Mama Guts

My Updated Supplement List

April 12, 2023May 3, 2023 Theresa

I will be updating this list overtime but get enough people asking that I thought I’d start little by little. As I buy my supplements I will update them here with links to Amazon. If you have an account with Fullscript, that is the better place bc they are delivered from the actual companies, but if you are not able to set that up with your Integrative or Naturopathic doctor, Amazon is a convenient alternative.

For Digestion Optimization

HCL with Pepsin and Gentian Bitters – breaks down your food into parts the body can use. The bitters help your body create more HCL on its own. I also recommend you take it with Zinc. If you have low HCL you likely are low in zinc too or not digesting it well. Supplementing will help stop the vicious cycle.

Pancreatic Enzymes with Pancreatin further breaks down and helps your body actually digest the protein, fats, and carbs properly. Which then help it pull the nutrients out as well.

Ox Bile – absolutely essential to anyone with a missing gallbladder, a sluggish gall bladder, or a sluggish liver. This will help you digest your fats you absolutely need for energy, hormones, and absorption of essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins.

Dandelion Tea- helps your liver produces smooth flowing bile so you don’t get the gall bladder issues that lead to removal and fat digestion issues.

Probiotics and How to Take Care of Them!

Klaire Labs Complete Probiotics – highly diverse in strain and billions of the bugs you need. Take one a day before bed.

Amy Myer’s Leaky Gut Revive – heal the damage to your gut lining from eating inflammatory foods, taking ibuprofen, and all the other crap with do to ourselves in this day and age.

Metamucil – quick and easy to way to make sure you get extra fiber in your day. This is not to replace a diet rich in cruciferous veggies or leafy greens. But a great addition to it. 🙂

Butryic Acid- this is actually a postbiotic and essential for your microbiome. If you don’t digest beans well or dont’ eat them often, you likely need this. (take it in capsule as they are kinda stinky).

Uncategorized

Hormones- Messengers of Life

September 10, 2022 Theresa

If we look at our endocrine system and it’s organs, they all are at the very center of our bodies, at the midline. They follow the brain and spinal cord which were the first parts of our body to develop. So if God buried them so deep in our bodies, do you think they are important? You betcha. And yet, I’m not sure about you but I haven’t thought too much in the past about making sure my hormones were balanced. In fact, the only hormones I really knew about were sex hormones.

Here are the essential organs involved in our hormone production:

Hypothalamus and pituitary gland
Thyroid
Thymus
Adrenals and pancreas
testes and ovaries

And each one affects the other. They all influence each other and they borrow from one another. The receptors for the hormones they help create, are all over our bodies.

So what hormones do these all create? And what do we even know about these hormones?

Let’s start at the top with the brain. The hypothalamus communicates with the pituatary gland and others through the following hormones:

Thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH)
Gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH)
Growth hormone‐releasing hormone (GHRH)
Corticotropin‐releasing hormone (CRH)
Somatostatin: inhibits growth hormone (SST)
Oxytocin: Uterine contraction, milk letdown (OT)
Antidiuretic Hormone: increases water retention (ADH)

Then the Pituitary gland makes the following hormones:

Anterior Lobe (Adenohypophysis)
-Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)
-Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH)
-Luteinizing Hormone (LH)
-Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH)
-Prolactin (PRL)
-Growth Hormone (GH)
-Alpha Melanocyte‐Stimulating Hormone (α‐MSH)

Posterior Lobe (Neurohypophysis)
-Antidiuretic Hormone aka Vasopressin (ADH)
-Oxytocin (OT)

Essentially the hypothalamus gets the pituitary glad to do its thing. And then the pituitary gland gets all the other endocrine organs to do their thing. Hormones beget hormones.

Essentially all of these hormones play a huge role in every area of our life and health.

stress response

sleep

metabolism

hunger/satiety

blood sugar regulation

nervous system

cardiovascular system

respiratory system

immune system

detoxification

emotions

reproduction

growth and repair

So what symptoms might we be struggling with if we have hormone imbalance? The possibilities are endless.

This is one of the great reasons we need to take care of our gut. How we absorb nutrients effects our hormones. How enflammed we are, whether or not we have leaky gut and toxicity in our body, all effect this. And so while getting these hormones balanced is essential to health, having good gut health is foundational. This is influenced by our diet, lifestyle, and supplements we take in order to make sure our gut is functioning at optimal levels.

You can start anywhere… but if you don’t first start with diet and gut– the rest will not work as efficiently if at all. And in fact, the rest may not even be needed to treat once the gut has healed.

Farmacy not Pharmacy, General Gut Health, Recipes, Uncategorized

Hulled Hemp Hearts-My New Favorite Pantry Staple

January 12, 2021January 13, 2021 Theresa

Owen and I decided to go plant-based in October of 2020 and since then I’ve been exploring the world of vegan protein sources. I need protein. Well everyone does but for me– I find it especially helps me manage by blood sugar better and I just feel better when I eat good amount of it. I couldn’t be vegan and not be really conscious of my protein intake…I will feel it! Whether you are plant-based and looking for vegan protein sources, or just like to add more seeds and such into your diet, I encourage you to grab a bag!

What are Hulled Hemp Hearts?

Hulled Hemp Hearts are seeds from the sativa hemp plant that have been hulled from their shells so they are ready to eat in all their chewy nutty goodness, with no crunch from a shell. And good thing too because they are quite small and ain’t no one got time to shell those little guys one by one. Like most seeds, they are filled with carbs, fats, and proteins. But the ratio for this seed is very Keto-friendly. 🙂

Why Hulled Hemp Hearts are Awesome!

For one serving (3 Tablespoons) you get 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of protein, and 1 carb so you get a real good fat and protein punch with these seeds and the versatility in which you can use these to add fats and proteins to your recipes are suprising and delcious!

Not only do these pack some awesome macros to your meals, they are also great sources of micronutrients like your b-vitamins like folate, riboflavin, and B6 but also minerals like magnesium, potassium, and iron as well as critical balance of fatty acids like omega 3 and omega 6 (heavier on the omega 3’s which is good).

They also are very good for your gut microbiome because of the fiber. When this particular fiber sits in your gut, it produces what’s called SCFAs, which include acetate, butyrate, and propionate. These control intestinal inflammation, strengthen colon cells, and kill cancer cells. The reduced inflammation in your gut from the SCFA’s can also reduce your risk of cardiovascular events. My husband, Owen is especially sensitive to cancer and cardiovascular health issues so I love knowing I am helping him fight with this fiber.

