Is following a specific diet without making other changes, enough to move the needle and get rid of your symptoms?

It depends.

What is actually happening when you remove certain inflammatory or trigger foods?

It definitely can have a positive effect… but is it enough?

Certain foods can heavily trigger inflammation, leaky gut, brain fog,  acid reflux, bloating, joint pain, sinus issues, and many other symptoms…

There are foods- like gluten- that will never be considered a part of a healthy gut-healing-friendly regimen (regular, non-organic, heavily sprayed wheat….)

We have to get rid of HIGHEST offenders, like gluten, because we have the facts on what they do to the system.

It literally rips holes in the lining of your intestines– yikes!

But what about all the other supposedly inflammatory foods? Dairy? Eggs? Sugar?

If your body is in an inflammatory state, you will likely react to MANY foods, even ones that most of us think of as healthy.

But in my experience, it’s not usually worth spending the money on a food sensitivity test, unless you REALLY want to get into it and spend the money.

We know they’re not always accurate and it totally depends on what you’re currently eating.

Food can move the needle a quite a bit, YES.

But it my question is, WHY are you reacting to food in the first place?

A healthy robust gut should be able to tolerate a wide range of foods.

So removing these foods for a long period of will leaving you feeling stuck, like you have to be restrictive forever. 

And I want more for you than that.

Focusing on removing HIGHLY processed foods with preservatives, chemicals, dyes, seed oils and ingredients you cannot pronounce; while focusing on a whole foods diet- food that is closest to how it grows in nature– can do so much to quell the inflammation.

If we want to achieve deeper healing, we have to address more of the underlying cause and bring in specific healing nutrients so the results arelong lasting.

We talk about these potential root causes in my Gut Rehab Masterclass. 
 
Click here to sign up for the next FREE Masterclass, and I’ll see you there!

One comment I hear often is “Well, my mother had gut issues so I guess I was doomed to have them too”.

I’d like to dive into why this is partially but not entirely true. 

The majority of symptoms of the digestive tract like constipation, loose stools, acid reflux, bloating, gas, indigestion, abdominal pain and so on, are all signs of imbalance inside the gastrointestinal system.

I dive deeper into why these happen and how to fix it in my course, but these issues are mainly outside of genetics. There are real physiological reasons beyond your DNA that can account for the annoying symptoms. 

When you have too much bacteria or bacteria in the wrong places, or yeast overgrowth, parasitic infections, not enough digestive juices or power, not enough good bacteria thanks to antibiotics, massive gut inflammation and leaky gut… these are all culprits (plus many more) of why things like bloating and all the above named symptoms can occur.

The number of people I see with these issues is very high and almost unbelievable. It’s really a modern day epidemic. 

There are a few exceptions that do include genetic predispositions. These are mainly Colitis and Crohn’s, which have a genetic and autoimmune background to them.

Remember that having the gene for something does not automatically mean it will express itself. Genes just load the gun, while lifestyle and environment typically pull the trigger. 

Either way, there is a lot one can do to help reduce symptoms, and in many cases heal altogether from digestive problems. Of course the autoimmune conditions can be much more difficult, but still absolutely possible. 

The thing is, we get our gut health from our mothers. It’s passed from mom to baby in the womb.

So yes, you likely have similar gut health to your mother… if she had massive overgrowths and leaky gut, it’s likely you will too.

But this means you absolutely CAN change your gut health, even if mom had the same symptoms as you.

AND you can also stop them from continuing onto other generations. 

Because once you heal your gut or help your daughter heal their gut, they won’t be passing on those same problems to their children.

No matter what anyone else tells you, it’s 100% possible to heal.

Western medicine may not have the tools, but in holistic medicine we have an insane amount of tools for this. Gut health is the foundation. 

This has been a much requested topic, so let’s dive into what is C. diff and how do we get better from it. 

C. diff or Clostridium difficile is a bacteria that is normally present in our colon in small amounts, but when it overgrows it can cause severe diarrhea and inflammation of the colon. In severe cases it can even be fatal, although rare. 

Most people who have dealt with this know how difficult it is to deal with and also get rid of completely…

By far the biggest culprit of this infection is taking antibiotics. These strong medications act like a bomb in the gut tract, terrorizing the balance that needs to be present to keep things working properly. 

