Deep in the recesses of my guts, I have a Sensitive Genius.
Did you know that the digestive system has as many neurons as the brain? When we are tiny, tiny little blobs of pre-baby, our brain cells and our digestive cells start out connected and only later on drift away from each other. Our digestive system almost operates like a second brain; the neurons are able to control our digestion independently of the no.1 brain in our heads (this is called the enteric nervous system). In my case that bright little bundle of neurons that went on to create my dazzling intellect seems to have parted from an equally active and imaginative little bundle that went on to create my guts. And that second brain, the Genius Within, did not want to go unnoticed.
He's all screwed up, the Genius. He's absolutely paranoid for one thing. He totally misinterprets it when my head brain tells him there is something to be nervous or stressed about. Instead of taking a deep breath and getting some perspective, or unleashing a herd of butterflies in my stomach in the case of something really scary, he unleashes excruciating cramps that leave me unable to walk. Sometimes over things that are really trivial. Things that my head brain knows will work out just fine.
He's moody and sensitive, too. Our guts are regulated by the hormone serotonin (the stuff that makes the head brain happy); it makes our intestines move smoothly. Except mine can't keep his dosage regular. There's a problem with the receptors of the cells in my guts. There's too much serotonin some days, nothing the next; the Genius is all over the place. And that effects how everything works. It also affects how everything feels. The fluctuations of the Sensitive Genius makes me way more sensitive to pain than people with 'normal' guts. Every other part of me is super tough, but whacked out hormones just make the Genius feel way more. And do you know where half of all of our nerve endings live? Yup. In our guts. Once again, excruciating.
This is a real condition that people know really very little about. The research into how hormones affect the enteric system seems to be the most promising, so that's the version I'm sticking with. But really, the experts don't know how people get it or really how to help them. I'm going to keep on being euphemistic, but if you need to know, or if you have something similar, here's a link. It's estimated that between 10-20 percent of the population may be living with this and most of them will be undiagnosed.
I've known about this for a long time now, and I've done a lot to calm down the Sensitive Genius. By trial and a whole lot of error, working with a dietitian and a therapist and by learning a lot about food and digestion, I'm able to keep The Genius pretty stable. Most of the time he feels like he's in a good place; he's had a book published, he found a part-time lecturing job, he has a small group of peers that find him interesting and maybe even wins the odd grant. But now and then he feels like I'm forgetting about him. That I'm not taking his brilliance seriously. Maybe even that I'm too concerned with my own career to notice his. And then he gets into a violent rage and then I can't move for a few days. Sometimes the event that sets him off is obvious (I was pretty sick right around the end of both of my degrees), but other times, like this past weekend, it's very hard for me to say.
To calm him down, I go back to the basic diet that my deititian first put me on four or five years ago. It's pretty boring and features things that are really easy to digest only. This excludes a lot of foods that are very healthy (most whole grains, many vegetables) and a lot of foods that are very fun (chocolate, tea, alcohol). So once the Genius is calm again (I'll read his latest manuscript and tell him of its lucid poetry so unexpected in a biography of Elizabeth Hurley) I'll start introducing the other foods; the good stuff. I always keep the basic diet in mind, and I'm careful not to add in too many difficult foods, but sometimes I get the balance wrong and the Genius gets indignant.
This blog isn't going to turn into a tale of my struggles with the Genius. This is firstly because the condition is gross and I find it embarrassing and it's pretty much the last thing that anyone wants to think about when imagining adventures with food. But secondly because it really doesn't bother me that much. 97% of the time I'm completely fine and the Genius is happy, just working away. But from now on, if I post a recipe that's easy to digest and could be pretty safely consumed by other people with their own Sensitive Geniuses, then I'll label it as such. And if you ever have any questions about this condition, treatments, foods to eat safely, fiber, etc. send me an email (gingertablet (at) googlemail (dot) com) and we can talk about it.
I wish I could post some good links for forums and websites, but I haven't found anything that I could back. If you have a problem like this, or if you think you might but haven't been diagnosed, I would go to your doctor. I would also find a dietitian who specialized in GI difficulties. The Genius used to be out of control and I was in a lot of pain every day. Now he's pretty happy and most days we both just get on with being brilliant and leave each other alone.
Since I've been restricted to the land of joyless eating, wine gums (only a few...) and pretzel sticks have been my best friends this week. I've also been eating a lot of oats, bananas, avocados, tuna and pretty plain pasta.
Next week I promise to put the powerpoint away, get the camera out and talk about some nice food. By then the Genuis will probably be back at work on his new ballet. He tells me that it will concern the ill-fated love of Mary J Blige and Chekhov. I just wish he would shut up already.
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