Hulled Hemp Hearts taste good too. They have a very mild, nutty taste to them and so can easily replace any nut you usually include in recipes or just add to the repoirtoir for variety.

How I use Hulled Hemp Hearts

Sprinkled over Salads- I make sure to add 3 tablespoons to each serving of salad to make sure I’m getting the protein I need, especially if the salad is a meal instead of a side dish.

Here’s one of my favorite salads- Baby spring mix with diced celery, cilantro, sliced and skinned cucumber, with diced spring green onions. Top with hulled hemp hearts and a few sunflower seeds as well.

For dressing I use a recipe I’ve been making for years that I took from my Italian step-dad’s family– extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with the mother ( I prefer a 3:1 ratio of oil to acid), with garlic salt and pepper to taste. It is so so good.

Blend into smoothies– Mmmmm imagine this in the morning or warm afternoon: unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a handful of your favorite berry, a splash of MCT oil, 3 tablespoons of hulled hemp hearts, some ice and a few drops of stevia. Blend on high for 30 seconds. Pour. Sip. Sigh.

Blended into Homemade Dressings and Dips-I have a dressing I created that still needs a name. It is sort of a cross of a ranch dressing and a Mexican Cesar dressing like the one you get at El Torito. Maybe I can call it Happy Hippy Dressing? But I love it because I can use it as a dip for raw veggies or use it as a salad dressing and again– know that I’m still getting some healthy protein in my body with the snack.

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Ranch version– 1 cup of Hulled Hemp Hearts, 1 Cup of Veganaise, 1 Cup of unsweetened plain almond or coconut milk, Tablespoon of red wine vinegar, Tablespoon of fresh dill, Tablespoon of fresh parsley, a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic, a teaspoon of onion powder. Blend on high until completely smooth.

Mexican Cesar Version–1 cup of Hulled Hemp Hearts, 1 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, 1 whole bunch of cilantro springs, 1 heaping teaspoon of minced garlic, 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon of iodized sea salt. Blend on high until completely smooth.

Sneak it into Soups- every have a good barley in your soup? This will add a similar vibe. I’ll add it to cauliflower leek soup, a hearty veggie soup, or even sneak it into a taco soup. Blend to make creamy or leave whole to add heartiness. 🙂

Use in Noatmeal (No-Oat Oatmeal)- You got it- this is a delicious, high-protein alternative to oats that is great if you are looking to go low-grain or gluten free in your lifestyle. I like to blend it with flax, chia, some almond flour, and monk-fruit for a delicious “noatmeal”that tastes very similar to that hot breakfast cereal many of us had in the 80’s called Farina- especially if you add a vegan creamer to it like Nutpods or coconut milk. 🙂 Simply pour hot water from the tea-kettle over the seeds and flour and let it sit for a couple of minutes until it puffs up and absorbs all the water. Then add the milk, mix, and eat.

Where to Get Hulled Hemp Hearts

Hulled Hemp Hearts are easy to find and natural grocery stores like Sprouts or Whole Foods. But you can find it for a better price on Amazon or Thrive. I buy a big bag because I use it in so much.

Here’s the brand I personally buy. They have a small bag, medium bag, and you can even get a hefty 5 lb bag if you know you will use it a ton.

Recipes

Belly Friendly Pasta Alfredo Dish That is Amazing!

February 25, 2020 Theresa

Who can deny the deliciousness of creamy, cheesy Alfredo Sauce over a bed of warm pasta? Then add in some broccoli or some mushrooms for me, and you have a heaven for your taste buds. Unfortunately, also for me and about 65% of the population, that heaven can turn into purgatory later, or worse yet–a night of hellish belly aching.

What’s to blame? Nope, it’s not the lactose.

The biggest culprit for most people’s cow dairy intolerances has more to do with the milk protein over the sugar. And for those, the dairy protein is specifically A1 casein. And if that alone isn’t a recipe for disaster, add to that wheat based pasta, and now you’ve got another food on the top ten allergen list to really bloat you out and get you enflamed.

I had to give up Alfredo sauce years ago. It just worth the pain anymore after years and years of suffering through each delicious spoonful of oozy goodness, only lead to greater and greater sensitivity and pain. With that went quesadillas, ice cream, and greek yogurt.

And stomach pain is just one of the many forms of reactions to A1 casein…but most all are in the form of digestion.

But over the last couple of years I have done a lot of research and have discovered some dairy that does not have A1 casein. And I must say, I just don’t react with the grumbly, pain-stricken belly aches when I eat them.

This is A2 Casein, which is now gaining much more attention since the recent launch of A2 milk.

See many moons ago, the cow mutated and started creating an A1 casein protein in it’s milk that most people struggle with digesting. For some, the difficulty is so bad it actually leads to allergies that result in congestion or eczema, and the worst of digestive issues that many with IBS know all too closely. But they originally produced only A1 casein, just like sheep, and goats. And there is a still a small selection of cows that did not develop this mutation- These cows still thrive in the farms of France and Italy.

So since I hate too many long-winded stories involving how a recipe was invented, I’ll cut to the chase. I came up with a recipe that uses little to no A1 casein and no gluten so it has minimal implications on the belly, with all the deliciousness to the taste buds that traditional Alfredo has. And it is so easy.

I use French butter instead of regular butter (including Irish) so I don’t get any chance for A1 casein in it.

Then I use heavy whipping cream which is traditionally used in Alfredo sauces and of all cow dairy this does have the least protein in it, because it is almost entirely the dairy fat. There are trace amounts so I do cut this ingredient in half and balance it out with fresh, whole goat milk from my local grocery store in the refrigerated section. You can do the same with A2 milk, I just know it is more difficult to find. Goat milk only has A1 casein and at half the amount, doesn’t give the sauce a “goaty” flavor.

The next ingredient is key– Pecorino Romano. This is a belly-safe alternative to Parmesan cheese traditionally used in Alfredo sauce. It tastes very similar but this type of Romano is made from Sheep (Pecorino means “of sheep”). It does not taste gamey like Goat cheese does and it works perfectly in this recipe.

Finally the last belly-friendly ingredient includes gluten free pizza four for the roux and gluten free ramen noodles (you can use any gluten free noodle really, I just like the way these turn out…still light flavored bc some gluten free pasta can be dominant in flavor). Then I add my favorite spices and flavor enhancers of course including garlic, salt and pepper, paprika, and the best– a dash of nutmeg.

