269. Your Gut Is Controlling More Than You Think: Health, Performance & Longevity with Dr. Zach Bush

What if optimizing your health isn't just about training, nutrition, supplements, and sleep—but about the trillions of microorganisms living within and around you?

In this episode, Kris sits down with Dr. Zach Bush to explore the microbiome and its potential influence on everything from digestion and brain function to hormones, athletic performance, recovery, and longevity.

Dr. Bush shares how his career evolved from conventional endocrinology into microbiome and environmental health research, and why he believes many of the health challenges we face today cannot be separated from the health of our soil, food systems, and environment.

They discuss the impact of modern agriculture, antibiotics, glyphosate, declining nutrient density, and environmental exposures on the microbiome, along with practical ways to support greater microbial diversity and resilience.

The conversation also explores the gut-brain axis, intermittent fasting, regenerative agriculture, and Dr. Bush's work developing Restore, including his theory that microbial communication may play a much larger role in human health and longevity than we currently understand.

In This Episode: Why Dr. Zach Bush left conventional endocrinology to study the microbiome

How soil health and modern agriculture may influence human health and nutrition

What antibiotics, glyphosate, and environmental exposures can do to microbial diversity

The gut-brain connection and its relationship with mood, cognition, hormones, and neurological health

Why gut integrity and microbial diversity may matter for athletic performance and recovery

How modern farming practices have changed the nutritional landscape of our food

Intermittent fasting and the potential benefits of giving the gut time to repair