TEDx Talks
Your Gut Microbiome: The Most Important Organ You’ve Never Heard Of | Erika Ebbel Angle | TEDxFargo
NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. While some viewers might find advice provided in this talk to be helpful as a complementary approach, this speaker makes claims about nutrition and the human microbiome with too much certainty for the current state of research. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf
Dr. Erika Ebbel Angle discusses why the gut microbiome is the most important organ you’ve probably never heard of. The gut is the second brain, and gut health affects your overall health. This means that you are what you eat, but you are also the metabolites that live in your gut and produce the substances you need for emotional balance, energy level, and disease prevention. Poor lifestyle choices cause gut imbalances, which can lead to neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, and even anxiety and depression.
Angle talks about three critical molecules and how they work in the body to affect your overall wellness. She also shares some tips about what you can do to maintain a healthy gut microbiome through diet and lifestyle choices.
Entrepreneur and biochemist Erika Ebbel Angle, PhD, has dedicated her life to studying the gut. Dr. Angle is the CEO and co-founder of Ixcela, the Internal Fitness™ company. Ixcela evaluates the gut microbiome using a blood sample, and then offers personalized recommendations to restore gut health. Angle shares her lifelong love of science in many ways, including through her nonprofit, Science from Scientists, which brings scientists into classrooms to promote STEM careers and science education. A graduate of MIT and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Angle is also a former Miss Massachusetts who used her platform to encourage students to pursue STEM careers and scientific discovery.
Erika Ebbel Angle, Ph.D., is the CEO and Co-founder of Ixcela, a biotechnology company aimed at developing tests and interventions to improve gut microbiome efficacy and health. She is also the Executive Director and Founder of Science from Scientists, an award-winning National nonprofit focused on improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) attitudes and aptitudes for children aged 9-13. Outside of work, Erika enjoys scuba diving, skiing, and classical piano. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
[Music] so I am here today to talk to you about the importance of listening to your gut brief hello I'm a 38 year old entrepreneur biochemist went to MIT bu School of Medicine and I have decided to dedicate my life to studying the gut and the gut microbiome six years ago I even started a company to address this issue and I'm a routine contributor some of the publications that you see here as a specialist in gut health I've been really fortunate over the last few years to have worked with professional athletes and professional athletic teams to try to improve their gut health because it's so intimately related to things like increasing performance decreasing sickness and improving recovery time so why am I here today well I'm here to talk to you about what I think is the most important organ and that is the gut microbiome so for those of you who don't know what the gut microbiome is it's everything from your mouth to your colon from entry to exit all the bits in between so your stomach your small intestine your large intestine and all of the little critters that live in there so bacteria fungi viruses and cells there are trillions of these little critters that are living in there and we'll talk about this a little bit more later but diversity is so important in the gut so why is it important to have a healthy gut well it's really important for long-term health so if you have a healthy gut you're gonna feel more energetic you're gonna get sick less often you're gonna have better mental clarity and ultimately have better emotional well-being versus if you don't have a healthy gut a lot of research is showing that this is related to things like autoimmune conditions diabetes neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and even emotional issues like anxiety and depression so our theme for today is you are what you eat so you're probably sitting there thinking yeah you know as a kid my parents always used to tell me you are what you eat as they tried to foist broccoli off on me or if you were really really lucky Brussels sprouts and other things like that but the reality is they're actually right eating poorly can do really two things so the first one it can prevent you from getting the nutrients that you need to stay healthy and second it can actually damage and change the entire composition of your gut which will render it unable to digest things properly and create the nutrients that you need to function so today we're gonna look at three molecules that you get from dietary intake you have to eat these things so the first is something called tryptophan you've probably heard of this Thanksgiving comes everybody talks about the tryptophan induced coma that happens after you have your food it's found in Turkey but it's also found in things like eggs and chia seeds so your body takes tryptophan and converts it into a lot of other really important molecules two of which we're gonna talk about today so one called serotonin serotonin is something that makes you happy super important and something called melatonin which actually helps you to sleep so imagine if you don't have any tryptophan or you're not consuming enough tryptophan well no matter how many roses or diamonds or chocolates your significant other brings you it's just not gonna make you happy and that's kind of sad also you won't be able to sleep so you won't be able to count sheep at night another example is a compound called tyrosine so tyrosine another amino acid is found in foods like almonds but it's also found in lentils and seeds and edamame tyrosine is converted to a variety of really important things as well so we'll talk about dopamine dopamine is a compound that you may have heard of and it's essentially it motivates you to do stuff so it's this initiative oriented behavior that it helps to propel an epinephrine which is also known as adrenaline the fight-or-flight molecule which is really helpful when you're up on this stage so you know imagine if you don't have these things what would happen well here's what would happen one you'd be drooling on your couch or worse yet if you were being chased by a mountain lion which I'm sure you know who knows may happen at some point in everybody's life the emoji being you know huh you don't