Here are the deets:

3 TBSP of French butter (I user Trader Joes)

1 TBSP of gluten free pizza flour

1/2 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup of whole goat milk

6-7 clusters of Lotus Foods Rice Ramen (I get mine at Costco)

2 cloves of garlic crushed or finely diced

1 1/2 cups of grated pecorino romano cheese

Paprika, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

So if you are unfamiliar with making Alfredo sauce you first start by making a roux. This involves melting the butter in a pan (I like to brown it slightly for added flavor) and then add the four and then garlic. I stir until the butter starts to thicken and bubble. Then you pour in the dairy liquids and stir again until it starts to bubble. Then you add the grated pecorino romano and whisk. Once that is all melted in, you lower the heat to simmer and add the seasonings to taste and keep it warm.

During the time I am making the sauce, I’ve boiled the water for the pasta and have plopped the cluster nests of ramen into the pot. They usually take about 5 minutes to soften if I put them in the water while boiling.

While the pasta and sauce is cooking, I microwave the broccoli in a steam bag (yes–this is not the best for nutrition. If you are better than me at multitasking multiple flames on the stove, then steam the broccoli over another flame. For me the microwave comes in handy here.

Once you drain the pasta and rinse them, I pour the sauce right over it and mix it together with some broccoli on top and serve it with a cesar salad. Did it tonight and bam, a delcious hit. Best of all— NO BELLY ACHES! The key is cutting the dairy with goat milk and swapping out that parmasean for pecarino romano. The gluten free is an added safe haven for those with wheat issues.

If you don’t have easy access to a Trader Joes or Costco for the ingredients at an easy-to-swallow-price, here is a list you can get on Amazon. These will cost more, but if you are craving some Alfredo without the bellyache, it will be worth it. 🙂

French Butter

Pecorino Romano

Goat Milk

Rice Ramen

Hope you like it, and let me know how it works for you!

Uncategorized

Why Pancreatic Enzymes are Such Game Changers

December 12, 2019December 11, 2019 Theresa

How many supplements do you take on a daily basis? Maybe it’s a multi-vitamin? Maybe it’s some vitamin C or a B Complex? Or if you are like many of us who are getting older and trying to improve our health or how we feel, it’s a drawer full of different supplements.

The truth is, ideally most of those vitamins and minerals we take naturally occur through our food, and if we are eating a healthy and diverse diet, we really don’t need most of those supps all of the time. The problem is that many of us find we do need the supplements because our food is not as rich in nutrients due to over farming, and another very likely reason we may not even realize is because we are not absorbing enough from the food we are taking because of age, stress, or genetic issues like MTHFR mutations.

Why are Pancreatic Enzymes So Important?

That little gland between our spine and our stomach that connects to the top of our intestines is responsible for ideally dumping about 8 cups of enzymatic liquid into our gut (are you drinking enough water to even sustain that?) to break down the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in the food we eat so that our gut can then later absorb the other nutrients within those broken chains that includes essential vitamins and minerals within them. Our body then uses those building blocks, and nutrients to then go and build something else– our cells, our hormones, our neurotransmitters, our detoxification pathways and more! Essentially all of the working elements and physiology to keep us youthful and healthy.

But by age 50, most people only produce about HALF the digestive enzymes they did in their 20’s. As we age, our body breaks down. Optimal amounts of digestive enzymes are an essential element of youth! Therefore, with less enzymes, we begin the breakdown of all aspects in our health that comes with age. When we complicate the issue by not eating the proper food to aid our digestion, then our body has to steal from metabolic enzymes that we need to do other things, and we are left more and more depleted.

That alone should have you running to your Amazon cart or local market to grab some enzymes, but what if you are still young?

Stress and Genetics as Complicators

While age alone is a common cause for poor pancreatic digestive enzyme production, other issues can also cause a depletion. One such issue is stress. Stress puts our body into flight or fight mode and does not produce the necessary enzymes for rest and digestion. Being in a constant state of stress stops your body’s production of pancreatic enzymes so making sure to implement stress-reducing activities is extremely important as well in aiding your body’s ability to produce these enzymes on their own. Other issues can include MTHFR mutations which require you to often take in more vitamin B’s and natural folate for your body to create those enzymes. Taking an enzyme can therefore help you absorb more vitamin B which can then help you make more enzymes naturally as well.

What are the common enzymes produced by the pancreas and what do they do?

Amylase helps break down carbohydrates. There is a little in your saliva which starts the process, but the majority is done by your pancreas. If you are not properly digesting your carbohydrates you can experience digestive issues like bloating, loose stools and diarrhea.

Proteases help break down proteins into the building blocks of protein. It starts in your stomach and then the rest is done in upper intestine. They also help the immune system by fighting parasites such as bacteria, yeast and protozoa in the intestines. If you are struggling to create enough of protease you may notice more allergies and intestinal infections. They also decrease inflammation in the body which is directly connected to disease.

Lipases help break down fats. And contrary to prior belief, we need fat! Fat is necessary for the absorption of certain essential vitamins like K , D, and A and actually helps us burn fat and make youthful hormones among so much more. If you have poor fat absorption, you may notice digestive issues like diarrhea and/or fatty stools (floating or greasy looking).

the digestive enzymes travel through the pancreatic duct to mix with food in the duodenum. The liver produces the bile . which is stored in the gall bladder to release into the small intestines. — The digestive enzymes travels through the pancreatic duct to mix with food in the duodenum. The liver produce Bile, which is stored in the gall bladder released into the small intestine. The small intestine enzymes need to work.

Benefits of Taking Pancreatic Enzymes in the Long Run

A good bottle of enzymes is an essential and foundational supplement to have on hand that could in the long-run replace an entire a drawerful of supplements and therefore could help you with all sorts of your ailments since our entire body’s systems are built from the building blocks we get from our food. If you struggle with a poor immune system, anxiety, ADHD, Alzheimers, depression, migraines, hormonal imbalance, and of course digestive issues- pick up a bottle and begin feeling better.

Whether you are getting older, are stressed, or have a MTHFR mutation, slowing down to rest and eat as well as taking an enzyme supplement will be extremely helpful in helping support your health and youth.

What to Look for When Shopping for Enzymes.

