Love the Ralph Steadman inspired banner for this podcast.

http://www.peta.org/blog/schools-display-mutilated-cows-cheap-thrill/

This article from PETA addresses the concern that these fistulated cows are often mutilated for entertainment.

This is one of the best episodes I have heard so far from Radiolab. I became an instant regular podcaster after I listened to your "Blame" episode. So far I have heard nearly a year's worth of podcasts from Radiolab.

I was able to relate to the "Gutless" segment since my father went through feeding via tube inserted directly to his stomach since the neurons that control swallowing and speech in the thoracic region died. But he was not fortunate like him :(

Being an Indian I was fascinated to learn the effects of lacto bacilus found commonly in yogurt. Daily every Indian meal concludes with yogurt. During hot summer days nothing beats a glass of cool buttermilk which is nothing but yogurt made into a liquid by mixing lots of water, cilantro, a dash of ginger and salt.

Fave!

Alan I came online to find the same thing, was this French study placebo controlled?

And lily, the fact that they did a quantitative measurement of cortisol levels doesn't provide an adequate replacement. The mind-body connection (physical, the only connection that exists) would suggest that if someone feels less anxiety, we would expect to find lower cortisol levels. This doesn't address whether or not being given a pill (i think the probiotics were in pill, not yogurt right? Whichever) in a clinical study on anxiety effects would drop anxiety (and thus cortisol levels) on its own. For the study to be worth anything, a third group needed to be given an identical treatment (pill, yogurt, whatever it was) that contained neither of the two probiotics.

The update makes it sound like the study simply compared the two probiotics to one another. A reference link radiolab my buddies? Please? Alt med researchers love poorly designed studies because otherwise they would find no results like all other researchers studying these things do. That's why I am suspicious, but I want to be fair and wait to see the study's methods. Love the show, -Paul

Greetings. I know if you can get through the many details of what I will tell you here, it will help, especially if you ever have a tongue you are unhappy with. The bad taste on your tongue is due to bacteria. This will benefit the man who couldn't eat, anyone with tongue cancer, smokers, and everyone else. When you brush your teeth, do you end up with a tongue tasting of toothpaste ? If you follow these instructions, dentist approved, you will have a natural, neutral, no-taste tongue. If you snore, you will awake with a less-awful mouth. The reason to brush your teeth before sleep is that is the longest undisturbed period within the 24-hour cycle, giving the decay bacteria the most opportunity to do the most damage. So, if you only brush once a day, before retiring is the most important. This practice could cure those always swigging mouthwash.
Get a small, plastic, shallow jar, about 2"-3" in diameter, fill it with baking soda. Get an old-style toothbrush, all the bristles the same length, in case you use another type for your teeth. When you are all done brushing and rinsing, wet the toothbrush with cold water, dip it as flatly as possible in the baking soda. For the first three days, you will experience this as way too salty, then, it stops completely, unless you have a long interval of absence from this practice. Spread the baking soda all over your tongue-about as much as you can see in the mirror, going into the area in shadow might engage the retch reflex. You are trying to evenly coat the surface.
If necessary, dip again. Rinse the brush in cold water, scrape your tongue of baking soda. Rinse. Go again. Smokers may need to do this three times. Only the first three days are a challenge. By the fourth day, when the excessive saltiness quits, you will have it down to a quick little routine, that only adds a few minutes to your dental hygiene routine. And you'll be so pleasantly surprised: Ooh, I don't have to end the day with a "foreign" taste in my mouth.
Gut bacteria = good. Mouth bacteria = eliminate.

FYI: let your guest who interprets the 'hole in the stomach' story know that Fort Mackinac is not pronounced the way it looks--it is sounds like 'Mackinaw'--the 'c' at the end is silent.

To Alan from San Francisco who only caught 10 minutes of this program, and was very disappointed in how the result were evaluated, to use his words "This is God-awful scientific reporting". Minute 11 of the report went on to say in addition to asking the participants questions about their mood, the participants level of stress hormones were evaluated by testing their urine. Those results confirmed a lower level of stress hormones in the participants who ate the bacteria. As Alan mentioned, we need to hold ourselves to rigorous standards of scientific reporting. I am sure Alan would agree this includes listening to the entire report and not drawing conclusions without hearing the whole story! I have long been a fan of Kefir...Incidentally, the name comes from Turkish and means feel good.. This made me smile as I listen to the report. I love when science confirms and explains something that has been true for centuries.

