How to Build, Maintain & Repair Gut Health | Dr. Justin Sonnenburg

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Justin Sonnenburg. Dr. Sonnenburg is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford School of Medicine, and one of the world's leading experts on the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is the existence of trillions of little microorganisms throughout your gut. And by your gut, I don't just mean your stomach, I mean your entire digestive tract. Turns out we also have a microbiome that exists in our nose, in any other location in which our body interfaces with the outside world. In fact, there's a microbiome on your skin. And while it might seem kind of intrusive or kind of disgusting to have all these little microorganisms, they can be immensely beneficial for our health, meaning our hormonal health, our brain health and our immune system function. Dr. Sonnenberg teaches us about the gut microbiome, how it's organized spatially, meaning which microbiota live where. He teaches us about these incredible things called crypts and niches, which are little caves within our digestive tract that certain microbiota take residence. And at that premier real estate, they're able to do incredible things to support our health. He also talks about the things that we can all do to support our microbiome in order for our microbiome to support our brain and body health. Dr. Sonnenberg co-runs his laboratory with his spouse, Dr. Erica Sonnenberg. And together they've also written a terrific and highly informative book called The Good Gut, Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood and Your Long-Term Health. Even though that book was written a few years back, the information still holds up very nicely. And today he also builds on that information informing us about recent studies that for instance, point to the important role of fermented foods and the role of fiber in supporting a healthy gut microbiome. So if you've heard about the gut microbiome or even if you haven't, today you're going to hear about it from one of the world's leading experts. He makes it immensely clear as to what it is, how it functions and how to support it for your brain and body health. During today's discussion, we don't just talk about nutrition. We also talk about the impact of behaviors and the microbiome. Behavior such as who you touch, who you kiss, who you hug, whether or not you interact with or avoid animals, whether or not those animals belong to you or whether or not they belong to somebody else. If all that sounds a little bit bizarre, you'll soon understand that your microbiome is constantly being modified by the behavioral interactions, the nutritional interactions and indeed your mood and internal reactions to the outside world. This is an incredible system. Everyone has one. Everyone should know how it works and everyone should know how to optimize it. And today you're going to learn all of that from Dr. Sonnenburg. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is an all-in-one vitamin mineral probiotic drink. I've been taking Athletic Greens since 2012, so I'm delighted that they're sponsoring the podcast. The reason I started taking Athletic Greens and the reason I still take Athletic Greens once or twice a day is that it helps me cover all of my basic nutritional needs. It makes up for any deficiencies that I might have. In addition, it has probiotics, which are vital for microbiome health. I've done a couple of episodes now on the so-called gut microbiome and the ways in which the microbiome interacts with your immune system, with your brain to regulate mood, and essentially with every biological system relevant to health throughout your brain and body. With Athletic Greens, I get the vitamins I need, the minerals I need, and the probiotics to support my microbiome. If you'd like to try Athletic Greens, you can go to athleticgreens.com/huberman and claim a special offer. They'll give you five free travel packs plus a year's supply of vitamin D3 K2. There are a ton of data now showing that vitamin D3 is essential for various aspects of our brain and body health, even if we're getting a lot of sunshine, many of us are still deficient in vitamin D3. And K2 is also important because it regulates things like cardiovascular function, calcium in the body and so on. Again, go to athleticgreens.com/huberman to claim the special offer of the five free travel packs and the year's supply of vitamin D3 K2. Today's episode is also brought to us by Element. Element is an electrolyte drink that has everything you need and nothing you don't. That means the exact ratios of electrolytes are in Element and those are sodium, magnesium and potassium, but it has no sugar. I've talked many times before on this podcast about the key role of hydration and electrolytes for nerve cell function, neuron function, as well as the function of all the cells and all the tissues and organ systems of the body. If we have sodium, magnesium and potassium present in the proper ratios, all of those cells function properly and all our bodily systems can be optimized. If the electrolytes are not present and if hydration is low, we simply can't think as well as we would otherwise. Our mood is off, hormone systems go off, our ability to get into physical action, to engage in endurance and strength and all sorts of other things is diminished. So with Element, you can make sure that you're staying on top of your hydration and that you're getting the proper ratios of electrolytes. If you'd like to try Element, you can go to drinkelement, that's lmnt.com/huberman, and you'll get a free Element sample pack with your purchase. They're all delicious. So again, if you want to try Element, you can go to elementlmnt.com/huberman.