You want to find an enzyme that includes either Pancreatin (includes all three foundational enzymes including Amylase, Protease, and Lipase) or you can find them in enzymes listed separately as Amylase, Protease, and Lipase.

I like and use Vital Nutrients Pancreatic and Ox Bile enzymes.

NOW also makes an affordable Pancreatin without Ox Bile that you can build on. I usually take 1-4 per meal.

Most people at a minimum need between 10k-20k USP unit for Amylase and Protease. For Lipase, you don’t want more than 17k USP units unless you are over 150 lbs.

>>>Additional supplements you may want to look for are bromelain, trypsin, papain, chymtrypsin, and Rutin.

Note– most pancreatic enzymes are derived from either bovine or porcine and most closely resemble human pancreatic enzymes. But if you need a kosher or vegetarian source you can find those as well. The following options come from reputable supplement companies with great reviews:

Pure Encapsulations Vegetarian Enzymes

Enzymetica Basic – These are really low dosage, so you may need a few of these pills to get the benefits you need. Some trial and error will help you figure out the best dosage for you. If your belly hurts when you eat usually, then a tell tale sign you are at the right dosage is when you eat and your belly doesn’t hurt anymore afterward. 🙂

Uncategorized

How I Cured an Allergy-Induced Sinus Infection with No Antibiotics

June 7, 2019 Theresa

Countless Bottles of Antibiotics

If you are prone to sinus infections then you may be like me where you have racked up a rhythm of 1-2 rounds of antibiotics a year for your biyearly sinus infections you get when it is cold or hay-fever season. That was me for at least 10 years.

Antibiotics have their place. But I have come to realize their place is to prevent serious infection that could lead to death. Not to prevent a possible problem that could possibly lead to a bigger problem which then could lead to death if untreated. But I believed that if it was an ear infection or sinus infection that you needed antibiotics. That is what every doctor I had gone to in my life seemed to suggest.

The Damage on My Health For Mere Allergies

Then I sat in my Naturopath’s office reading the results of my labs and discovered that micro-biome was not only minute in amount but also in diversity. The consequences could last a life time. It was time to rebuild this precious ecosystem so vital to my health that I had napalmed countless times over the course of my life.

So last month, when my cold didn’t go away after 2 weeks, then 3 weeks…and finally started filling my tissues with a thick, yellow mucous when I blew my nose throughout the day, I was concerned.

I had prided myself in not even having sinus infection symptoms in over 3 years after a major change in my diet. My doctor had suggested that my yearly sinus infections were probably due to allergies untreated, not viruses gone bacterial. She suggested I address my food allergies and see what happened. Sure enough– after eliminating wheat and dairy from my diet, those bi-yearly “colds” that turned into upper respiratory infections that sent me for that bottle of napalm went away. She was right.

The Cold That Wouldn’t Go Away

But here I was, 3 years later with 21-day “cold” that just wouldn’t go away and another sinus infection. I felt so humbled. No way I could brag anymore. I had got one and I was still eating right. But when sinus infection symptoms hit, I knew that no matter what, that I was going to do what it took to get rid of it without antibiotics. I did not work so hard for 3 years to rebuild my gut to just destroy it for some yellow snot and some ear pain.

So I started praying and thinking. What could be the source of my sinus issues? If I could figure out the source, then maybe I could resolve it. And what other avenues could I explore to get healed after my usual go-tos were not working? Colloidal silver. Elderberry. Calcium citrate. Fish oils. None of it was making my cold go away like they usually did.

Then I pondered the possibility of an allergy.

Could I be allergic to something that I’m not usually around? I was not eating dairy or wheat so that couldn’t be the issue. I considered the bottle of St. John’s Wort I had started taking a couple of weeks prior.

But then my housekeeper texted me and asked me when I was going to get our floors installed. We had ripped them out the week I got sick and had been walking around on the crumbling, dust-creating mortar the previous owners had layered on the floor underneath to float the floor we ripped out. Complicated? Yes. But there is one key word in there that hit me. Dust.

I’m allergic to dust. And that mortar floor was a dust-emiting machine.

Could I be reacting to the floors? Yes! They got ripped out the week I started to feel sick.

I had found the source.

The steps to healing would now be four-fold:

Minimize Exposure to Allergen
Balance the Mircrobiome in my Nasal Cavity
Reduce Inflammation that had spread to my ears
Reduce Immune Response to Allergen

Fighting the Sinus Infection By Addressing the Allergen and Fighting the Bacteria

Now it was time to get my body to stop freaking out and longer, and heal what could be an infection from the 3 weeks worth of congestion I had been struggling with.

I started wearing a surgical mask in the house to minimize my exposure to the allergen and started working harder at finding a flooring guy to install our floors. This is still in the works, but the allergen will be gone soon.

I fought the bad bacteria with probiotics. But not the way you might think : )

I actually rinsed my nasal cavity with a Neti-pot using warm distilled water, a saline packet, and a pencil-eraser amount of Histaminx, which is a pro-biotic blend from Seeking health that includes only bacteria that lowers histamine levels in addition to balancing flora:

Bifidobacterium infantis
Bifidobacterium bifidum
Bifidobacterium longum
Bifidobacterium lactis
Bifidobacterium breve
Lactobacillus salvarius
Lactobacillus plantarum

I knew we had beneficial bacteria in our mouths, throat, skin, and nasal cavity and that perhaps I was imbalanced there as well, which was preventing my body from fighting any staph or other nasty bacteria on and in my body. I also began chewing on dental probiotics and brushing my teeth a couple times a day with probiotic toothpaste. I found an incredible brand that uses a blend that specifically fights staph which is the number one cause of sinus infections. I’ll write another blog on the other benefits later but this toothpaste is the bomb.

Reduce Immune Response to Allergens

I started spraying Flonase in my nostrils to open up my euchastian tubes which had started to close up again causing my ear pain and pressure from the allergy. I learned about this from my last doctor visit 3 years ago when I was struggling with ear pain and hearing loss and had learned about my food allergies.

I started to feel better, but needed to do one more thing to deal with the sinus issues.

The final step that combined with the above has completely eliminated my sinus infection symptoms and has helped my body fight the allergic response to these floors is a combination of 4-5 supplements I found all in one bottle called Breathe-X. I am now walking around my dusty house WITHOUT a surgical mask, not taking an antihistamine, and feeling great. I took 3 pills just once a day and that seems to be enough for me. If I skipped a day, I started to feel the congestion return.