I only caught 10 minutes of this program, but what I heard was deeply distressing from a scientific perspective. The report went something like this, "the study surveyed people's moods by asking them a number of questions about how they were feeling. Then they gave them probiotics and asked them the same questions again. They found that the probiotics had made people happier." The program then went on to talk about how this makes sense because of blah blah blah... GAH! This is God-awful scientific reporting. What about the control group?!!! Did they even have one? You can't just say this stuff & write it off like it's scientific confirmation of something... or anything for that matter. For all we know this study has only managed to confirm the placebo effect. For example, I had a cold last year. After 2 days I was feeling so miserable that I slammed my head into a wall. Amazingly, I started getting better. I have therefore discovered the cure for the common cold: slam your head into a wall. Hard. If it doesn't work, try repeating.

If we don't hold ourselves to the basic standards of scientific rigor then we're no better than the science-deniers.

This article by David Perlmutter also discusses the mind/gluten connection:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/22/why-we-can-and-must-focus-on-preventing-alzheimer-s.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet

The most recent commenter reminded me of that story about the chef who battled tongue cancer and lost his sense of taste: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134195812/grant-achatz-the-chef-who-lost-his-sense-of-taste

I had tongue cancer and my story is very much like the guy who didn't eat for a year, but mine goes on and on with no hope of a cure. I can eat some things but it's so unpleasant I don't, it is very hard to eat, it doesn't taste good, so I often avoid it and just go hungry. In my case Radiaion destroyed my salvary and taste glands. I have a dry mouth and that makes it hard to eat, I must take in fluids to swallow which makes me cold after eating. I have exposed jawbone that was killed by the Radiation which cuts my mouth when I try to 'chew' (no teeth), I have to use my tongue to eat but the jawbone cuts it and it takes two or three days to heal. But I tell you life is better, at least that's what I tell myself to keep going on.

It is my first episode to listen on Radiolab. Gained more knowledge and that was really interesting! This was my first time to finish listening an episode. I never could finish until the end because I'm bad at focusing on one thing for a long time.

Thanks for making this episode! I love it!

This is my first time listening to Radiolab. I really did enjoy listening to you guys and I have gained some more knowledge about GUTS. This is awesome! Thanks for sharing and making this radio show! :D

Thanks for this great show. I suffer from Gastroparesis, or paralysis of the stomach. Since diagnosis, I've spent the last few years trying to figure out just what my stomach is (or isn't) doing. I feel that there just isn't enough conversation about the unique roll that the gastric system has on one's life. I can't say how much it means to hear this discussion in such a fun and entertaining way. Keep up the good work.

I listened to this podcast on a way to give a presentation I was real nervous about, and just before speaking I ate some yoghurt and imagined the my little bacteria friends calming me down. Worked like a charm!

That little anecdotal story aside, I find it really amazing to think that we have a symbiotic relationship with "external" bacteria that affect our unique personality.

Thanks for the episode, great stuff.

Keep it up Radio Lab. This is a fascinating part of science and you have a great way of making it very accessible. Part of my day job is working in a waste water treatment plant, and our plant is quite literally another digestive system. Talking about our own digestive system is a great way to begin talking about what to most is the nasty business of sewage treatment.

I like the comment from Raquel in Austin, I too get pissed when I'm hungry. This is especially when my family travels. Happy microbes makes happy humans, which makes for happy travels.

I have always been ruled by my stomach. If I am pissed its because I am hungry. If I am incapable of making full sentences its because I am past hungry. If you ever find your self on the other side of my "I am going to kill you" face, just give me some food and all is forgotten. (My husband learned that trick along time ago)
My dad is the same way and we have always fought people insisting we are just being big babies. But now we have an explanation as to why our food and our mood are so strongly linked.
Thanks RadioLab!

i LOVE radiolab and this episode is fascinating. i love it when you cite human discoveries such as the beaumont/st martin story. i want to challenge you to produce a show that doesn't cite VIVISECTION!!! it might be a fun thing to attempt. <3

I LOVED THIS EPISODE!

The slow, trippy, ambient music playing exactly 34 minutes in, almost at the end of the yoghurt mice piece: is that a Jad piece, or by someone else?

