The surprisingly charming science of your gut | Giulia Enders

Translator: Polona Ramšak Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

A few years ago,

Pred nekaj leti

I always had this thing happening to me,

se mi je kar naprej nekaj dogajalo,

especially at family gatherings

še posebej na družinskih srečanjih,

like teas with aunts and uncles or something like this.

na čaju s tetami in strici ali kaj takega,

When people come up to you,

Ljudje so pristopili

and they ask you, "So, what are you doing?"

in so me vprašali: "No, s čim se ukvarjaš?"

And I would have this magical one-word reply,

Jaz pa sem v odgovor ponudila tisto čudežno besedo,

which would make everybody happy:

ki je vse osrečila:

"Medicine.

"Medicina.

I'm going to be a doctor."

Zdravnica bom."

Very easy, that's it, everybody's happy and pleased.

Zelo lahko, to je to in vsi so srečni in zadovoljni.

And it could be so easy,

In lahko bi bilo lahko,

but this effect really only lasts for 30 seconds with me,

a ta učinek pri meni v resnici traja le 30 sekund,

because that's then the time when one of them would ask,

ker potem pride čas, ko eden od njih vpraša:

"So, in what area of medicine?

"Katero področje medicine pa?

What specialty do you want to go into?"

Kaj boš specializirala?"

And then I would have to strip down in all honesty and just say,

In potem se moram razkriti in rečem:

"OK, so I'm fascinated with the colon.

"OK, noro me privlači črevesje.

It all started with the anus,

Vse se je začelo z anusom,

and now it's basically the whole intestinal tract."

zdaj pa gre v bistvu za cel prebavni trakt."

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And this would be the moment when the enthusiasm trickled,

To je trenutek, ko navdušenje popusti

and it would maybe also get, like, awkwardly silent in the room,

in v sobi morda nastane neprijetna tišina

and I would think this was terribly sad,

in pomislim, kako strašno žalostno je to,

because I do believe our bowels are quite charming.

ker dejansko verjamem, da so naša prebavila precej očarljiva.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And while we're in a time where many people are thinking about

Smo v času, ko mnogi ljudje razmišljajo,

what new superfood smoothie to make

kateri novi super smuti bi si naredili

or if gluten is maybe bad for them,

in ali je gluten slab zanje,

actually, hardly anyone seems to care about the organ where this happens,

le redko kdo pa se dejansko zanima za organ, kjer se vse to dogaja,

the concrete anatomy and the mechanisms behind it.

konkretna anatomija in mehanizmi za njo.

And sometimes it seems to me

In včasih se mi zdi,

like we're all trying to figure out this magic trick,

da poskušamo razvozlati magični trik,

but nobody's checking out the magician,

nihče pa ne opazuje čarodeja,

just because he has, like,

ker pač ima

an embarrassing hairstyle or something.

sramotno frizuro ali kaj takega.

And actually,

In dejansko

there are reasons science disliked the gut for a long time;

obstajajo razlogi, zakaj znanost tako dolgo ni marala črevesja,

I have to say this.

to moram povedati.

So, it's complex.

Kompleksno je.

There's a lot of surface area --

Veliko površine zavzema,

about 40 times the area of our skin.

približno 40-krat toliko kot koža.

Then, in such a tight pipe,

Potem gre za ozko cev,

there are so many immune cells that are being trained there.

v kateri so mnoge imunske celice, ki se tam urijo.

We have 100 trillion bacteria doing all sorts of things --

Imamo 100 bilijonov bakterij, ki počnejo razne stvari -

producing little molecules.

proizvajajo majhne molekule.

Then there's about 20 different hormones,

Potem je tam okoli 20 različnih hormonov,

so we are on a very different level than our genitals, for example.

tako da smo na zelo različni stopnji kot na primer naše genitalije.

And the nervous system of our gut is so complex

In živčni sistem našega črevesja je tako kompleksen,

that when we cut out a piece,

da če ga delček izrežemo,

it's independent enough that when we poke it,

je dovolj neodvisen, da ko ga zbodemo,

it mumbles back at us, friendly.

nam prijazno zamrmra.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

But at least those reasons are also the reasons why it's so fascinating

Vsaj to so razlogi, zakaj je črevesje tako fascinantno

and important.

in pomembno.

