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  • Gut

  • The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
  • Written by: Giulia Enders
  • Narrated by: Katy Sobey
  • Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (114 ratings)

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Gut

Written by: Giulia Enders
Narrated by: Katy Sobey
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Publisher's Summary

Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain, yet we know very little about how it works. Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit. Along the way, the author provides practical advice, such as the best ways to sit on the toilet to have a comfortable bowel movement, how clean your kitchen should be for optimum gut health, and how different laxatives work. She tells stories of gut bacteria that can lead to obesity, autoimmune diseases, or even suicide, and she discusses the benefits of dietary supplements, such as probiotics.

This book is a fascinating primer for anyone interested in how our ideas about the gut are changing in the light of cutting-edge scientific research. In the words of the author, "We live in an era in which we are just beginning to understand just how complex the connections are between us, our food, our pets, and the microscopic world in, on, and around us. We are gradually decoding processes that we used to believe were part of our inescapable destiny."

©2015 Giulia Enders; Translation copyright 2015 by David Shaw (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Gut

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Very informative

I would have liked more information on specific bacteria to treat certain ailments. however, it seems that only a few probiotics are heavily researched. Prebiotics have been researched even less.

overall great book. a ton to learn.

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1 person found this helpful

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Interesting and amusing

A true information dump but one with wit. Dichotomy of subject matter and presenter accent was delightful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Boring

Struggled to finish. Too flowery in the narrative. Interesting topics but disappointing in the details. She wrote it like she was trying to be funny but it didn't fit. Some useful details that I hadn't heard before but overall, disappointing...not what I expected.

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1 person found this helpful

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Fascinating and incredibly enjoyable

A soothing book about a fascinating subject. Way more bizzare and interesting then I would of ever believed. Who knew spit was actually filtered blood? not me thats for sure.

The author is truly passionate and the reader is clear and engaging.

I reccomend this read whole heartedly.

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Have new respect for this organ

Beautiful and yet informatively written book. Giulia Enders explains very well how the digestive system works using enough medical terms and enough layman term explanation not to offend the somewhat educated and the not so educated in the field readers/listeners. Hope she writes a book for each organ of the body.

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Great listen!,

Loved this so much I’ve ordered a hard copy! I find this book and it’s info fascinating! It is well written and easy to understand. The author has done a fantastic job of explaining how our gut and its microbiome works.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Deceiving content

Goes superficially over the subject and makes some inaccurate statements.
Narrator is monotonous and lacks the right interpretation of the sentences.

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    4 out of 5 stars

informative but dry, and poor audio

Very interesting content but not read in the most easy to follow way. I found myself zoning out a lot. Also the audio quality is not the best, sounds like the recording device picked up too much ambient noise, or maybe the mic was too close? I don't know but it is fuzzy and even with the volume cranked I couldn't always understand what she was saying unless sitting in a completely quiet room. That being said it wasn't very long so I stuck with it for the information!

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informative

has me respecting gut bacteria in a way I never knew. I'll consider more about antibiotics in my food. I feel more knowledgeable on the topic and will probably review some chapters again!

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  • KevinMcVeigh
  • 2017-03-02

Doctors opinion

I'm an anesthesiologist who is fresh enough out of medical school to remember all the GI lectures and I can say that this book CORRECTLY explains in a understandable way the current medical fields understanding of our gut. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to improve their lives (through understanding of their own GI system) or is just curious about how it all works down there. Keep up the good work!

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299 people found this helpful

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  • serine
  • 2016-03-31

Best Gut Microbe Book Around

If you are looking for a book on gut microbes and want to avoid pseudoscience and delve into a book which contains solid science, this book is an excellent choice. Oddly, I find that ratings for pseudoscience books like Perlmutter's Grain Brain are often higher than they are for books written by responsible scientists who will not make claims or provide any suggestions that are not scientifically studied and replicated. My guess is that real science, which doesn't yet have all the answers about microbes, is far less sexy than pseudoscience books that can make any claim or suggestion they like, while playing fast and loose with the actual available evidence.

The Good Gut by the Sonnenberg's contained a hippie vibe as well as solid science. This book has less of a hippie vibe but is far more rigorous than even the Sonneberg's book. So even if you were hoping for more of a hippie vibe, I would actually recommend this book over The Good Gut, only because it's actual scientific content is better. Adding to that, Enders is a fantastic writer and her tour of the human digestive system was absolutely fantastic. I have not found such a wonderful description in any other book.