I'm not talking about the charlie mingus that bridges to the next piece....

this was a very interesting episode. thumbs up! :)

@chug from san diego: the song is 'Everybody Eats When They Come to My House' by Cab Calloway.

Just wanted to leave a generic yet genuine THANK YOU for this endlessly fascinating program! I always learn something new and relevant. The topic of the GUTS et.al., was even more so in that my beautiful mother almost died from a ruptured COLON yet her superb surgeon brought her back to life and while she now has a colostemy, she is a relatively healthy 91 year old despite that challenge! I learned so much from this episode and will continue to look forward to your creative view on many such topics!

whats the name of the song played at the end of the guts podcast?

1.) Five facts that I would like someone else to know include the following:
- By time you are old enough to begin school, an average child has 100 trillion micro-organsims in you. If you were to clump all of the bacteria in your body, it would weigh about three pounds.
- There was a scientist who performed an experiment with bacteria. The experiment was to see how long mice who ate bacteria can survive in the water. The mouse that did eat bacteria were able to continue surviving in the water. They lasted up to six minutes and could have gone longer.
- Stress hormones were increased in those mice who did not eat the bacteria. That is why they were not able to survive. Those mice who ate the bacteria didn't have nearly as much stress hormones because they were relaxed.
-The guts are found below the stomach and it is a location which contains several bacteria. Some of the most in the body. Bacteria that can be found includes fungi.
- There are medicines which contains "bugs" in them that bacteria will feed off of when it is in you. Also, the mind and the way to think is controlled by the bacteria in your body. That is why they say the guts are "in your brain." It isn't a literal comment.

2.) This podcast included multiple facts that were interesting and new to me. I never knew that part of your mind is controlled by bacteria found within the guts. I always thought that the brain was controlled by nerves. I never understood what the minds of people were truly controlled by. Next, the experiment on the mice was quite surprising. I would never have imagined that bacteria could make you live so much longer especially under water. It was interesting to hear how those mice who ate the bacteria developed less stress hormones compared to those mice who did not eat the bacteria. Overall, there were several things that I learned in this podcast having to do with the bacterium found in a persons gut.

3.) I did enjoy listening to this podcast because the information was interesting. The people who conducted this podcast really kept my interest. I especially enjoyed when the scientist came and talked about the experiment he performed. The most interesting fact that I learned was based off of the experiment how those mice who ate bacteria developed less stress hormones than those who did not eat the bacteria. When I think of the word bacteria, I think of something in your body that can harm you and make you ill. However, by listening to this podcast, I was convinced that bacteria are actually important; they can save your life. If I had to pick out one thing that I did not like about this podcast was that I didn't feel like the information was really on "guts." The podcast was more about bacteria. Otherwise, I enjoyed this podcast and it was interesting.

5 facts:
- The intestines contain foreign creatures that are non-human things like fungi, viruses, bacteria, and protosones,
-There are about 100 trillion bacteria in a stomach/intestine of a child before they start/enter school.
-Belmont a scientist, studied the digestion of the stomach by using St. Martin's fistgia (a whole in his stomach). He experimented the stomach by putting food in it, and testing how fast it would take for the certain food to digest.
-A test used on how bacteria works within the stomach was tested on mice. The tests showed that the mice that contained bacteria within their stomach were put in a stressful situation they would not contain any despair and stayed calm; compared to their natural reactions where they freaked out and eventually gave up.
-Microtubuials can get into the brain and head.
-Bacteria are mainly found in the intestines.
-Bacteria feeds off of gaba creating less stress and despair.
-In the inner stomach, liquid bumps with drew when food was being digested. Belmont examined how juice squeezed out. The Gastric Juice is a chemical stomach acid that contains enzymes that breakdown food.
New:
-Bacteria and probiotics can affect certain moods and personalities.
-Probiotics can improve disorders by changing emotions, moods and personalities.
-Bacteria can affect your mood, how you react, and personality.
Surprising:
-How people can have holes in their stomachs (Fistigia).
-Bacteria can affect someone's reaction and mood.
Interests:
To be honest, I don't have one negative comment about this podcast. It was very interesting and I kept wanting to listen in more. I loved how there were many different examples on the stomach and bacteria. It was cool that both were explained in entertaining ways, so I became very interested. The most interesting part of the podcast was Belmont's experiments on the stomach. I think it was so cool that he uncovered this discovery from just being curious and experimenting with a volunteer. It was so cool how he "fished" the food into the stomach, and as it reappeared there was only half of the food left. By receiving the data from the experiment, the scientist proved how powerful the digestive system was and how it worked in our bodies. Belmont brought is Gastric Juice all around the world with him and proved that it could be stilled used and work outside of our bodies due to it being chemical.