It took me three steps to love the gut.

V treh korakih sem vzljubila črevesje.

So today, I invite you to follow me on those three steps.

Zato vas danes vabim, da mi sledite po teh treh korakih.

The very first was just looking at it

Prvi je bil samo gledanje

and asking questions like, "How does it work?"

in zastavljanje vprašanj, na primer: "Kako deluje?"

and "Why does it have to look so weird for that sometimes?"

in: "Zakaj mora včasih tako čudno izgledati?"

And it actually wasn't me asking the first kind of these questions,

V bistvu nisem jaz prva spraševala takih vprašanj,

but my roommate.

ampak moj sostanovalec.

After one heavy night of partying,

Po neki divji prekrokani noči

he came into our shared-room kitchen,

je prišel v našo skupno kuhinjo

and he said, "Giulia, you study medicine. How does pooping work?"

in rekel: "Giulia, ti študiraš medicino. Kako deluje kakanje?"

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And I did study medicine but I had no idea,

Jaz sem študirala medicino, a nisem imela pojma,

so I had to go up to my room and look it up in different books.

zato sem šla gor v svojo sobo in pobrskala po različnih knjigah.

And I found something interesting, I thought, at that time.

In našla sem nekaj, kar se mi je takrat zdelo zanimivo.

So it turns out, we don't only have this outer sphincter,

Kot kaže, nimamo le te zunanje mišice zapiralke,

we also have an inner sphincter muscle.

ampak tudi notranjo zapiralno mišico.

The outer sphincter we all know, we can control it,

Zunanjo zapiralko poznamo, lahko jo nadzorujemo,

we know what's going on there;

vemo, kaj se tam dogaja.

the inner one, we really don't.

Notranje pa ne poznamo.

So what happens is,

Gre za to,

when there are leftovers from digestion,

da se ostanke od prebave

they're being delivered to the inner one first.

dostavi najprej k notranji zapiralki.

This inner one will open in a reflex

Ta notranja zapiralka se refleksno odpre

and let through a little bit for testing.

in skozi spusti malo za test.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

So, there are sensory cells

Tam so senzorične celice,

that will analyze what has been delivered: Is it gaseous or is it solid?

ki analizirajo, ali je to, kar je dostavljeno, plinasto ali trdno.

And they will then send this information up to our brain,

To informacijo pošljejo v možgane

and this is the moment when our brain knows,

in to je trenutek, ko možgani vedo:

"Oh, I have to go to the toilet."

"O, na stranišče moram."

(Laughter)

(smeh)

The brain will then do what it's designed to do

Možgani bodo naredili to, za kar so ustvarjeni,

with its amazing consciousness.

s svojo izjemno zavestjo.

It will mediate with our surroundings,

Posredovali bodo v svojo okolico

and it will say something like,

in rekli nekaj takega:

"So, I checked.

"Torej, preverili smo.

We are at this TEDx conference -- "

Smo na tej TEDx konferenci...

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Gaseous?

Plinasto?

Maybe, if you're sitting on the sides,

Mogoče, če sedite na strani

and you know you can pull it off silently.

in veste, da ga lahko spustite po tihem.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

But solid --

Ampak trdno...

maybe later.

mogoče kasneje.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

Since our outer sphincter and the brain is connected with nervous cells,

Ker so naša zapiralka in možgani povezani z živčnimi celicami,

they coordinate, cooperate,

koordinirajo, sodelujejo

and they put it back in a waiting line --

in ga potisnejo nazaj v čakalno vrsto...

(Laughter)

(smeh)

for other times,

... za drugič,

like, for example, when we're at home sitting on the couch,

ko boste recimo doma sedeli na kavču

in ne boste imeli nič boljšega za početi, takrat imamo prosto pot.

we have nothing better to do,

we are free to go.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

Us humans are actually one of the very few animals that do this

Ljudje smo dejansko ena od redkih živali, ki to počnemo

in such an advanced and clean way.

na tako napreden in čist način.