BreatheX is made of some key ingredients that help your body naturally stop freaking out when around allergens and keep the nasal cavity healthy:

Quercetin– a flavanol from plants that helps Mast-cells stop producing histamine and also acts as a powerful antioxidant.
Bromelain– natural anti-inflammatory and helps maintain healthy nasal mucous
Vitamin C- heals wounds and builds immune system by helping balance histamine production.
Citrus Bioflavanoids-helps support blood vessels and healthy immune response.
Nettle – supports healthy immune function.

Ridding The Allergen

Of course this was only a temporary solution until my floors were replaced. We had the floors finally replaced 2 weeks ago and within 48 hours of the floors being replaced, my symptoms were 100 percent gone. No more supplements needed. And never once did I use antibiotics even though all symptoms pointed to a nasal infection!

So if you find yourself having difficulty getting rid of a cold, my suggestion is to first rule out an unknown allergy. Allergies typically cause most people to take 3-4 weeks to get over a cold virus which usually lasts only 7-10 days. But if the allergen doesn’t go away, the “cold” can last longer.

General Gut Health

Should You Try the Plant Paradox Diet?

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019 Theresa

After one of my friends told me she found much relief from her autoimmune issue with Lupus after working with Dr. Gundry, I was certainly intrigued by his new book I was seeing all over the internet. To my delight, my stepmom bought be a copy for Christmas and I read it page to page over my Christmas break.

For science geeks and health nuts, you will LOVE the science and detailed explanation about the mechanisms in our body that support and hurt our gut health as well as all the research that Dr. Gundry put into this program. While his naturalist theories as to why these mechanisms exist can be argued, the scientific data demonstrates clearly and sensibly what physiologically is happening in the body when we eat certain foods and how that affects our health. In addition, he offers a plethora of researched data, as well as anecdotal and lab evidence to substantiate the diet indeed makes a difference in our health.

But for those who can get overwhelmed or bored by the science and just want a gyst to understand why or how it works and then get to it, you may want to grab his Quick and Easy version of the book or just go straight to the cookbook he just came out with as he does briefly explain the science behind the program.

Personally, I need to understand WHY something works before I’m willing to put effort into a new way of eating. I also want to make sure I have bought into the belief that it is good for me and not harmful to switch to a different way of eating. There are a lot of fad diets out there that will help you lose weight or reduce certain symptoms but it doesn’t mean it is good for you long term. Especially when such a lifestyle requires me to cut out certain foods from the daily staples I love. I better really understand why I need to do it, or I just won’t do it. My tastebuds will win every time.

I had actually heard about reducing lectins in one’s diet last year. Didn’t understand why but read that lectins could bother some people and aggravate health issues. I looked at the rules and was like, nope. Ain’t going to do that. Too hard. But I didn’t understand the why or the how. Once I did, it certainly seemed worth the effort. And it is much easier after you change some habits and learn alternatives!

But after reading the book, I was certainly sold and ready to start the program.

Here is the summation of what it looks like:

Phase 1--(3 Days)- Cleanse to prepare the gut for healing

Phase 2-– (6 Weeks Minimum)– Plant Paradox Eating Plan.

Phase 3–(After healing) Modified Plant Paradox lifestyle with intermittent fasting.

Would the Plant Paradox Work for Me?

This program is for you if you fit any of the following types:

You want to lose weight and reduce bloating
You want to heal from a disease or illness like thyroid disease, diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, etc.
You want to improve your gut health and reduce digestive problems

So what is the essence of the Plant Paradox diet?

Well the title alludes to it a bit. Paradoxically to our prior thoughts, there are some plants that are just not good for our gut. What?! Yep. And this diet, seeks to reduce or eliminate them so that our bodies can heal because much of our health issues are caused by a lifestyle of overconsumption of such plants.

Some of the big ones include corn, wheat, soy, beans, traditional dairy, some fruits under certain conditions, and night shade vegetables (the hardest for me)!

So what is wrong with these plants? They are full of what is called lectins or proteins that act like lectins.

Now this is not the entirety of what Plant Paradox is about. There is much more he discusses and encourages us to eliminate for our health, but as far as food goes–this is the essence of what we eliminate/reduce on the Plant Paradox diet.

So What are Lectins and Why are They Bad?

As Dr Gundry explains it, seed bearing fruits have a self-protective mechanism built in them to make sure their seeds are spread only when they are ready to actually reproduce. To protect the plant from being eaten too early and defeat the purpose of it’s seeds, it produces a chemical called lectins that hurt the predator trying to eat it. These lectins can paralyze insects and make larger prey feel sick. When the fruit becomes ripe, however, the lectins decrease making the plant edible, increasing its chances of its seeds spreading out.

In today’s world market, much of our fruit is now imported. In order to make sure the fruit survives its ride to your local market, it is picked while still not ripe and therefore full of lectins. The unripe fruit is then gassed to bring it a ripe-like color and then we consume it before it’s lectins have naturally dissipated. The effects are wreaking havoc on our bodies.

Night shade veggies tend to have a lot of lectins all the time, in their skin and seeds. But in our fast paced world today, most of us are not blanching the skin off or removing the seeds from these plants and so are eating all of the lectins and continuously bombarding our gut with this organic chemicals (no, natural is not always good!).

Then due to the whole grain health craze, we are now over consuming grains with the hull still around it (full of lectins) and don’t recognize that this type of fiber we are eating is actually hurting our gut even more.

What Lengths Does it Require of Me to Get Healed?

The Plant Paradox seeks to give your gut a break from the constant intake of lectins for a minimum of 6 weeks. Because our gut can be so hurt by the harmful effects of these lectins, in order for us to completely heal it, we need to try and eliminate all forms.

Some of these lectins sneak in through the animals that we eat, because those animals are now fed by Big Agra with tons of lectin-packed foods. Our cows are eating corn and soy instead of grass.

Our chickens are eating corn and soy instead of insects and fruits/veggies (non soy or corn), and even our farm-raised fish are not eating what they were created to eat in their natural environment. So all the lectins they are eating are now found throughout their protein fibers and so we eat even more. You think you are eating beef, but really it’s just beef flavored corn and soy.

Therefore, part of Plant Paradox seeks to reduce meat intake to 8 oz maximum and only grass fed beef, pasture-raised poultry, eggs, and pork, and only wild caught fish.

