Guts and Roots, start here

Just like roots, strong healthy gut systems lead to higher productivity and increased profitability.

Did you know? Functionally, guts and roots are inverts of each other.

Imagine a PVC pipe → In animal guts, food/nutrients and microbiome are INSIDE of the pipe while the circulatory system surrounds and contains it.

In plant roots, meanwhile, the food/nutrients and microbiome (rhizosphere) lie in the soil OUTSIDE the pipe as the plant circulatory system lies within.

Interestingly, nutrient absorption, exudate secretion, innate immunology/defense, and symbiotic ecologies each operate on the same basic principles within and without — guts and roots.

The plant root as a polarized epithelium. A schematic comparison between animal intestinal epithelium (left) and plant roots (right) is shown. In terms of function, the plant root can be seen as an inverted gut with the two epithelial functions, selective uptake and barrier for diffusion, split between the epidermis, cortex, and endodermis. Functional and structural similarities between animal epithelium and plant root are represented with the same color code (red-like color indicates acquisition from outside, and green-like color indicates transport inside the corresponding vascular systems). Note that animal epithelium displays an apical-basolateral polarity, while plant root presents an outer-inner polarity.

Used with permission: “Radial Transport of Nutrients: The Plant Root as a Polarized Epithelium”, Marie Barberon, Niko Geldner, 2014, Plant Physiology

Did you also know? This way of thinking first appears in the agricultural literature way back in 1731. It appears Horse-Hoeing Husbandry by Jethro Tull (1674–1741).

And yes, the band was named after him. Mr. Tull was a well-respected agricultural scientist, inventor of the automatic seed planter. Here is the story:

Jethro Tull is a progressive rock group stemming from Blackpool and Luton, featuring transverse flute virtuoso Ian Anderson.

In its early days — when the performances were so bad that no promoter would get it into his head to book the group a second time — the band made a habit of thinking up a new band name every week.

On their way to the next gig, they used to go over the list of bands that would be playing that night; the only band name that did not ring a bell usually was their group name for that evening.

Thank you for your contributions, Mr. Jethro Tull.

How is the knowledge that guts and roots are functional inverts useful?

Once we understand this, we begin to understand that the principles of sustainable agronomy generally apply to our gut health- for instance, the necessity of well-drained soils in productive agriculture equates to a biologic necessity for hydration and physical exercise as a driver of blood and lymph circulation for healthy guts. No longer is a sedentary body simply just a sedentary body…. a sedentary body becomes the metaphorical equivalent of a poorly-drained, mucky, stagnant, disease-promoting swamp. It gives us the power of visualizable concrete analogy to guide our intuition and make better decisions.

More importantly, we begin to shift our perspective from one where the gut is an arms-length digestive factory to one in which it is a dynamic ecosystem that requires attention, care, relationship, and skill if we are to get consistently profitable output from its activities. We begin to see the ways we compromise its performance (ie poor nutrient cycling, overly restrictive and poor quality inputs).

For me, finally, this knowledge additionally gives me a greater sense of connection to the natural world. Imagining that I have my own version of roots inside of me and that each of the plants in my garden has their own version of guts in the soil gives me tenderness and a sense of connection that has led to increased skill in caring for our respective ecosystems and ultimately improving productivity in myself and my garden.