As humans, we consist of more microbial cells than human cells – billions to millions in fact. So it is no overstatement to say our bodies are a virtual scaffolding of bacteria. The gut microbiome is an ecosystem as complex as the Amazon rainforest, an assembly of tiny life forms including bacteria, fungi, yeast, non-living viruses and single-celled microorganisms called archea. It’s joked that we know more about outer space than the intestinal microbiome but it’s an area of research being constantly updated with new discoveries.
The gut orchestrates our whole system health state
“Established studies in anatomy show the close connection of the gut-brain axis. There are more neural connections between the brain and the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and digestive tract than with any other body district, eyes, heart, skeletal and limbs,” explains Dr Antonio Di Mauro, scientist and nutritionist, recently appointed as Research and Innovation Manager at Chenot.
“Recall first love as a teenager, when just thinking of that person made your stomach churn, when you have butterflies in your stomach or a gut feeling, that’s the brain projecting instinct and in milliseconds, instructing our stomach to initiate constriction and the secretion of acids. Those are all practical demonstrations of the bidirectional interaction of our two brains.”
Dr Di Mauro also impresses that this inherent connection means the gut microbiome even makes the brain work better. “The cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) that irrigates our brain is like a crystalline river that washes across and filtrates the cranial cavity. A good gut means healthy biosis which means less inflammation circulating and more effective flushing away of cell debris, for a more active, steadier brain. There’s also a wealth of scientific evidence that depression, headaches and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can all be solved with improved gut health.”

Hormones like serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine, transfer between the pathways of neural networks of the gut-brain axis and four fifths of the human immune arsenal resides in our gut microbiome. It’s also widely under-appreciated that though the pineal gland in the brain produces melatonin essential for sleep, 10 to 100 times more melatonin is produced and stored by the enterochromaffin cells that belong specifically to the gut system.


Upgrading the gut microbiome
Unlike our genes which are static, the gut microbiome is highly dynamic, modifiable and responsive to change. Negative factors like stress, ultra-processed food, smoking and lack of sleep take their toll but in the same vein, besides chronic intestinal inflammatory disease (also known as inflammatory bowel disease), such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, it’s wholly possible to optimise your gut microbiome through positive lifestyle adaptations and correct nutrition. This is something Dr Antonio Di Mauro has spent his life investigating. “As a nutritionist, the majority of a person’s long-term health and quality of life is dependent on thorough gut microbiome investigation. Through the field of nutrition, I started realising how deep and intense the implications of the gut microbiota are and saw the truth in the theory that any disease originates in the intestine.”
Those embarking on Chenot’s one week full health reset – the Chenot Method®, receive an initial nutritional council and general assessment, this enables a tailor-made version of the Chenot Diet® to be designed for them throughout their 7-day stay. Based on individual anamnesis, doctor and nutritionist might advise for additional specific analyses including a gut microbiota test to offer a further picture of gut health. At the close of the week, every guest receives a detailed final consultation, unique dietary regimen, practical lifestyle advice and if required, a personalised supplement prescription.
“Medical responses from guests start the picture and believe me, everything is relevant. Where they come from in the world, their lifestyles, daily routines, family arrangement and working culture will all come into play for us to start drafting an idea of gut needs. They might be having issues with digestion, constipation, or there could be irritable bowel syndrome or possible dysbiosis.”
Dysbiosis is where the body cannot properly use the fuel it receives multiple times a day and digestion is compromised. Doctor and nutritionist deduce together on which are the most pertinent next assessments suitable for that person through blood analysis, urinary markers and and proper taxonomy of stool microbiota to assess what is found there; candida, parasites and the genome, up to a strain level. “Through resetting your microbiome, we can improve your sleep habits, your mindset and rejuvenate every little bit yourself.”

The Chenot Diet®: Smart nourishment for your second brain
The low calorie, plant based, seasonal and unprocessed food in the Chenot Diet® is perfectly designed for optimising gut health. Chenot’s personalised nutrition protocols align with microbiome research, supporting balanced gut health and long-term wellness. “In just a week, the body starts to self-cleanse, causing a shift in the gut microbiome and because the average half-life of our enterocytes is around five days, it’s an ideal starting point for those experiencing a one-week Chenot Method® stay. Fasting for extended periods of time is also shown to support gut health and allow the microbes that recondition the gut lining to complete their work. “I would advise a portion of living fermented food, daily. Keep your food balanced but we need vegetables, because we need our microbiome to do its fermentation to produce short chain fatty acids because these are the key for our health.”
Lifestyle modifications to get the gut thinking smarter
- Breathe right
Diaphragmatic breathing is crucial for reducing stress and inflammation, stimulating the vagus nerve and establishing a balanced sympathetic stress, parasympathetic distress system.
- Watch your stools, watch your urines
Take care of the colour and consistency. The Bristol scale offers a very practical comparison tool and any effort or blood is not a good message.
- Sleep and more sleep
The worst thing that we’re doing for our guts without knowing it is not sleeping. Regular patterns of restorative sleep reinforce intestinal permeability and reduce the likelihood of gastrointestinal diseases.
- Medication
Painkillers, cortical steroids, fever medications, antiparasitics, all affect gut bacteria and induce changes in our microbiome. The health and the wealth of our gut microbiome ensures proper liver function but the liver needs to dismantle all these to deal with the active molecules that cause modifications.
- Exercise
Exercise increases blood flow circulating through the digestive tract, improves the gut barrier and lessens the occurrence of leaky gut. Recent evidence proves both moderate and intense exercise trigger positive change in the gut microbiome composition.
The gut is universally plugged into our brain, hormones, sleep and immune system, and gut microbes influence almost all the body’s vital organs. Therefore, it stands to reason that the condition and operation of the gut microbiome impacts every element of our overall health. It might not be the first element of our health that we think to safeguard, but correct nourishment of the body’s second brain vastly improves our long-term healthspan and can finally open the rest of the body up to its full potential state.
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