Dr. Steven Gundry

And we've learned through the years that much of our serotonin is actually produced by our microbiome, not by our nerve cells at all. And if serotonin reuptake inhibitors actually work by making more serotonin in your brain, then I should be able, if I'm depressed, swallow Prozac and tomorrow feel great because I've got more serotonin in our brain. Nope.

Takes about a month for these things to kick in. So then you go, well, but wait a minute. So interestingly enough, these drugs change your microbiome to produce more serotonin and have more serotonin producing bugs in your microbiome. And that doesn't happen overnight. It takes at least a month to achieve. So when you realize that, you go, son of a gun.

Takes about a month for these things to kick in. So then you go, well, but wait a minute. So interestingly enough, these drugs change your microbiome to produce more serotonin and have more serotonin producing bugs in your microbiome. And that doesn't happen overnight. It takes at least a month to achieve. So when you realize that, you go, son of a gun.

These aren't working the way they said they're working. They're changing the microbiome. And if you can change the microbiome with a drug, why wouldn't you change the microbiome without the drug and get off the drug?

These aren't working the way they said they're working. They're changing the microbiome. And if you can change the microbiome with a drug, why wouldn't you change the microbiome without the drug and get off the drug?

Well, you and I are very slow learners. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, 2,500 years ago, said all disease begins in the gut.

Well, you and I are very slow learners. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, 2,500 years ago, said all disease begins in the gut.

Really. All disease begins in the gut. And like I say, I'm a slow learner, but I've been spending 25 years realizing that he's actually absolutely right. I'm a heart surgeon and a cardiologist, and I kind of initially started this to keep people away from me, reversing their heart disease with diet and food. And it became

Really. All disease begins in the gut. And like I say, I'm a slow learner, but I've been spending 25 years realizing that he's actually absolutely right. I'm a heart surgeon and a cardiologist, and I kind of initially started this to keep people away from me, reversing their heart disease with diet and food. And it became

increasingly apparent when I started working in transplant, children's heart transplants and adult heart transplants, that what I was seeing in children who got a heart transplant is that they would get a particular type of coronary artery disease where the plaque was kind of diffuse along their coronary artery.

increasingly apparent when I started working in transplant, children's heart transplants and adult heart transplants, that what I was seeing in children who got a heart transplant is that they would get a particular type of coronary artery disease where the plaque was kind of diffuse along their coronary artery.

And interestingly enough, that plaque looked virtually identical to my insulin resistant and diabetic patients. Very different than, say, a smoker's coronary artery disease. Right. And I realized that, son of a gun, the reason I was seeing plaque in kids was is that the blood vessels of the new heart I put in them came from somebody else.

And interestingly enough, that plaque looked virtually identical to my insulin resistant and diabetic patients. Very different than, say, a smoker's coronary artery disease. Right. And I realized that, son of a gun, the reason I was seeing plaque in kids was is that the blood vessels of the new heart I put in them came from somebody else.

And where their blood was interacting with the lining of that blood vessel was attacking that blood vessel.

And where their blood was interacting with the lining of that blood vessel was attacking that blood vessel.

And they would build up, if you will, a callus to protect against that plaque. So it was an autoimmune, it was an immune attack against that blood vessel. And lo and behold, what I was seeing in my diabetic patients was exactly the same thing. So I said, wait a minute, this is an autoimmune attack against the blood vessel of this patient with diabetes. Where in the world was that coming from?

And they would build up, if you will, a callus to protect against that plaque. So it was an autoimmune, it was an immune attack against that blood vessel. And lo and behold, what I was seeing in my diabetic patients was exactly the same thing. So I said, wait a minute, this is an autoimmune attack against the blood vessel of this patient with diabetes. Where in the world was that coming from?

And it was coming from the fact that, in my opinion, and now a lot of other people's opinions, Autoimmune disease is coming from a leaky gut, from intestinal permeability. And so that's... You're right. And Hippocrates was right. So you can reverse coronary artery disease by stopping this attack on the blood vessels. And how do you stop the attack? Repair the gut. And that's how you do it.

And it was coming from the fact that, in my opinion, and now a lot of other people's opinions, Autoimmune disease is coming from a leaky gut, from intestinal permeability. And so that's... You're right. And Hippocrates was right. So you can reverse coronary artery disease by stopping this attack on the blood vessels. And how do you stop the attack? Repair the gut. And that's how you do it.

Well, I made a bold statement when I wrote The Plant Paradox, which came out eight years ago now, that