When you do a Google search about gut health, there is no shortage of discussion about the gut-brain axis. There are countless recommendations and “hacks” for restoring its balance or optimizing it for longevity.
It seems like we already have all the answers we need, right?
Well, I want to take you to a more fundamental level of the gut-brain axis and look at it through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
I want to bring in what I believe is the missing link: the Kidney.
Why Is the Gut-Brain Axis Such a Hot Topic?
We already know that the gut is our “second brain” and that the gut helps support the health of the brain.
In modern society, we are blessed with abundance—but not always quality.
Our healthcare system does a good job of treating infections, but I think it has fallen short when it comes to prevention and teaching the public to become aware of their own individual needs and recovery.
And the recovery I’m talking about is not simply taking a rest day after leg day.
It’s about knowing, building, and maintaining a healthy rhythm. It’s understanding your own reactions to food, the physiological changes that happen during different seasons or stages of your life, and what—and how much—you need in order to recover.
All of this goes back to the Kidney.
The Kidney as the Reservoir of Life
In TCM, the Kidney is like the reservoir of our life force.
It begins with the inheritance we receive from our father and mother and is replenished or depleted by the food and information we feed ourselves, the environment we live in, the activities we engage in, and the relationships we are connected with.
If we are mindful about replenishing and renourishing the Kidney—including Kidney Qi, Kidney Yin and Yang, and Kidney Essence—then we can enjoy a good and abundant life.
On the other hand, if replenishment doesn’t happen in time, we can stay depleted longer than we should and begin draining the reservoir.
This is something we see in the clinic all the time.
When You’re Doing Everything “Right” but Still Not Recovering
A patient comes in with about 10 different supplements and maybe even a list of medications.
She seems to be doing all the right things.
She sleeps eight hours. She works out five times a week. She takes all the supplements and medications that have been recommended or prescribed to her.
But gradually, she notices that she is having a harder time recovering.
Maybe it’s the lingering cough that has been there for more than a month after a cold.
Maybe it’s the daily brain fog that seems to hover over her head.
Maybe it’s the dull pain in her joints that becomes aggravated after workouts.
What went wrong in this picture?
Modern people definitely have more information and knowledge about the body and how it functions. We are now living in an age where we also have many ways to push the body to its limits.
But the gut can still take the punch, even with all the fancy ways we have to support gut health.
The Brain Initiates the Fire
Our brain initiates the fire.
The stress we deal with day in and day out puts the brain to the test. We live in a world where there is no shortage of stress.
Adrenaline and cortisol, which are responsible for the stress response, are no longer strange terms to most of us.
We even have lab tests for them!
But then, what happens in the gut?
The Gut Processes More Than Food
As part of the digestive system, the gut processes more than food. It also processes waste.
The metabolic waste from stress and inflammation will eventually go to the gut.
If the brain is overworking and the gut is overworking, where does that leave the rest of the body?
This is where we need to bring the Kidney back into the conversation.
The Kidney Is Your Savings Account
In TCM, chronic illness and imbalance will eventually damage the Kidney.
It’s similar to continuously overdrafting from your savings account. Eventually, you can go broke.
The Kidney is our savings and retirement account.
The bigger the account, the healthier you are.
But the overdraft doesn’t happen overnight.
It can take years to develop.
And a lot of the time, it is the idea of:
“I’ll sleep better tomorrow.”
“I’ll quit drinking tomorrow.”
“I’ll deal with stress tomorrow.”
That keeps the depletion going.
We continue making withdrawals while telling ourselves that we’ll start making deposits later.
The Kidney Is More Than a Filtration Organ
In TCM, the Kidney is not only a filtration organ.
It is in charge of:
- Repair
- Regeneration
- Fertility
- Development
- Cognition
- Aging
- Hormones
- Willpower
If we over-deplete one of these functions, then the other functions will not be optimized.
Eventually, imbalance or dysregulation begins to show.
From the Gut-Brain Axis to the Brain-Gut-Kidney Axis
Although holistic medicine often views the gut as the foundation of health, TCM expands that picture.
The brain-gut axis should be thought of more like a brain-gut-Kidney axis.
The key point to remember is that every chronic illness gradually depletes the body’s deepest reserve—the Kidney.
This idea is nothing new.
It was already stated thousands of years ago. The Huangdi Neijing states:
“五臟之傷，窮必及腎”
When the Five Zang organs are affected over time, the burden ultimately reaches the Kidney.
Health Is Also About Your Ability to Recover
Health is not simply about never getting sick.
A healthy reserve doesn’t prevent you from experiencing stress, illness, or aging.
It allows you to recover from them.
This is the part of health that I think we need to pay more attention to.
How well do you recover?
How long does it take your body to return to balance?
Are you continually replenishing what you use—or are you constantly making withdrawals from your reserves?
Restore in the Brain, Fortify the Gut, Replenish the Kidney
To restore, repair, and rebalance, we should start with the brain, fortify the gut, and replenish the Kidney.
We often think chronic illness begins in one organ.
Traditional Chinese Medicine suggests something different.
Disease may begin in many places—but if it continues long enough, it eventually reaches the Kidney, where the body’s deepest reserve resides.
The Bigger Picture
Healing, therefore, is not only about removing disease.
It is also about protecting the reserve that allows us to recover.
When we think only about the gut-brain axis, we may be missing another important part of the picture.
From the TCM perspective, we need to think about the brain, the gut, and the Kidney together.
Because ultimately, health isn’t simply about how much your body can handle.
It’s also about how well your body can restore, repair, and recover.
