Gut Feeling: Which Organ Is The Most Impactful Influencer Of Our Health?

The gut, a powerful endocrine and immune organ, profoundly influences digestion, metabolism, immunity, and overall physical and mental health.

- DR P.S. VENKATESH RAO

Our brain is the command and control centre, with sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch as five external sensory inputs and vestibular sense (sensors of balance are in the inner ears), proprioception (sensors of body position and movement are in muscles and joints), and interoception (pain and other sensors of internal state of the body are widely distributed) as three internal sensory inputs. The body is controlled directly through the electric impulses of the nervous system and remotely through chemical messengers released by the endocrine system. The heart is the logistics hub, and blood vessels and lymphatics are the transport pathways, lungs are the oxygen plant, kidneys and urinary tract are the waste disposal facility, the immune system is the external defence and internal security, skeletal system is the structural support, physical protection, and mobility enabler, and skin is the external barrier. The reproductive system is essential for the survival of the species, but non-essential for the individual's survival. Then who is the most impactful influencer of our health?