want this to happen right you need a body to respond to these types of situations third we're gonna talk about something called indole-3 lactic acids so it's really important found in fermented foods things like pickles sauerkraut kimchi kefir ila is super important because your body takes it in and there's certain bacteria in the guts that actually convert the ILA into something called IPA indle Pro prion ik acid that into appropriate ik acid is actually one of the strongest antioxidants in the body and again you guys might have heard of what you know this word antioxidant but I'll explain what it does so in your body you have a variety of different chemical processes that happen and they many of them create things called free radicals these are bad they're reactive species that go and damage your cells they damage DNA and then ultimately can lead to things like cancer so these antioxidants come in and actually break down your free radicals keeping you healthy longer IPA very important so clearly eating certain types of foods is really necessary to keep you healthy but it's not sufficient a healthy microbiome is needed to be able to execute these conversion processes that we're talking about to take things in to digest them and to spit out other molecules that are really important to your health so let's talk a little bit about what makes a healthy microbiome so I've tried to simplify this a bit but essentially each emoji is a type of bacteria you have different ones right so you've got some that digest veggies some that digest meats and breads and oils and your gut is populated by many many different types of things so in a healthy gut you have very diverse species in there now let's say you decide that you are just going to eat foods that are really high in fat things like hotdogs and ice cream and and pizza although Pizza sounds really good right now if you train your systems to do this your guts going to start using more and more of the type of bacteria that are used to seeing the kinds of foods that you eat and eventually you're going to skew the ratios those bacteria are going to out-compete the other types that are there because they're just not being used and then you'll end up with a situation where you can have a very unhealthy not diverse set of bacteria in your gut now you might ask can you reverse that yes but it often takes a lot of time and energy to do sometimes you actually can't sometimes you just you know once those bacteria are gone it's really tough to bring them back so what's really interesting is the body tries to actually generate the right building blocks even if you've damaged your gut so again on the bottom right hand side you can see there's a silhouette you can see the little emojis down at the bottom they've taken in food but you don't have a diverse set of bacteria in there they've taken in your food and they're trying to create these compounds to keep you healthy but there's just not enough of them they're not working the right way whereas on the other side you've got a silhouette where the person has lots of diversity lots of different bacteria emojis and they're being able to take in the food digest it and spit out many things that are really important to keep you healthy now here's the sad part many of the things that we do in our life are in fact completely lethal to the microbiome I love chips sadly you don't find a lot of healthy stuff in most chips you're not gonna find tiresome tryptophan or ILA here antibiotics medicines helpful but they kill bacteria and they don't just kill bad bacteria they kill all bacteria and so oftentimes after you've gone through a course of antibiotics you kill off your microbiome sometimes it never rebuilds properly again stress you know you hear this stress kills kills thing stress is bad we could have a whole 30 minute talk on the impact of stress on the microbiome stress is in fact extremely bad for the microbiome your central nervous system your brain is intimately connected to your gun the two talk back and forth to each other think about it when you're stressed have a headache you feel terrible you often feel that stress in your stomach butterflies in your stomach anxiety sometimes you have to go to the bathroom more it's the to talk to each other all the time they're intimately connected and so the more stressed you are the more likely it is that you will damage your microbiome and then lastly you know we live in a very aseptic society and this is bad decreases the diversity of bacteria in the gut one of my favorite examples is you know back many years ago kids would play in the dirt and they'd be exposed to all kinds of different things now kids come inside they watch TV they play on their phones and a lot of diseases are actually being connected to the lack of diversity in the gut things like autism ADHD so super important to get outside so what can we do about this well the good news is not all is lost it is possible to improve your gut and this is one of the things that I get to do every day and I'm so fortunate in my job my company actually is trying to measure the functional state of the gut define what that is and then to create interventions to improve it we call this improving your internal fitness so what are some simple things that you can do to help improve your gut well one we've talked about changing your diet two we've talked about stress management techniques incorporating mindfulness meditation breathing exercises to minimize your stress or exercise is great fifteen twenty minutes of walking a day can help to you know keep you regular it can you know we talked about that in front of the group that's what we do it can help to you know mitigate your stress and it can actually help to promote the growth of certain types of bacteria and then lastly targeted supplementation I'm not saying to take lots of different supplements I'm saying if there's certain things that your body needs you might actually take a supplement yeah sometimes there's a lot of fish that you have to eat in order to get the equivalency of one pill but make sure it's what you need so the next time that you're lying on the couch feeling lethargic and not sure why or you're sick the fifth time in a year listen to your gut thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause]
#Gut #Microbiome #Important #Organ #Youve #Heard #Erika #Ebbel #Angle #TEDxFargo
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Now, I believe some people from all around the world, eat strictly whole foods, stay hydrated, get exercise, rest well, Love, and have fun, and when they go to the bathroom, everything is super, ultra easy, without any signs of restriction.
