CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Searching for Answers Beyond Nutrition: The Five Pillars Living as a Health Hero Simple and Effective Solutions 1 WHAT HAPPENS IN THE GUT DOES NOT NECESSARILY STAY IN THE GUT It Takes Guts to Survive Microbes: Earth's First Communicators The Gut-Brain Axis: Your Personal Fiber-Optic Cable The Microbiome: A World unto Itself The Gastrointestinal Barrier: The Body's Border Control Change Your Microbiome, Change Your Health Chronic Inflammation: An Immune Response Gone Wrong Leaky Gut Syndrome Neurodegeneration and Cognitive Decline Gut Attack 2 GUT HEALTH: A STATE OF DIS-EASE Raising a Red Flag in Our Brain Mechanisms and Factors of Poor Gut Health Carbohydrates and Sugars Not All Fats Are Created Equal Food or Poison? Beyond Food: Antibiotics and Other Medications The Five Pillars That Affect Gut Health Drawing Conclusions 3 HOW TO CHANGE YOUR GUT HEALTH How to Make Gut Health a Priority Stop Being So SAD Exercise and Gut Health You Are Not Your Genes Aging and Change If You Do Only One Thing to Improve Gut Health . . . 4 HOW GUT HEALTH CONTRIBUTES TO STROKE What Is a Stroke? Causes of a Stroke Surprising Factors Contributing to Stroke (That Your Doctor Might Not Mention) Inflammation Microbiome Research and Stroke Recovery Our "Second Brain" 5 CHANGING THE COURSE OF STROKE Using Probiotics Targeting Inflammatory Gut Cells to Support the Microbiome Eating to Prevent Stroke Magnesium and Stroke The Future: Zonulin and More Mind-Body Practices and Decreasing Cortisol The Five Pillars and Changing the Course of Stroke 6 HOW GUT HEALTH CONTRIBUTES TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE What Is Alzheimer's Disease? How Does Alzheimer's Start? The "Alzheimer's Gene " Alzheimer's Genes and the Gut Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, and Obesity Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, Obesity . . . and Gut Health Heart Disease: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You Heart Disease and Gut Health Microbiome Research and Alzheimer's 7 CHANGING THE COURSE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE The Alzheimer's Gut From India to Italy: Reversing Inflammation with Nutrition The Mediterranean Diet Supplements Intermittent Fasting Why Fasting Seems to Work: Lysosomes The Five Pillars and Changing the Course of Alzheimer's Disease 8 HOW GUT HEALTH CONTRIBUTES TO PARKINSON'S DISEASE What Is Parkinson's Disease? Understanding Lewy Bodies The Gut-First Hypothesis People with Parkinson's Are Prone to Constipation (and Possibly Vice Versa) Dietary Factors The Bidirectional Approach 9 CHANGING THE COURSE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE Lewy Bodies and Gut Integrity What Starts in the Gut Ends Up in the Brain (and Beyond) Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Postbiotics Coffee, Tea, and Constipation Meat, Dairy, and Parkinson's Disease The Glymphatic System and Sleeping on the Side The Five Pillars and Changing the Course of Parkinson's Disease THE RECIPES 10 RECIPES TO HELP CHANGE THE COURSE OF STROKE Banana Ginger Smoothie Red Cabbage and Spinach Salad Butternut Tikka Masala Lentil Stew with Spinach and Potatoes 11 RECIPES TO HELP CHANGE THE COURSE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE Brain-Boosting Fish Fillets Coconut Curry Chicken Dr. Nandi's Berry Delicious Salad Almond Nutmeg Cookies 12 RECIPES TO HELP CHANGE THE COURSE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE Indian Lentil Soup Chicken and Watercress Wrap Dr. Nandi's No-Cook Pumpkin Oatmeal Bean Salad Afterword Glossary Acknowledgments Notes Index About the Author