Super Gut

“ If you wear shoes or brush your teeth, there is a very good chance that this issue applies to you.

“ If you wear shoes or brush your teeth, there is a very good chance that this issue applies to you. ” e.style.display='none');if(typeof getContentsSections==='function')setTimeout(getContentsSections,50)" /> A hidden epidemic dwarfing diabetes. SIBO — small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — occurs when unhealthy fecal bacteria from the colon ascend into the 24 feet of small intestine where they don't belong, creating a 30-foot infection. Davis estimates over 100 million Americans have it: 35 – 84% of IBS patients, up to 100% of fibromyalgia sufferers, 23 – 88.9% of obese people, and 40 – 60% of those with fatty liver. Doctors rarely screen for it. SIBO manifests as rosacea, joint pain, food intolerances, depression, restless legs, and dozens of other conditions. Physicians treat each symptom with prescriptions while the bacterial invasion underneath goes unrecognized. Ask your doctor about SIBO and the typical response is blank stares or dismissal. TAKEAWAY 2

“ Nobody in 1950 ate glyphosate-laced corn or was exposed to the polysorbate 80 added to ice cream or took statin drugs to reduce cholesterol. ” e.style.display='none');if(typeof getContentsSections==='function')setTimeout(getContentsSections,50)" /> Davis coined "Frankenbelly" to describe the monstrous microbiome modern life has created — something almost no longer human. The key disruptors: 1. Antibiotics — 260 million prescriptions per year in the US, up to 50% unnecessary 2. C-section delivery (32% of births) and formula feeding that skip the mother's microbial transfer 3. Glyphosate herbicide, which kills beneficial Lactobacillus but spares harmful E. coli 4. Stomach acid-blocking drugs, NSAIDs, and artificial sweeteners 5. Emulsifiers in processed food Hunter-gatherers escape entirely. Indigenous peoples unexposed to these factors show virtually zero IBS, acid reflux, colon cancer, or obesity — conditions anthropologists call "diseases of civilization." Their microbiomes, though separated by continents, look strikingly similar to each other and dramatically different from ours. TAKEAWAY 3

“ The unavoidable conclusion: the products of bacterial breakdown that enter the bloodstream play a role in causing depression. ” e.style.display='none');if(typeof getContentsSections==='function')setTimeout(getContentsSections,50)" /> Endotoxemia is the missing link. When trillions of gut bacteria die, cell wall fragments — especially lipopolysaccharide (LPS) — leak into the bloodstream, a process called metabolic endotoxemia. In controlled experiments, healthy volunteers injected with LPS developed all hallmarks of depression within hours: dark moods, anxiety, loss of motivation. Brain imaging confirmed depression's neural signature in these previously healthy people. This explains why roughly a third of depressed patients show elevated inflammation markers and resist antidepressants. People with SIBO carry tenfold higher LPS levels in portal blood than people without it. Rather than adding anti-inflammatory drugs to failing antidepressants, Davis argues, we should address the bacterial overgrowth flooding the bloodstream…