A doctor says looking after your gut will take care of your brain and immune system, too. Here are 3 things he does himself, including ‘gut gardening.’ [Video]

Growing research on the trillions of microbes that make up what’s known as our gut microbiome is changing the way we think about our bodies.

The brain, immune system, and gut appear to be interconnected — suggesting taking care of our gut health is key to both physical and mental health.

In his latest book, “The Immune Mind,” Dr. Monty Lyman, a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry and a research fellow at the University of Oxford, says: “We’re part of a loop of mind, body, and microbe.”

For instance, the gut microbiome helps “train” our immune system to distinguish friend from foe to prevent chronic inflammation, Lyman told Business Insider. Chronic inflammation is linked to symptoms including fatigue, pain, and persistent infections, as well as longer-term health concerns such as dementia, depression, and diabetes.

And in the early 2010s, scientists discovered that lymphatic vessels — the veins and arteries of the immune system — exist in the meninges, the protective membranes that surround …