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229 people found this helpful

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  • Susie
  • 2016-06-23

Brilliant

THIS is the one gut book you need! Funny, well informed, and dare I say, life changing? From the position you use to defecate, to your water intake, to your new best friend bacteria.

I know, there are a lot of books have been written about the microbiome, some with more woo than others, but this one outstrips them in clarity and and humor. Giulia Enders is funny, clever and level headed. It is easy as pie to follow her explanations of the world inside. I love a nonfiction writer who appreciates the power of an anecdotes and quips and Enders is brilliant with them.

Katy Sobey's soothing narration never flags and is clear as a bell. I now want her to explain all biological systems to me.

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  • Gillian
  • 2016-08-26

Better Than "Gulp"!

I like Mary Roach, a lot. But she has a deviously wicked way of wantonly wallowing in the perversely humorous. While I smile a lot with her books, my toes have a tendency of curling...
"Gut" was delightful without being, well, dare I say it? Gross. Even though topics are covered such as: Is it better to sit or squat whilst pooing (Squat! Squat!)
And I was reminded of the "Time with Timer" series that used to come on after school (yes, I'm that old), where a microscopic being would take kids on tours of the inner body. Okay, so now I'll really relish each bite of cake I ever eat again.
I found this book to be enlightening, entertaining, wonderfully narrated. And as somebody who has trouble with crazy diets, I do believe it'll be helpful as I treat to eat mindfully.
And bravo to people who volunteer for scientific studies! And kudos to the hamsters who are probably wondering, "You want to study THAT? From me?!?"
A wonderful, gigglesome 7+ hour journey into that final frontier: You

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  • Armina
  • 2016-07-20

Entertaining and smart

I'm not going to nitpick, this was very informative and entertaining. Anything I disagree with (I'm a nutrition scientist) was still cutting-edge and controversial when this came out. Very little to contend anyway.
Very good read!

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  • W. White
  • 2017-02-14

Bright, funny, informative, well-read

As an American physician, I found that I had quite a bit to learn from my German counterpart more than 40 years my junior. For example, I, as well as none of my learned colleagues had ever heard of Roemheld Syndrome, though the more flexibly minded among us found the concept interesting and likely applicable. Enders makes sure we'll never look at our gastrointestinal tracts in quite the same way ever again. Lots of laughs along the way, and I found much of her millennial humor to be ageless. The Brit reading this excellent translation of Darm mit Charme did a brilliant job and she was delightful to listen to. Enders' sister's illustrations are both helpful and funny, down to the "end" page, making a companion Kindle purchase of the book worthwhile, aside from obvious reference value. Also, I tried some of her ideas regarding pre-biotics and probiotics, etc., and can already report that my microbiota as well as myself are feeling more energetic. I "read" at least 100 Audible titles a year, and this one rates in the top 10%.

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  • Ken Hutchison
  • 2016-05-22

I understand my Stomach now!

fantastic audio book, story and narrative were wonderful, starting my 3rd replay, can't recommend it enough! 5 Stars all around

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  • San Diego Gregg
  • 2016-03-03

Inside Scoop

Wonderful book. If you want to know what's going on on the inside then this is the book you need to read. It covers everything from how the macronutrients in our foods are processed by our bodies to how the microbiota in our gut pretty much regulates and controls our overall health.

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  • Mark
  • 2016-10-12

Fascinating, but a little thin on research

While I found the overall book interesting, along with the subject, the author comes to a great many conclusions with statements like "initial research is encouraging" or "future research might reveal" which is not science. I think the author's enthusiasm to contribute to a new and growing pool get in the way of sound and defensible conclusions that adhere to scientific method. What you're getting is her "gut" feeling on things a lot of the time. There are interesting studies and the science of gut bacteria is growing, but few conclusions in this book are backed up by real, hard science.

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  • KS
  • 2016-07-16

Informative and engaging ... and well read.

Dr Enders has done a beautiful job of marrying science with wit. This life-changing book, which reveals the power of the microbiome, is as informative as it is engaging thanks to great narration and skillfully interspersed humour. A must read for all who plan on trusting their gut!

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29 people found this helpful