A lot of them use no pro-biotic supplements, no pro-biotic drinks, living in all climates.
To me, that spells out something real good. Absorption.
Pro-biotics are another real simple way though.
The filming fails when they need to focus on the presentation screen and not the presenter
amazing-super insightful to improve atopy
IPA? Beer?
Fascinating insights into the gut microbiome
Free radicals and anti oxidants part… I had this confusion about anti oxidants… What they do… Now I got to know it simply… Thank you
Good talk, easy to digest, food for thought, this took guts, this information was easy to swallow, I was able to stomach these ideas, taken with a grain of salt, I have a gut feeling she's right.
This talk reveals how gut microbiome impacts health, a fascinating insight!
I'm probably 20% FOSTER'S 😅😢😥
If the world have more people like doc sese it will be a better place I never thought I can get rid of herpes virus but after coming across doc sese YouTube channel he sent me some herbs which cued me completely!!
Super helpful content! In addition to following this advice, try Digesto Plan Syrup from Planet Ayurveda — it’s worked wonders for me.
This visionary's groundbreaking exploration of one of the most critical emerging health issues of our time not only illuminates its urgency but also underscores how desperately the world needs a thousand more pioneers like her to lead the charge.
I believe the majority of people have gut problems, we are not alone. Im becoming frutarian
What is this trend with telling people what they have and have not heard of? It's suddenly everywhere and is distracting.
She said absolutely nothing that’s what my gut tells me 🤦🏾♀️
Brainwashing by a pseudoscientist
The no 1 biomarker for how well you will age is natural hormone production. When hormones decline health and wellness declines. Sarcopenia arrives loss of bone density and reduced activity levels. This is why all biohackers are on TRT to attempt to compensate for this deficit. I went from 334 to 960 in around three months all natural no TRT. This book should be essential reading for all men. Written by a 50s guy with natural T levels higher than most 20s guys
Complete guide to testosterone by james Francis
Precise conversation to take into account. 5/5
I had H Pylori recently, and was prescribed large amounts of anti biotics
Im sure this did,nt help my gut.
I present with a rare and severe phenotype of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), characterized by non-IgE mediated hypersensitivity reactions to all forms of meat protein. This reactivity is reliably provoked by dietary intake of meat and is not attributable to traditional anaphylaxis or food allergy pathways. The origin of this condition likely traces back to a Clostridium difficile infection I contracted while serving in Iraq in 2003. I hypothesize that this early event initiated profound and persistent gut dysbiosis, loss of mucosal tolerance, and a cascade of immune dysregulation that ultimately laid the groundwork for systemic autoimmunity and neuroinflammatory vulnerability. Over the course of two decades, I developed serologically confirmed autoimmunity, with positive antinuclear antibodies, anti-dsDNA, and anti-SSA/SSB (Sjogren’s associated) markers. This autoimmune terrain evolved in parallel with worsening gastrointestinal and central nervous system involvement. Due to the severity of symptoms and the absence of meaningful medical intervention, I was placed on long-term corticosteroid therapy to suppress inflammation. This, in turn, led to Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency (SAI), which I later managed to reverse through a meticulous and controlled taper off corticosteroids. However, residual adrenal fragility and hypoglycemic sensitivity remain, especially under metabolic stress or dietary restriction.
