specific foods and their nutrients determine or certainly influence the effectiveness of your detoxification process.

In the case of the bitter taste, for example, the surface receptors on specialized cells called L cells in the small intestine turn out to be identical to the bitter taste receptors on the tongue. In essence, our digestive system also “tastes” our food when the specific taste sensation—in this case, bitter—alters the gene expression of the L cell

While serotonin affects mood, the hormone ghrelin, for example, affects appetite.

This “second brain” secretes messengers that communicate back and forth between the gut and the brain. Some of these messengers are hormones—cholecystokinins, ghrelins, secretins, gastrins, somatostatins, and more—produced by endocrine glands and sent forth into the bloodstream, while others are neurotransmitters released directly from nerve

The gastrointestinal immune system is precisely where it is so it can catch these substances before they create havoc in the body and can then process them into harmlessness. It does this job by monitoring the metabolic substances produced by the enteric microflora. If the immune system senses that such a substance is harmful, it will react by

the friendly bacteria in the intestinal tract—members of the symbiotic or commensal families—prefer certain fibers known as fructans, which come from plant foods. A diet too low in fiber can cause these friendly bacteria to die of starvation and be replaced by parasitic bacteria. The result can be such digestive complaints as irritable bowel

depression and arthritis share core clinical imbalances. They are not, in fact, independent; the chronic inflammation of arthritis and the communications disturbance of depression are connected through the cross talk between the immune system and the endocrine system. An imbalance in the physiological process of defense becomes an imbalance in the

our skeleton is remodeled every five to seven years.

7. Structure.