To be honest, I had some newfound respect

Če sem poštena, sem imela na novo odkrito spoštovanje

for that nice, inner sphincter dude --

do te prijetne notranje zapiralne bejbe,

not connected to nerves

ki ni povezana z živci,

that care too much about the outer world or the time --

ki jih preveč skrbi za zunanji svet ali čas,

just caring about me for once.

samo zame skrbi.

I thought that was nice.

Mislila sem si, da je to lepo.

And I used to not be a great fan of public restrooms,

In včasih nisem bila velika pristašinja javnih stranišč,

but now I can go anywhere,

zdaj pa lahko grem kjer koli,

because I consider it more

ker to bolj pretehtam,

when that inner muscle puts a suggestion on my daily agenda.

ko mi ta notranja mišica pripelje predlog na moj dnevni razpored.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And also I learned something else, which was:

Naučila sem tudi nekaj drugega:

looking closely at something I might have shied away from --

natančno opazovanje nečesa, kar me je prej morda spravljajo v zadrego,

maybe the weirdest part of myself --

morda mojega najbolj čudnega dela,

left me feeling more fearless,

me je napravilo bolj pogumno

and also appreciating myself more.

in bolj se znam ceniti.

And I think this happens a lot of times

Mislim, da se to pogosto zgodi,

when you look at the gut, actually.

ko gledamo črevesje.

Like those funny rumbling noises that happen

Kot tisti smešni zvoki kruljenja, ki se zgodijo,

when you're in a group of friends

ko smo v skupini prijateljev

or at the office conference table,

ali v pisarni za konferenčno mizo

going, like, "Merrr, merrr..."

in dela: "Mrrrr, mrrr..."

This is not because we're hungry.

Ne zato, ker smo lačni.

This is because our small intestine is actually a huge neat freak,

Zato, ker je tanko črevo v bistvu mahnjeno na čistočo

and it takes the time in between digestion to clean everything up,

in med prebavami dolgo traja, da se vse počisti,

resulting in those eight meters of gut -- really, seven of them --

da je potem tistih osem metrov črevesja - sedem, v bistvu -

being very clean and hardly smelling like anything.

zelo čisti in skoraj ne smrdijo.

It will, to achieve this, create a strong muscular wave

Da to doseže, bo ustvarilo močan mišični val,

that moves everything forward that's been leftover after digestion.

ki potiska naprej vse, kar je ostalo od prebave.

This can sometimes create a sound,

To lahko včasih ustvari zvok,

but doesn't necessarily have to always.

a ne nujno vedno.

So what we're embarrassed of is really a sign

To, česar se torej sramujemo, je znamenje,

of something keeping our insides fine and tidy.

da nekaj ohranja našo notranjost lepo in čisto.

Or this weird, crooked shape of our stomach --

Ali pa tista čudna, zvita oblika našega želodca,

a bit Quasimodo-ish.

podobna kot notredamski zvonar.

This actually makes us be able to put pressure on our belly

Zaradi te oblike lahko izvajamo pritisk na želodec,

without vomiting,

ne da bi bruhali,

like when we're laughing

ko se recimo smejimo

and when we're doing sports,

in ko se ukvarjamo s športi,

because the pressure will go up and not so much sideways.

ker gre pritisk gor in ne toliko na stran.

This also creates this air bubble

To ustvari zračni mehurček,

that's usually always very visible in X-rays, for example,

ki je ponavadi vedno viden na rentgenu

and can sometimes, with some people,

in lahko včasih pri nekaterih ljudeh

when it gets too big,

postane prevelik

create discomfort or even some sensations of pain.

in ustvari nelagodje ali celo občutek bolečine.

But for most of the people, is just results

Pri večini ljudi gre pa za to,

that it's far easier to burp when you're laying on your left side

da je mnogo lažje rigniti, ko ležijo na levi strani

instead of your right.

namesto na desni.

And soon I moved a bit further

Kmalu sem se pomaknila še naprej

and started to look at the whole picture of our body and health.

in začela gledati celo sliko našega telesa in zdravja.