I absolutely LOVED this episode, i couldn't stop laughing :) totally made my day. You guys (& team) are amazing!!!!

We do heart transplants, kidney transplants, face transplants, etc but how many people know we also do stool transplants? Yes, that is transplanting someone elses feces in your colon to help cure Clostridium difficile infection. It brings a whole new perspective to being an organ donor.

Please post the titles and artists of your bumper music! What's playing at 17:30-18:05?

Re the fistulated cow, this is something that is a not uncommon occurrence in veterinary schools. Better that than using cadavers or multiple surgeries to study the bovine digestive system. Give 'em a break.

I loved this episode. I used to suffer from bulimia, and sometimes I still have this dumb idea stuck in my head that my intestines are extremely gross and something to be ashamed of. Who knew that what goes on between "your mutt and your gut" could be a source of fascination and wonder? I loved the words of the writer you interviewed, the idea that digestion is cool because you're taking things outside of you and making them part of you, and that we're essentially donuts. How cool is that? Maybe I should cut my insides some slack and even read his book and get really interested in them :) This episode has really changed the way I see things for the better. Thanks, Radiolab! You guys rock my socks!

I think Mackinac is pronounced "Mackinaw" like the jacket (please correct me if I'm wrong).

i don't think i can put it much better than BAS from seattle, but...

i love love love radiolab, but i love love love and have great compassion for animals more than anything, and this episode was absolutely painful to listen to. there is really no reason whatsoever for the cow or mice experiments/stories - this sort of thing is simply indefensible today given modern knowledge, which indeed came on the tiny furry backs of many a 'just a mouse' subject. isn't that enough?

guys, really, not even a single mention about animal experimentation or a cautionary word at the get-go for those of us who cringe at the mere thought of causing something pain?

i'm no PETA nutter, but i was truly offended by the gross disregard for for these creatures; you should be ashamed. and the woman with her arm in the cow who only regarded the poor being enough to say it 'looked bored'?! what a ridiculous, callous, disrespectful comment.

------> where's your common sense and respect for both creatures and listeners, radiolab?

What is the music that is playing right after Gut Feelings at 33 minutes and 40 seconds? I love it! Also love the podcast, thanks guys!

Back in 1959 my late father had several feet of megacolon ("Hirshsprung's syndrome") removed as he had stomach problems for years. It was genetic, but he was still slender-no big belly--like all the men in the family. He also came down with asthma two years later, which he kept under control.

I almost simultaneously passed out and threw up listening to this episode.

Don't get me wrong, I love radiolab and found the episode really interesting, but I made the mistake of cooking while listening to it. I've always thought people were being dramatic when they said they "couldn't eat anymore" after listening to a disgusting story, but now I completely get it. Again, not that this episode was disgusting, but I was standing over the stove cooking mushrooms and had just finished the portion about stomach acids breaking down food, and was just moving onto the story about non-human bacteria living in the stomach when all of the sudden I lost my appetite completely, started feeling nauseous and ran to the bathroom, nearly passing out on the way.

Jad and Robert, if you somehow read this post, it would be really interesting to hear a follow up about the power the mind has over the stomach. There's a chance that you might cover that later on in this episode, but I don't think I could stomach hearing the rest (pun intended.)

-Tara

Can you break up the hour long Guts podcast into smaller parts (by story)? I'm trying to download it but my internet cuts out frequently - I can't finish the 50 mb download.

I always really enjoy you're choice of music. Just three notes of that bari were enough to get me back into Charles Mingus after the many years those albums spent gathering dust. I owe you one there!
Also, tremendously insightful episode as always. Keep it up!

For answers to all of these excellent questions about me, my health, mental health, probiotics, my family, etc., I invite you to please read my memoir, The Man Who Couldn't Eat. It's all there. Thank you for the listen.