As for dairy, most cows today produce two casein proteins and their A1 protein acts much like a lectin, and the cause of most people’s dairy issues. Plant Paradox requires you to eat dairy only from French or Italian cows which only produce A2 protein just like the other safe dairy producers like Sheep and Goat.

What Can You Eat?

While many people can get so hung up on what they can’t eat, they can fear they can’t eat anything, but that is not the case. What I loved about going on Plant Paradox is that it opened me up to discovering a delicious array of other veggies I used to rarely eat or never even tried because I had become so accustomed to my same ol’ lectin containing veggies I had grown to love.

Cruciferous veggies like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. Roots and tubers like parsnips, jerusalem artichokes, turnips, and more! A2 dairy is delicious and so are the grass fed and pasture-raised meats!

While it is not the official Plant Paradox list, I have created a pdf guide for what to eliminate and what to replace those foods with for anyone interested in getting well and taking care of their gut. I include the essentials and then offer different levels for those who really want to get deep in their healing, with the latter levels including some of the more detailed changes needed in the Plant Paradox diet. To get a copy, sign up here. It will connect you to my FB Page and you can ask questions or get more help from there. I can also send you alerts when I post more articles or videos on gut health so you can continue your journey!

Did it Work for Me?

After phase 1, I stayed on phase 2 for the full 6 weeks 99% of the time and saw immediate improvement in my bloating, focus, energy, and overall feeling well. I also lost about 10 lbs!

I am continuing on in phase 2 because when I have cheated my body has gotten mad at me, so I know I will need longer to heal. And honestly that makes sense to me. I’ve eaten a lectin packed diet for almost 40 years and have IBS. I have eliminated wheat and dairy for the last 2 years but going night shade, legume, and rice free, was not something I had yet considered. I have noticed that when I stick to the diet, my bowel movements look healthy (which rarely if ever happened before I went on the diet, even with all my prior restrictions and “healthy” choices), and my belly is flat, not bloated, and my shoulder does not hurt. :). Yesterday I did not follow the diet and I reaped the consequences. So I will stick to it.

For many people with autoimmune diseases, staying on the Plant Paradox as a lifestyle is the best way to keep symptoms away. For the rest, at least reducing lectins or living the lifestyle 70/30 is ideal to make sure damage doesn’t return. He definitely recommends slowly bringing foods back and seeing how your body does as well as making changes in how you prepare the food to reduce the lectins. Read the book! Full of tips!

If I do cheat on occasion, which I plan to (I enjoy an 80/20 lifestyle as I find that it is realistic while being relatively stricter than what others may need), I will make sure to skin those squashes and deseed them, etc as well as take some anti-lectin supplements to help smother them before they reach my gut. 🙂 I don’t want to over use them (that would get expensive) but it’s nice to have them if I go out to dinner or go to a birthday party and want some refried beans or a good corn-fed carne asada!

Farmacy not Pharmacy, General Gut Health, Supplements, Uncategorized

Why Your Probiotics May Not Be Working

January 10, 2019January 9, 2019 Theresa

A lot of people hear how important probiotics are to gut health. And it’s true! Our lifestyle and diet has not made it easy for our guts to nurture and grow a healthy microbiome. So supplementing with probiotics can help incredibly with digestive issues, anxiety/depression, allergies, autoimmune issues, and more. However, they can be pricey and when some people I hear complain that they didn’t notice an improvement from taking them, I can see why many quit after a short trial. Don’t do that!

What we forget is that one of the reasons why our lifestyle and diet doesn’t make it easy for a healthy microbiome to flourish in our gut, is that we don’t feed the bacteria in our gut what they need to multiply. Our diets are rich in protein, refined carbohydrates, and fats, but not enough in specific types of carbohydrates our gut flora love and need to survive.

So we spend thirty to sixty dollars a month on probiotics and within a couple of days those billions of bacteria die off before they had a chance to make a difference.

So what are we not eating enough of? Prebiotics. And these are made up of primarily undigestible carbohydrates. These are the carbs that do not get digested in your upper intestine so they make it to your lower intestine where are your bacteria are supposed to grow and thrive.

Those bacteria get hungry, but sadly, pizza, hamburgers, and even many salads are already digested by the time they make it to the lower intestine, which means that those bacteria are starving. And just like any living creature, if they don’t get the food they need to survive, they will die.

So what do we need to eat in order to feed our microbiome from our probiotics? We need inulin, fiber, pectin, flavanols, and fructooligosaccharides and polyphenols.

Prebiotics have one or more of the indigestible carbohydrates from the list above and come in the form of some common and not so common foods. I’ve compiled a list here for you to use and make sure to include a few forms of these prebiotics every single day.

Roots and Tubers:

chicory root (drink like coffee)
potatoes
yams/sweet potatoes
yacon, konjac, hicama, and burdock roots
jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
garlic
onion
parsnips and turnips
celery root

Some Fruit:

blueberries
unripe/green bananas
plantains
apples
mangos
papayas
Pulp from ripe, in season, organic fruit.
Figs (technically a flower!)
dried dates and figs

Some Veggies:

celery
leeks
dandelion greens
seaweed
spinach
asparagus
radicchio
Belgian endive
Cruciferous veggies (cooked if you have IBS)
Leafy greens

Some grain:

hulled barley
oats
wheat bran

Seeds:

chia/flax seeds

Fungus:

Mushrooms

Some Nuts

Pistachios
Walnuts
Macadamias
Pecans

Other Starches

Shiratake noodles
other non-grain “pastas”
Some Sauces/Vinegars/Oils
lemon juice
vinegar
Italian balsamic vinegar

So go ahead and sprinkle some flax seed on that spinach salad, add a yam to your dinner, and don’t forget to flavor up that meat with some garlic and onions. Your probiotics will thank you and you just might start noticing them really work to help you with regularity, reduced anxiety, reduced bloating and gas, and overall wellness.

On the days when you don’t have time or the circumstances don’t lend yourself to any real amount of prebiotics. You can also supplement.There are a few great prebiotic supplements out there from trusted companies like Garden of Life and Doctors in the wellness community including Dr. Gundry, Dr. Lynch, and Dr. Tobias.

Farmacy not Pharmacy, General Gut Health, Supplements

8 Ways to Fight Infection Without Antibiotics

December 21, 2018December 21, 2018 Theresa

Antibiotics are an amazing scientific discovery that have saved countless lives. I’m so glad they exist and believe that when there is a real need for them, they are a God-send.

