Neurogastroenterology In Leadership

I work with a variety of Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Business Leaders.

It comes as a surprise to many people that I would take Time and Energy to get Certified in several "Non-Business" Related Fields.

Perhaps at the top of that list is Certification in Nutrition, going all the way down to becoming an RCP Consultant (Focusing on Micronutrients, including utilizing Hair and Blood Tests).

What does any of that have to do with Leadership?

I think Joe De Sena (Founder of Spartan Races) said it extremely well recently.

"If you don't treat food as medicine, then medicine may be your food one day."

What he's getting at with this is that "how" you eat will determine a huge part of your overall Wellbeing.

If you want to get even more technical, we will dive into the field of science known as Neurogastroenterology.

If you're intimidated by that word, don't worry, it is just a fancy way of saying the "Gut-Brain".

In our Body, as Humans, we have 4 different Brain Systems that all think and act Interdependently.

Our "Gut Brain" has Neurons that are able to think and communicate with the rest of the Brain Systems in our body.

It starts from our Mouth and continues to the end of our Digestive Tract.

Depending on what Food we put into our body, our Gut Brain will send signals to the rest of our Body to tell it how to prepare for what is coming.

Now, this is where things start to become important in Leadership.

2 Primary things are Important to Understand through the Gut Brain.

Energy and Stress.

The act of Digestion "technically" is a Stressor on the Body, BUT what "type" of Stress depends on what we are eating.

If we eat a bunch of Highly Processed Food, filled with Seed Oils, Sugar, and other Chemicals we can't pronounce, it will act as a Dis-Stress on our Body.

The Gut Brain will send out signals to the Body to prepare for damage, increasing Dis-Stress.

Do this long enough, and you may need to survive on Medicine for Food as Joe says, or worse it can become Fatal.

If you follow my work, you know that I always say, "All Stress Adds".

If your Gut Brain is always in Dis-Stress, taking more damage, it will simply Add to all the other Stress in your life - including Work Stress.

As this Dis-Stress builds up worse and worse in the Gut-Brain, it will make you less capable of handling other Stressors in your Life, including at Work.

On the other hand, if you eat Clean Foods, the Gut-Brain creates Eu-Stress and prepares the rest of the Body for Healing.

The more we can Heal that Damage, the less overall Stress we will have, allowing us to Handle Other Stressors in our lives, such as at Work.

Now, the Second part that is Important here is Energy.

The body runs on a Specific form of Energy called, Magnesium Adenosine Triphosphate (Mg-ATP).

This Process is driven completely by the Gut Brain and Digestion.

Depending on the types of Foods we eat, our Gut Brain will inform the rest of the Body what levels of Energy it will be able to Create.

With that Knowledge, the rest of the Body will act accordingly to Survive.

It will turn different systems on or off to reflect the Energy that will be available.

Our bodies even can turn our DNA On and Off in an effort to support this Survival.

The more Energy we have, the better our Body can function.

The less Energy we have, the more systems literally shut down.

As these systems are shut down, typically damage is done around those systems, causing more Dis-Stress.

If we do not get those systems back on, and we do not have the proper Micronutrients to properly fix Damage (aka Oxidative Stress), more Dis-Stress will ensue.

Now, from the Leadership Perspective, Energy (Mg-ATP) is essential.

Whether we are trying to handle a challenging situation, drive change, or simply just get work done, we NEED that Energy.

On top of this, that Energy is necessary to get to the highest levels of Productivity - Flow States.

If you have too much Dis-Stress and not enough Energy, you become blocked from Flow States.

Since Flow is where we Feel our Best, do our Best Work, are most Creative, and are able to Solve Problems more quickly, you can imagine all the problems it causes Leaders.

Indeed, we are seeing this play out for many Leaders.

What is the Largest Business Problem in today's World?

Burnout.

80% of people are Experiencing it.

Burnout is a word that just means people are SO Dis-Stressed that their bodies LITERALLY have nothing left to give.

There is simply too much Damage and not enough Energy to support what is necessary.

The best place to start the Process of overcoming Burnout?

Fixing Oxidative Stress - which is driven by properly Eating and getting the proper Macro and Micronutrients.

It seems simple, but as we are seeing in the world today, it's not being done.

If you fix Burnout, you're doing better than around 90%+ of Organizations in the world.

As a Leader, that should be of the HIGHEST priority because it becomes a SIGNIFICANT Business Advantage.

Flow States themselves increase Productivity by 5x.

Though I don't have Research to support this, I think it's reasonable to assume it would actually be higher versus Teams in Burnout (Most Teams Today) as much of the Research around Flow States in Organizations was prior to widespread Burnout.

Could you Imagine a Team of 10 being able to outperform a Team of 50?

It is completely possible with Flow States.

But to get there, you need to start with Dis-Stress, which a significant portion is driven by our Neurogastroenterology.