This was actually after I had heard

To je bilo v bistvu po tem, ko sem slišala,

that someone I knew a little bit had killed himself.

da se je nekdo, ki sem ga malo poznala, ubil.

It happened that I had been sitting next to that person the day before,

Dan prej sem po naključju sedela poleg tega človeka

and I smelled that he had very bad breath.

in zavohala, da ima zelo slab zadah.

And when I learned of the suicide the next day,

Ko sem naslednjega dne izvedela za samomor,

I thought: Could the gut have something to do with it?

sem pomislila: Bi lahko bilo kaj narobe s črevesjem?

And I frantically started searching if there were scientific papers

Divje sem začela iskati, če obstajajo kaki znanstveni članki

on the connection of gut and brain.

o povezavi med črevesjem in možgani.

And to my surprise, I found many.

Na moje presenečenje sem jih našla veliko.

It turns out it's maybe not as simple as we sometimes think.

Očitno to ni tako preprosto, kot pogosto mislimo.

We tend to think our brain makes these commands

Mislimo, da naši možgani dajejo ukaze

and then sends them down to the other organs,

in jih potem pošljejo drugim organom,

and they all have to listen.

ki morajo ubogati.

But really, it's more that 10 percent of the nerves that connect brain and gut

A v resnici je več kot 10 % živcev, ki povezujejo možgane in črevesje

deliver information from the brain to the gut.

in prenašajo informacije od možganov do črevesja.

We know this, for example, in stressful situations,

Vemo, da na primer v stresnih situacijah,

when there are transmitters from the brain that are being sensed by our gut,

ko naše črevesje občuti možganske prenašalce,

so the gut will try to lower all the work,

črevesje poskuša zmanjšati delo

and not be working and taking away blood and energy

in ne dela in ne jemlje krvi in energije,

to save energy for problem-solving.

da prihrani energijo za reševanje problemov.

This can go as far as nervous vomiting or nervous diarrhea

To se pokaže kot živčno bruhanje ali živčna driska,

to get rid of food that it then doesn't want to digest.

da se telo znebi hrane, ki je takrat noče prebavljati.

Maybe more interestingly,

Mogoče še bolj zanimivo,

90 percent of the nervous fibers that connect gut and brain

90 % živčnih vlaken, ki povezujejo črevesje in možgane,

deliver information from our gut to our brain.

prenaša informacije od našega črevesja v možgane.

And when you think about it a little bit,

In ko malo pomislimo o tem,

it does make sense, because our brain is very isolated.

je to smiselno, ker so naši možgani zelo izolirani.

It's in this bony skull surrounded by a thick skin,

So v tej koščeni lobanji, obdani z debelo kožo,

and it needs information to put together a feeling

in potrebujejo informacije, da vzpostavijo občutje:

of "How am I, as a whole body, doing?"

"Kako se počutim kot celo telo?"

And the gut, actually, is possibly the most important advisor for the brain

In črevesje je verjetno najpomembnejši svetovalec možganov,

because it's our largest sensory organ,

ker je naš največji senzorični organ,

collecting information not only on the quality of our nutrients,

ki zbira informacije, ne le o kvaliteti naših hranil,

but really also on how are so many of our immune cells doing,

ampak resnično tudi o tem, kako so kaj naše številne imunske celice

or things like the hormones in our blood that it can sense.

ali stvari, kot so hormoni v naši krvi, ki jih lahko zazna.

And it can package this information, and send it up to the brain.

Zbere te informacije in jih pošlje gor v možgane.

It can, there, not reach areas like visual cortex or word formations --

Ne more doseči področij, kot je vizualni korteks ali tvorba besed,

otherwise, when we digest,

ker bi v tem primeru, ko prebavljamo,

we would see funny colors or we would make funny noises -- no.

videli smešne barve ali pa bi tvorili smešne zvoke. Ne.

But it can reach areas for things like morality,

Lahko pa doseže področja za stvari, kot so moralnost,

fear or emotional processing

strah ali čustveno procesiranje

or areas for self-awareness.

ali področja za samozavedanje.

