The relationship that our gut has with our brain is like the mutually sustaining connection that plants have with soil, both dependent on each other for survival and enrichment. Plants provide the soil with organic matter, essential nutrients that allow soil to survive while healthy soil enhanced by the presence of compost and animal manure supplies plants with its own source of vital nutrients and beneficial, protective microorganisms that enable plants to resist pests and destructive pathogens.
Electrical signals emanating from the brain which rely upon our sleep patterns and our emotional states influence the production of digestive chemicals and enzymes which profoundly influence the way we digest our foods and the essential nutrients we derive from our diets. The balance of germs in our gut in turn impacts our emotional wellbeing and cognitive function with evidence that the overgrowth of pathological or harmful bacteria in our gut can seed the development of cognitive impairment and memory loss which presages the onset of dementia.
The more plants we grew aligned with nourishing soil free of pesticides and rich in salubrious microbes is a template for a flourishing brain unaffected by chemical overlay that is in turn nurtured by a healthy gut replete with robust, beneficial microorganisms.