But the sad truth is, they are over-prescribed by doctors. And between antibiotic usage, the S.A.D of most people in the western world, and the stress of American life–our gut and therefore our bodies and minds are paying the price.

Just one bottle of antibiotics kills enough good bacteria in your gut that it takes an entire year for a healthy gut to recover from it, and that is not quite completely.

And that’s a healthy gut.

So when it comes to taking antibiotics, you really need to be careful about jumping the gun and opting into that as a first resort for infection. Make it a last resort unless you have something that is deadly if not used. Here are some ways to prevent infection and what supplements to take if you fear one starting to develop.

Prevention #1- Keep Your Gut Healthy in the First Place

First off, I will say that you can be preventative in general of upper respiratory infections that lead to needing antibiotics often times by doing two things– keeping your gut healthy will keep your immune system strong will help. This means staying on a probiotic regimen is necessary to keep your microbiome count diverse and abundant. The more diverse and the more abundant the better. My three favorites include Seeking Health’s Probiota 12, Dr. Mercola’s Complete Probiotics, and Modere’s Probiotic Support (Tastes amazing and perfect for kids).

Prevention #2–Eliminate Allergens, Which Can Lead to Inflammation and Infections

Eliminating allergens from your life including foods that you are allergic too, is key. And I don’t mean allergies that make you go into anaphylactic shock. Obviously that, but food allergies can show in other ways too. I’m talking about the foods that cause bowel issues, or nasal congestion and inflammation in your body because that causes complications that lead to infection.

I used to get 1-3 upper respiratory infections a year that lead me to get antibiotics. This was a common issue that to me was normal. And I even prided myself in the fact that I only needed to go to the doctor 1-3 times a year.

It wasn’t until I got off dairy and wheat that I noticed, I didn’t get those upper respiratory infections anymore. I saw a D.O who took an allergy panel on me and told me that if I stayed away from those two foods, I probably wouldn’t have any more issues. That it was caused by congestion that turned into bacterial infections. Sure enough, she was right. The only antibiotics I have had in the last 8 years have been a bottle of antibiotic eye ointment for a bad case of pink eye my usual natural remedy couldn’t get rid of.

But in the case that you do get a UTI, a bad cold, a possible sinus or ear infection, or some dreaded pink eye– here are some ways you can get on top of it so you don’t need to get on antibiotics. Definitely Put These in Your Medicine Cabinet and cold-kits.

Elderberry Extract–– Now this is more of a natural anti-viral. But a lot of viral colds can turn into a bacteria-ridden infection if they are complicated by allergies or are not cleared up so bacteria starts collecting in the congested areas. This is very preventative. It will help you get over a cold or flu much faster and prevent you from getting an infection. I personally prefer the droppers with concentrated elderberry and no alcohol over other tinctures and syrups. They have to be carefully made so it is safest to buy them rather than make your own from elderberries.

Colloidal Silver– This stuff is amazing! It is a natural antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial positively charged mineral that attaches to the cells of these bugs and destroys them. It is not safe to use it all the time or in large quantities but with the recommended dosages, it is safe and incredibly effective. I prefer Sovereign Silver brand because their’s is 98% positively charged as well as use the tiniest particles available to make it easy to absorb and eliminate. I use it in my kids ears when they have ear aches, sniff it up my nose when I have a cold that I don’t want to turn into a sinus infection, and even in my eyes when I have gotten an eye infection. You can get it as a nasal spray and as a dropper and I always have one of each in my medicine cabinet. They now have one with dosage best for kids! Woohoo! I’ve used it on cuts and on ingrown toe nails.

Oregano oil — in concentrated form, oregano oil has natural antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral effects. Many of my friends swear by it for their yeast infections, UTI’s, colds, flus, and more. You can can take it in capsules or straight from a dropper! Studies show that it is particularly great for gut health as well, reducing inflammation, ridding the body of candida, and helping ailments such as colitis.

D-Mannose— This is my go-to for UTI’s. It is a type of sugar that is in cranberries that has an amazing ability to prevent bacteria like e-coli from sticking to the walls of your urinary tract and causing infection. E-coli is the number one cause of urinary tract infections. So it is a great first resort if you notice the early stages of one coming or if you are prone to them as part of your regular preventative routine. If you don’t notice a difference in a day of taking D-Mannose, try the Oregano oil before heading to the doctor for those antibiotics. If you catch it early, you can get rid of it within a couple of days.

Garlic and Garlic Oil–– Not only does garlic add flavor to your food, but it also has incredible anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Swallow the garlic toes whole or in concentrated form in capsules for cold fighting strength, or drop the garlic oil in your ears for an ear infection. I like to alternate between garlic oil and colloidal silver for ear infections. My kids find instant relief since they are the ones more prone to them.

Manuka Honey– Honey has been used for centuries as a natural anti-biotic, with incredible benefits on bacterial skin infections. But Manuka Honey has had the most of the reputation for such medicinal qualities. You can not only eat it straight and raw, but you can also buy skin creams with it. But it has been known to destroy MRSA and prevent/treat strep throat and other staph infections.

If you are good about keeping your immune system strong and allergies to a minimum, you are already well on your way to reducing your need for antibiotics. But if you are getting sick or catch the beginning stages of an infection, these are excellent natural remedies that will help you get well, and keep that gut flora vibrant.

Sources

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-434/elderberry

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/colloidal-silver#benefits

https://www.verywellhealth.com/oregano-oil-health-benefits-89490

https://chriskresser.com/the-high-price-of-antibiotic-use-can-our-guts-ever-fully-recover/

General Gut Health, Supplements

Start Healing Your Gut with These 4 Changes

December 6, 2018February 17, 2019 Theresa

When chatting with people and sharing my story, I often hear this question: Where do I start with healing my gut?

Chances are it needs healing because if you are a normal American living a typical American lifestyle– you have damaged it.

You’ve been over-sanitized, over-stressed, over-stuffed with inflammatory foods, and over-prescribed with antibiotics and pharmaceuticals covering up the issue and not resolving the root of the problem.

And you may have the symptoms to prove it:

Depression/anxiety
IBS/Crohns
Food Allergies
AutoImmune diseases
Diabetes
Thyroid Issues
Obesity
and more…

I truly believe that gut health is foundational for all health. And gut issues are the root of most health issues.