So it does make sense

Zato je smiselno,

that when our body and our brain are putting together this feeling

da ko naše telo in možgani vzpostavljajo občutje,

of, "How am I, as a whole body, doing?"

kako se počutim kot celo telo,

that the gut has something to contribute to this process.

da lahko črevesje k temu procesu nekaj doprinese.

And it also makes sense

Zato je tudi smiselno,

that people who have conditions like irritable bowel syndrome

da ljudje, ki imajo bolezni, kot je npr. razdražljivo črevesje

or inflammatory bowel disease

ali kronična vnetna črevesna bolezen,

have a higher risk of having anxiety or depression.

imajo večje tveganje za anksioznost in depresijo.

I think this is good information to share,

Mislim, da je to informacijo treba deliti,

because many people will think,

ker bodo mnogi mislili:

"I have this gut thing, and maybe I also have this mental health thing."

"To črevesno stvar imam in mogoče imam tudi to mentalno zadevo."

And maybe -- because science is not clear on that right now --

Mogoče - ker si znanost v tem trenutku še ni čisto na jasnem -

it's really just that the brain is feeling sympathy with their gut.

gre le za to, da so možgani sočutni do črevesja.

This has yet to grow in evidence until it can come to practice.

Potrebujemo še veliko dokazov, da bomo lahko prešli v prakso.

But just knowing about these kinds of research

A že to, da vemo, da obstajajo take raziskave,

that's out there at the moment

da so zunaj,

helps me in my daily life.

mi pomaga v vsakodnevnem življenju.

And it makes me think differently of my moods

In zato drugače mislim o svojih razpoloženjih

and not externalize so much all the time.

in stvari več ne konkretiziram kar naprej.

I feel oftentimes during the day we are a brain and a screen,

Pogosto čez dan pomislim, da smo možgani in zaslon

and we will tend to look for answers right there

in tam bomo poiskali odgovore

and maybe the work is stupid or our neighbor --

in mogoče se to delo zdi vašemu sosedu neumno,

but really, moods can also come from within.

a res je, da razpoloženje prihaja od znotraj.

And just knowing this helped me,

Že samo to zavedanje mi je pomagalo,

for example, when I sometimes wake up too early,

ko se na primer prezgodaj zbudim

and I start to worry and wander around with my thoughts.

in začnem skrbeti in razmišljati.

Then I think, "Stop. What did I eat yesterday?

Takrat si rečem: "Nehaj. Kaj sem jedla včeraj?

Did I stress myself out too much?

Sem se preveč vznemirjala?

Did I eat too late or something?"

Sem jedla prepozno ali kaj?"

And then maybe get up and make myself a tea,

In potem mogoče vstanem in si napravim čaj,

something light to digest.

nekaj lahko prebavljivega.

And as simple as that sounds,

In naj se sliši še tako preprosto,

I think it's been surprisingly good for me.

mislim, da je to zame presenetljivo dobro.

Step three took me further away from our body,

Korak tri me je peljal proč od našega telesa

and to really understanding bacteria differently.

in k resničnemu razumevanju bakterij.

The research we have today is creating a new definition

Raziskave, ki jih danes imamo, ustvarjajo novo definicijo,

of what real cleanliness is.

kaj je resnična čistoča.

And it's not the hygiene hypothesis --

Ne gre za hipotezo higiene -

I think many maybe know this.

mislim, da mnogi to poznajo.

So it states that when you have too little microbes in your environment

Pravi, da ko imaš premalo mikrobov v svojem okolju,

because you clean all the time,

ker kar naprej čistiš,

that's not really a good thing,

to ni dobro,

because people get more allergies or autoimmune diseases then.

ker ljudje potem dobijo več alergij in avtoimunskih bolezni.

So I knew this hypothesis,

To hipotezo sem poznala,

mislila sem, da se ne bom veliko naučila,

and I thought I wouldn't learn so much

from looking at cleanliness in the gut.

če bom gledala čistočo črevesja.

But I was wrong.

Motila sem se.

It turns out,

Očitno

real cleanliness is not about killing off bacteria right away.

pri resnični čistoči ne gre za takojšnje uničenje vseh bakterij.

