the.com/gut
a second brain that thinks in serotonin and never once asks your permission.
means The digestive tract and its contents, or—figuratively—the visceral instinct and courage that seem to come from your belly rather than your head.
from From Old English 'guttas,' the intestines, likely related to the root meaning 'to pour' or 'channel'—the body's plumbing, the tube through which everything flows. The same notion lives in 'gutter.' The sense of 'inner fortitude' (a 'gutsy' move) grew naturally from the ancient hunch that bravery, fear, and feeling live in the belly—think of being 'gutted' by bad news, or 'gut-wrenching' dread. Curiously, science has come round to the old instinct: the gut really does hum with neurons and serotonin.
- surface area
- unfolded, it covers half a badminton court
- neuron count
- around 500 million, more than a cat's brain
- serotonin
- makes about 90 percent of the body's supply
- microbe census
- trillions of bacteria outnumber your own cells
- length
- roughly 9 meters coiled inside you
human microbiome — approximately 38 trillion bacteria live in the human digestive tract
gut-brain axis — bidirectional communication system between intestines and central nervous system affecting mood and behavior
leaky gut syndrome — increased intestinal permeability linked to inflammation, studied extensively since the 1980s