To combat the escalating food intolerances and malnutrition, I developed and self-administered a therapeutic oral formulation, designated EMB 1.2, which binds and neutralizes key bacterial metabolites produced by the dysbiotic flora. This formulation, referred to as a slurry, enabled the reintroduction of meat into my diet after four years of total protein intolerance. While effective as a stop gap measure, the slurry does not fully prevent the translocation of bacterial metabolites and neurotoxins. These include hydrogen, methane, ammonia, histamine, and other biogenic amines that appear to cross compromised mucosal and blood brain barriers, eliciting episodic and cumulative central nervous system inflammation. Following the temporary stabilization achieved with EMB 1.2, I introduced enterically coated probiotics after embedding natural antimicrobials into the matrix for several weeks, anticipating a reduction in microbial load. This assumption proved premature. The probiotics triggered a significant flare, leading to a chronic anaphylactoid like neuroimmune response, marked by progressive disequilibrium, photopsia (flashes of light), altered mental status, and eventually, intracranial hypertension. After several weeks of worsening head pressure and visual symptoms, I underwent an emergency lumbar puncture with an opening pressure of 50 mmH2O.
At present, I survive by suppressing systemic and neurological flares with a tightly controlled pharmacologic regimen. This includes high dose ketotifen for mast cell stabilization, topiramate for intracranial pressure modulation, montelukast (Singulair) for leukotriene inhibition, and gabapentin for neuroinflammatory control. While these agents reduce symptom burden, they do not address the underlying cause. My condition remains tenuously managed, and progression is only delayed, not arrested. I currently face two remaining therapeutic options: targeted antibiotic therapy or a strict elemental diet. The latter, though theoretically effective in starving the bacterial colony, induces severe hypoglycemia due to residual adrenal insufficiency. Sustained use of an elemental diet is therefore not viable. This leaves targeted antibiotic therapy as the most feasible path forward. My AIR2 breath test has shown persistently elevated levels of both hydrogen and methane. I have recently secured approval for the Berkeley Trio Smart Trigas test to further quantify the gas profile and refine treatment strategy.
Despite decades of progressive illness, two ischemic strokes, and a complete failure of standard care to address the root pathology, I have independently identified the microbial origin, mapped its systemic consequences, and stabilized a previously terminal trajectory through investigative self-treatment. Yet no medical institution has formally acknowledged the severity or novelty of this presentation. I propose that the microbial colony inhabiting my small intestine exhibits characteristics that, if ever engineered, could serve as a blueprint for a perfect bioweapon. It disables protein metabolism, induces autoimmune dysregulation, compromises the blood brain barrier, and renders the host neurologically incapacitated while appearing outwardly stable.
There is no fourteen day cure for a condition of this complexity. I now seek access to targeted antibiotics, likely rifaximin in combination with methane and biofilm targeting agents such as neomycin, allicin, or bismuth. This approach, tailored to my specific gas signature and microbial resistance profile, may offer the only viable route to true remediation. If any clinician or researcher has encountered a case of similar complexity or systemic involvement, I welcome the opportunity for collaboration. Until then, I continue to advance this investigative framework as both patient and scientist, in defiance of systemic disbelief and the existential consequences of a condition that defies conventional categorization. This entire framework is my hypothesis, tying together two decades of direct clinical experience, biologic pattern recognition, pharmacologic response, and real time observation. Yet I fully acknowledge that there is not a single physician I have encountered who would currently accept it as valid.
I need a flowchart to explain what just went down.
She's awesome well done
It’s nice to know when your gut bacteria is healthy like i never get sick anymore it’s rare at this point. My stools always look healthy never watery or discolored. It’s easy for me go number 2 it all comes out the right way with no pushing. I never suffer from stomachaches or constipation. I have 0 mental health issues/problems. The list goes on.
Here’s a good tip: when you’re eating probiotic food try to eat them first thing in the morning or fast for 8 hours so you’re stomach has no acid in it & increases the chance of the good bacteria to get where it needs to go.
Drink raw milk 🥛