Real cleanliness is a bit different.

Resnična čistoča je malo drugačna.

When we look at the facts,

Ko pogledamo dejstva,

95 percent of all bacteria on this planet don't harm us -- they can't,

nam 95 % vseh bakterij na tem planetu ne škoduje, ne morejo nam,

they don't have the genes to do so.

ker nimajo pravih genov za to.

Many, actually, help us a lot,

Mnoge nam dejansko pomagajo

and scientists at the moment are looking into things like:

in znanstveniki trenutno proučujejo stvari, kot so:

Do some bacteria help us clean the gut?

nam nekatere bakterije pomagajo čistiti črevesje?

Do they help us digest?

Nam pomagajo prebavljati?

Do they make us put on weight or have a lean figure

Se zaradi njih zredimo ali smo vitki,

although we're eating lots?

čeprav veliko jemo?

Are others making us feel more courageous or even more resilient to stress?

Nam druge pomagajo, da se počutimo pogumnejše ali smo bolj odporni na stres?

So you see, there are more questions when it comes to cleanliness.

Vidite torej, da obstaja mnogo vprašanj glede čistoče.

And, actually, the thing is, it's about a healthy balance, I think.

In stvar je, da gre za zdravo ravnovesje, se mi zdi.

You can't avoid the bad all the time.

Ves čas se ne moremo izogibati slabemu.

This is simply not possible;

To preprosto ni mogoče,

there's always something bad around.

ker je okoli nas vedno kaj slabega.

So what really the whole deal is when you look at a clean gut,

Ko gledate na čisto črevesje, gre v bistvu za to,

it's about having good bacteria, enough of them,

da imate dovolj dobrih bakterij

and then some bad.

in nekaj slabih.

Our immune system needs the bad, too,

Imunski sistem potrebuje tudi slabe,

so it knows what it's looking out for.

da ve, za kaj mora poskrbeti.

So I started having this different perspective on cleanliness

Zato sem začela drugače gledati na čistočo

and a few weeks later,

in nekaj tednov kasneje

I held a talk at my university,

sem imela na svoji univerzi predavanje

and I made a mistake by 1,000.

in sem se zmotila za 1000.

And I went home and I realized in that moment,

Šla sem domov in se v tistem trenutku zavedla:

I was like, "Ah! I made a mistake by 1,000.

"Ah, zmotila sem se za 1000.

Oh God, that's so much, and that's so embarrassing."

O Bog, to je tako veliko, to je tako sramotno."

And I started to think about this, I was like, "Ugh!"

In začela sem o tem razmišljati in sem si mislila: "Oh."

And after a while I said,

Čez čas sem rekla:

"OK, I made this one mistake,

"Prav, naredila sem to eno napako,

but then I also told so many good and right and helpful things,

a povedala sem še toliko dobrih in koristnih reči,

so I think it's OK, you know?

zato mislim, da je vse v redu.

It's a clean thing."

To je čista stvar."

And then I was like, "Oh, wait.

Potem pa sem si rekla: "Počakaj.

Maybe I took my perspective on cleanliness further."

Mogoče sem svoj pogled na čistočo peljala malo dlje."

And it's my theory at the moment that maybe we all do.

Moja teorija je v trenutno ta, da mogoče vsi to počnemo.

Take it a bit further than just cleaning our living room,

Stvari peljemo dlje, kot da le čistimo svojo dnevno sobo,

where maybe we make it to sort like a life hygiene.

mogoče iz tega naredimo življenjsko higieno.

Knowing that this is about fostering the good

Zavedanje, da gre za spodbujanje dobrega

just as much as trying to shelter yourself from the bad

ravno toliko kot poskušanje ščitenja sebe pred slabim,

had a very calming effect on me.

je imelo name pomirjevalen učinek.

So in that sense,

V tem smislu torej

I hope today I told you mostly good and helpful things,

upam, da sem vam danes povedala večinoma dobre in koristne reči

and thank you for your time,

in hvala za vaš čas,

for listening to me.

da ste me poslušali.

(Applause)

(aplavz)