The road to healing our gut can be long, depending on how much and how long the damage has gone for. But no matter the circumstances, the same three or four first steps are essential. The rest will depend…

The first piece of advice I give all my friends and acquaintances who ask me is this….

Stop Eating Wheat and Dairy!

This is the simplest, least complicated change you can make in your diet. Once you have that down, then you can up the ante and go on a Paleo-type diet which is best for healing the gut. You get rid of legumes, sugars and starches as well for a good 30-60 days at least and significantly increase your leafy green intake. Ideally you want to make this an 80/20 lifestyle for yourself if you don’t want to regress.

Until then know this-wheat and dairy are the most common inflammatory foods and often times the main staple foods of most Americans. I could write an entire paper on wheat alone. But I’ll share the gyst for wheat and dairy right here.

If you have gut issues, gluten will most likely exasperate it.
The US mandated that wheat products be enriched back in 1998. Enrichments include synthetic vitamins like folic acid in it, which a large population of people cannot breakdown.
Dairy is something most people’s bodies have a hard time breaking down. We were not meant to eat a lot of dairy in the first place.
When we have gut issues, we can become extremely sensitive to the dairy protein A1 and for some even A2, as well as the inflammatory effects on our gut.

Trust me, I know that when you hear this, you might want to cry, but there are tons of great recipes and alternatives to both and while it can be a difficult transition if you love these foods, you will feel better and it will get easier! Eventually you can work them back in small amounts on occasion without consequences. Here is a great book with lots of recipes to make your life easier if coming up with meal ideas without wheat or dairy is a challenge for you.

Increase Your Stomach Acid and Digestive Enzymes

If you have symptoms of gut issues, chances are you have low stomach acid and low digestive enzymes.

Low stomach acid is by far one of the most common triggers for other gut issues that happen further down the line due to it’s effects. Stomach acid sanitizes your food, breaks down your proteins, breaks down your vitamins and minerals so you can absorb them, triggers your gall bladder to kick in and digest your fats, and triggers your gut to get into digestion mode. If your body is not doing those things, you can wreak havoc in your gut and in your health.

You can learn more about how low stomach acid leads to other gut issues here as well as how to test your self to see if you have low stomach acid. Then if you have the symptoms and took the test to discover you are low in the stomach acid, start supplementing with Betaine HCL with pepsin with your high protein meals, but start at the lowest dosage and work your way up to your optimal level. I go over this process in more detail in that same article above.

Also begin taking a good digestive enzyme. Enzymes that help us digest our food occur naturally in raw veggies we eat. Unfortunately with our modern diet, these get cooked out or are absent, making our stomachs depleted of the digestive enzymes needed to break down the various carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and sugars in our food. So if you are not eating raw veggies at the beginning of every meal….take some enzymes. I take a full spectrum one because my gut issues are enough that I need help digesting everything.

With HCL and digestive enzymes, you will notice an improvement in your digestion right away. And may even notice an improvement in your other symptoms long term, like anxiety or depression.

Next..

Do a Cleanse on Your Gut

Prepping your gut for what is next can be helpful to get it moving in the right direction. A cleanse will get rid of anything your sluggish gut is holding on to, and trigger your liver and kidneys to start releasing toxins. When your body holds on to toxins, its hard to heal. Make sure you are not already sick when you do this as your body needs to be ready to get rid of the toxins. A cleanse will also help your body get ready to shed fat if your gut issues have lead to weight gain that won’t go away.

I like to regularly cleanse to keep my body healthy all year long. I use a great 3-Day Gentle Cleanse you can do every month if you want. Do this after about 10-14 days after you have gone wheat and dairy free.

Finally….

Rebuild Your Microbiome with ProBiotics

A healthy microbiome is essential for a healthy gut. But sadly, this microbiome for most Americans have been starved and killed by modern American practices. C-section births, antibiotics, over-santization, and low stomach acid from stress and nutrient deficiencies have lead to a plethora of people with a scarcity of good-bacteria in their gut.

You want a variety of different species in your gut and you want a lot of them. That variety and amount helps you store nutrients, use sugar, regulate your appetite, and control your weight as well as reduce inflammation, make serotonin and melatonin, and keep your gut communicating properly with your brain.

If you have a lot of food and seasonal allergies, you will want to start with low-histamine variety which are high in bifidos. This is the one I give my husband. It has a variety. I would take 1-3 of these everyday with food.

If you don’t have an abundance of allergies, you can handle the larger variety and that’s a good thing. They are good for you as long as your body hasn’t build antibodies to histamines like so many have. I alternate between these Seeking Health’s Probiota 12 and Dr. Mercolas’s Complete Probiotics to make sure I get a good spectrum of probiotc in my gut. I also have them autoship every 90 days so I don’t miss and stay on track.

And by the way, you should stay on probiotics if you have gut issues. Just one bottle of antibiotics takes a year for your gut to recover from with probiotics. So count every bottle of antibiotics you’ve taken over the course of your life, consider all the other issues, and recognize this is essential.

The only people who should not follow this step are those with SIBO. Check out this article for symptoms of SIBO. If you have symptoms, you may want to take this test first to confirm. If you test positive, then kill the over-growth of bacteria in your small intestine before you start adding more bacteria in your body. You need your bacteria in your large intestine, not your small intestine. Until SIBO is killed, the probiotics will only make it worse.

Next Steps…(Not in any particular order)

See a naturopath and get some stool, urine, and blood tests to see the details of what is going on with you (This is worth every penny!)
Go all the way with Paleo with lots of veggies and prebiotic food
Possibly go on a FODMAP or LECTIN Free diet/lifestyle if your gut is still having issues or you have an autoimmune disease (Plant Paradox is a great Resource) .
Exercise!
De-Stress!
Drink lots of filtered water
Drink Bone broth daily
Take Fish Oils and L-Glutamine
Replenish Your minerals
Get Your Vitamin B’s in and Folate
Read Dirty Genes
Read Plant Paradox or if you don’t care about all the science behind it and just want to do it and get results check out his Quick and Easy version here and the cookbook with 100 recipes!
Get Genetic Testing

I’ll write more on these next steps needed to replenish your body with the nutrients it needs to thrive, and eradicating the triggers that complicate and prevent your body from doing its job.

If you are struggling with depression or anxiety, there’s even more I will share. But regardless of what you are struggling with–these 4 steps are what I’d tell anyone with gut issues to start with.