Digestive Intelligence: A Holistic Vision of Your Second Brain

Based in Madrid, Matveikova is a family medicine physician who specializes in endocrinology and clinical nutrition, with expertise in eating disorders. Here, she takes readers on a tour of the digestive system, emphasizing that the intestine (or gut) acts as a “second brain” that produces neurotransmitters and hormones. According to the author, the two brains “engage, talk, sabotage, or reinforce each other,” and emotions often manifest as digestive disorders. In detailed and accessible fashion, Matveikova covers the stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, and gallbladder, addressing topics such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastro esophageal reflex disease (GERD). Matveikova favors a holistic, integrative approach, viewing allopathic treatments combined with complementary modalities as “the medicine of the future.” A proponent of colonic hydrotherapy, she discusses the procedure and its benefits. She includes historical tidbits, as well as anecdotes from her life and practice to give character to a potentially dull subject. Readers may find that the author’s enthusiasm for her topic is contagious. [em]Agent: Elizabeth Wiggins, Elizabeth Wiggins Literary Agency (Spain). (June) [/em]