LYB: Do you need to heal your gut?
#loveyourbody
Here are 7 things that may be a sign that your gut is unhealthy:
1. You fart a lot
2. You get bloated and have sensitivities
3. You have poor concentration and memory
4. You get anxiety and depression
5. You have skin problems
6. You feel tired and fatigued a lot
7. You get infections a lot
My Story
For the past 2 years, up until a 3 or 4 months ago I have suffered from horrid bloating, stomach sensitivities, anxiety and embarrassing farting which is really not great when I was teaching Pilates or in a room with a client on my own! This all resulted in me feeling rubbish about myself and led to me feeling unhappy and not loving my body!
“I help others become fit and healthier yet how come I myself feel so horrific?”
“Do I have flatulence because I eat too many vegetables? “Am I sensitive to dairy or gluten?” “Am I fatigued and tired because I am not as fit as I used to be?” “Are my hormones all over the place?”
In fact, it was all down to my gut that I had been experiencing all of these things and I really needed to help it heel!
60-80% of our immune system is located in our gut and imbalances of the gut are very likely to be linked to hormonal imbalance, chronic fatigue, anxiety, diabetes, skin problems, depression and other chronic health issues.
HOW TO HEAL YOUR GUT
REMOVE
I started by removing anything from my diet that is commonly known to cause inflammatory, irritation or infections (The 3 “I’s”) in the gut. This includes gluten, dairy, corn, soy, egg, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and drugs.
You should remove these for 2-3 weeks and then start adding back in a one at a time, tracking how you feel after.
I also recommend getting a stool test done. I did a one to show the levels of good and bad bacteria, yeast and parasites in my gut. I found out I had more bad bacteria so it was important for me to take some anti-fungal medication along with my new detox diet.
To start I added back in a little cheese (dairy) and I felt fine after a week so I then introduced a lovely G&T in at the weekend, then some caffeine and I still felt great so carried on adding in gluten etc slowly. I realised that I was sensitive to sugar which may have been feeding the bad bacteria in my gut.
It sounds like I had a boring diet during this time but it was acutely okay as I created some lovely meals from vegetables, herbs, meats, fish, nuts, sweet potatoes, gluten free oats, hemp seeds, citrus fruits, oils and spices. I have put them all on my online login recipe guides.
REPLACE
So that your body can have proper digestion and absorption you need to add back in essential ingredients such as hydrochloric acid, bile acids and digestive enzymes. Fermented vegetables contain live enzymes and are a great pro-biotic source. I also took pro-biotic tablets to replace all the good bacteria in my stomach after I had been on the medication to remove my bad bacteria.
Try making fermented cabbage, beetroot and my lacto salsa recipe. I ate these as a side to every meal and I think it helped so much that now I really crave them! I also use apple cider vinegar as a dressing because it also contains digestive enzymes.
I added the dressing recipe along with lacto salsa to my online recipe guides for all my clients to share the digestion joy!
Pineapple is another great ingredient to replace with. It contains protein-digestive benefits called cysteine proteinases. Research has shown that these enzymes help inflammation, excessive coagulation of blood, certain types of tumour growth let alone digestive help. Pineapple is quite sugary so I would eat only 50-70g. I have it on its own or a small amount in a green juice.
Lastly I really love Bee pollen because it is an excellent source of beneficial enzymes! As long as your not allergic to bee pollen then it is a super to add to smoothies, into my homemade granola recipe or sweet treats. I added it into my ‘LoveYourBalls’ protein balls and it worked a treat!!
REPAIR
Next, I provided my body with nutrients to help it repair. One of the best supplements that worked for me is L-glutamine. You can get this naturally from making bone broth but if you don’t have the ability to boil up some chicken soup with bones then taking the supplement is good. This is an amino acid which helps gut wall lining heal. Alongside this I had zinc, omega 3 fish or krill oil and vitamins A,C and E. I also took Magnesium and ate lots of fresh herbs such as parsley to sooth my stomach! Eating a verity of fresh, local fruit and vegetables is my preferred way to get all the vitamins and micronutrients my body needs. I make green juice most mornings with ginger, parsley, lime, a tiny bit of pineapple, fresh mint and iced water. Try it!
After a few weeks of doing this my hair and nails started to grown, my skin began to glow again, my stomach got flatter, my energy was more consistent and I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t realise how much the bloating and bass affected me until now!
If you feel like you need to heal your gut too then here is a recap of what you need to do:
STEP ONE- Remove:
1. Remove gluten, dairy, corn, soy, eggs, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and drugs for 2-3 weeks and consider a stool test.
2. Start adding one group back in slowly at a time.
3. Take note of how your body reacts and how you feel as you add things back in so you know what you can eliminate what your body isn’t sensitive to.
STEP TWO- Replace:
1. Take or eat digestive enzymes such as making apple cider vinegar dressings
Make fermented vegetables and eat with most meals
2. Try making my green juice recipe with parsley, lime, mint and ginger
3. Make some ‘LoveYourBalls’ and add in bee pollen
STEP THREE- Repair:
1. Source a local fruit and vegetable grocers and get your weekly order in. Make lots of salads, stir fry’s, fruit salads and go spiralizer crazy with courgette, carrots, beetroot and so more!
2. Eat lots of oily fish and if in doubt take omega 3 supplements.
3. Boil up some bone broth or take L-glutamine
4. Stay a happy and love your body!!
Love,
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