Everyone in Michigan knows that Mackinac is pronounced Mak-in-aw .... oops ;P

I was struck by the lack of psychiatric/mental health care in Jon Reiner's story. Were his doctor's unaware of how much he was struggling? From his telling of the story, it sounds like the standard of care in such cases, where patients are barred from eating food for months on end, should include the occasional psychiatric evaluation.

Makes me wonder about those yoghurt commercials with all those guys living in central asia eating yoghurt and living to 106. Perhaps their stress levels were so low from the probiotics in the yoghurt that they weren't experiencing the destructive effects of the chemicals dumped into a body under stress.

If you want a great source of probiotics drink Nancy's kefir. Some doctors prescribe it instead of expensive probiotic pills. Maybe it'll reduce anxiety!? I volunteer to participate in the experiments :)

Does anyone know what track plays after the first story when they talk about the body being left in the sun for 4 days and then buried under rocks so no one would exhume it?

Thanks!

I'm horrified at how much of this episode incorporates cruelty to animals. A hole in the side of a cow where you can stick in an entire human arm and poke around? Simulated drowning of mice and cutting of nerves to the brain? Regardless of what is found as a result, all of this seems so entirely cruel and yet that aspect is unaddressed. I'm disturbed and anxious and flabbergasted at the abuse inflicted in the name of science. Jad: "This is just a mouse". Really? So what species would you draw a line at abusing? I love Radiolab, but this episode was so painful for me to listen to.

My husband has colon cancer. His depression came on suddenly about two years before his diagnosis. Makes me wonder?! Also makes me want to buy out the world's supply of probiotics! Thanks, Radiolab, you've done it again!

Anyone else wondering what happened to the dude's wife and family? I was heartbroken when she left. It felt like such a betrayal.

Does anyone know what the music was after the first segment (about the guy with the hole in his stomach). It sounded like an accordion. Really liked it and want to track it down.

Loved, loved, loved as always. BUT Mackinac is pronounced Mack-i-naw, it is French! It was great, though, to hear some new history about a fort I've visited since elementary school class trips.

Shehan, regarding the song playing underneath 'Gutless'.

It's Clair De Lune by the French composer Claude-Achille Debussy. It's the third movement of his 'Suite Bergamasque'

Funny Fact: It was the first song/piece to ever be recorded. From Answers.com:

"In March 2008 a recording by Frenchman Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville of a woman singing 'Au Clair De La Lune' was discovered in an archive in Paris by a group of American audio historians. The recording dates back to April 9, 1860 making it the world's first known recorded song."

Great show this time. I have been travling the road of OCD and depression for decades. 5 years ago I turned into one of those gluten free freaks. (tested positive for celiac disease). Within months I was feeling better,body and mind. Oh,and by the way,my wife and kids were kind enough not to eat San Francisco sourdough in front of me. In fact my kids tested positive later on so we all went on the wagon.

This latest episode of WNYC Radio Lab has confirmed my suspicions that my inexplicable and oft occurring quick-tempered, depressed, panicky moods were connect to my bouts of diverticulitis which began ten years ago and has hospitalized me three times. I can tell when my diverticulitis is about to get serious by an inexplicable mood swing to irritable angriness.

What song is played during "Gutless" where Jon Reiner is speaking about Chanterelle. It was really moving!

This podcast evoked so many facial expressions that I am sure I looked like one of the crazies on the train. But since I am in New York, I am sure no one noticed (or at least pretended not to). Great show! Thank you.

I saw some cows in Arkansas with open "port-holes" in their sides. They were part of a university farming field-test. Even though it looked very bizzare, they seemed quite content. I thought they would make a great golfing novelty - tee-hee.

Great show - loved the cleverly abridged performance of "The Man Who Couldn't Eat". Big Jon Reiner fan!

Please feel free to never eat directly into the microphone again. The gut talks, fistulas and whatnot are fine, but that is unacceptable.

Great show! My favorite part (besides the fact that bacteria tell me to calm down), was the quip about our bodies having a hole through them from mouth to anus. Reminded me of the mathematics of topology, where (as far as my high school geometry lesson taught me) a coffee cup is the same as a doughnut is the same as... us?

Should I be eating lunch while I listen to this? Oh well...

Great podcast, I can definitely relate. I have IBS, and have been taking probiotics for a 2 months now, one thing I have noticed, well my siblings noticed was my mood.