nutritional trends, and which foods made our tummy’s feel funny. She had bought this book on a whim, and suddenly felt she had all the answers. So I gave it a read.

Gut is based on the foundation that your digestive system is just as important as your brain or heart, yet until recently, its potential has been fairly neglected. This book takes the reader on a rigorous exploration of the under-rated organ with no detail spared (seriously, not one detail… be ready for poo talk). 

Giulia’s passion and obsession with the gut shines through every page as she explains its physiology, wondrous architecture, associated diseases, and new research with an upbeat sense of humour and scattering of anecdotes. The author’s light approach to a heavy subject means that this book is digestible for anyone (pun intended); there is a large volume of ‘hard science’ covered in this book that is broken down into bitesize, easy-peasy chapters. 

As well as being passionate about the gut, Enders is an advocate for communicating science and making it accessible to everyone - ‘I’m sometimes shocked by the way scientists huddle behind closed doors to discuss their important research results, without informing the public about them at all’. Anyone curious about improving their health and wellbeing will enjoy Giulia’s essential lifestyle tips on how to keep a happy gut; for example, how to feed your gut microbes, how to spot an intolerance, and the controlling acid reflux. Once you get to the end of this book, you’ll be fully invested in Giulia’s ‘happy gut, happy mind’ ethos. 

--
I’ve previously written a blog post about the importance of keeping your gut happy and healthy, and what effect an unhealthy gut can have on your body (you can read this HERE).