Perlmutter explains the potent interplay between intestinal microbes and the brain, describing how the microbiome develops from birth and evolves based on lifestyle choices, how it can become 'sick,' and how nurturing gut health through a few easy strategies can alter your brain's destiny for the better. With dietary recommendations and a program of six steps to improving gut ecology, this book opens the door to brain health potential.

Includes recipes, most for fermented foods which add natural probiotics to the diet.

Bug alert : you're got company -- Gut check : what are your risk factors? -- Getting to know your hundred trillion friends. Welcome aboard : your microbial friends, from birth to death ; Belly and brain on fire : the new science of inflammation ; Is your belly depressed? : why angry guts make for moody and anxious minds ; How your intestinal flora can make you fat and brainsick : the surprising links between your gut's bacteria and appetite, obesity, and the brain ; Autism and the gut : on the frontiers of brain medicine -- Trouble in Bugville. Punched in the gut : the truth about fructose and gluten ; Bust a gut : common exposures that make a good microbiome go bad -- Brain maker rehab. Feeding your microbiome : six essential keys to boosting your brain by boosting your gut ; Go pro : the guide to supplements ; The brain maker 7-day meal plan : eat your way to a healthier brain -- Why the future holds.