We need mostly beneficial (commensal) bacteria, and just enough “bad” bacteria. Although they aren’t truly bad, they can turn into harmful pathogens if they get overgrown. 

Not too little, not too much. 

Antibiotics disrupt this balance so much that even just one round can affect the body for months and months. Then throw in the average person takes at least several rounds in their lifetime, and some dozens of rounds, we now have a major disruption to our gut health, which affects so much downstream as I always talk about. 

Maybe you haven’t had antibiotics for years, but now you need one and this is the one that broke the camel’s back, as they say. 

Now the “bad” bugs can overgrow and become pathogens because there aren’t enough good guys around to keep them in check. 

So you or a loved one has C. diff, now what?

Western medicine will usually prescribe more antibiotics, specifically flagyl or vancomycin. This can reduce symptoms, but you see the problem here, right?

Antibiotics were what caused the issue in the first place. 

So, yes, the overgrowth of the bacteria needs to be taken care of. 

But what is missing is true microbiome restoration- healing nutrients for the inflammation and also targeted probiotics to help restore the balance of good vs. bad bacteria. 

The number 1 key here for prevention of reoccurrence is restoring the balance of good vs bad bacteria. 

Giving more and more antibiotics does NOT restore balance, and I would argue further depletes the system and causes more inflammation on the gut wall, as we know antibiotics certainly do. 

But, what can we do? A lot as it turns out. 

Saccharomyces boulardii is an amazing beneficial probiotic (actually a yeast) that can help restore some of the balance. Not all probiotics are created equal though, and you must get a trusted source. 

This may be needed in high quantities for a short period and then decreased as balance is achieved. In addition, antimicrobial herbs like oil of oregano, myrrh extract and black seed oil have been shown in research to be effective. In addition, fecal transplant has been wildly successful and may be indicated for stubborn or severe cases.

We know the excessive and widespread use of antibiotics is one of the main contributors to C. diff infection, and why the failure rate of existing antibiotics on the infection is high and increasing. 

Medicine needs alternatives, and we know they’re here. 

If you need a resource, all of these products from trusted brands can be found in my professional dispensary on Fullscript.

Vitamin D actually acts more like a hormone than a vitamin. It is fat soluble along with Vitamin A, E and K and is important in immune health along with a host of other processes. Yes, you can get Vitamin D from sun exposure, but some of us will not manufacture enough of it to stay in optimal ranges-especially in the cooler months.

As with most processes in the body, Vitamin D does not act alone. Vitamin K2 and calcium work synergistically to assist the body to use Vitamin D appropriately. But doesn’t Vitamin K make the blood thicker and clot easier? That is K1! We are discussing K2 which has a completely different role.

K2 plays critical roles in protecting organs like the heart and brain and has an important role in cancer protection. MOST IMPORTANTLY: K2 helps to move calcium into the proper areas of the body- and a deficiency leads to inappropriate calcification which can lead to hardening of the arteries.

It is a deficiency of K2 which is responsible for the symptoms of Vitamin D toxicity. Optimal levels of Vitamin D on a lab test are 50-80ng/ml which is different than the more wide ranges you will see from majority of labs.

If you are supplementing Vitamin D, it is important that you also supplement with K2, and SUPER important if you also are taking calcium. There are many companies that package these together in 1 capsule- some of my favorites are Thorne and Orthomolecular. The correct amount to supplement with K2 is still being researched, but 180-200mcg seems to be enough.

Lastly, these are fat soluble vitamins as mentioned earlier- so take with some fat! Or at least food, optimally.

I’m talking about the crucial nutrients the thyroid needs in order to work at the cellular level: selenium and iodine. Most of these nutrients are seriously lacking in the American diet- even if you are eating a relatively healthy one.

Iodine. The body needs this to make thyroid hormone- a critical building block of T4 and T3 (the numbers actually refer to how many iodine molecules are attached to the thyroid hormone). As of 2007, the World Health Organization estimated that 30% (2 billion) of the population have insufficient iodine intake and I would guess this number is actually higher because many of us are not at optimal levels.

During pregnancy, production of the thyroid hormone T4 doubles, causing an increase in daily iodine intake. Iodine deficient pregnant women cannot produce the thyroid hormones that are needed for proper neurological development of their growing babies, and are at high risk of giving birth to infants with cognitive impairment and learning delay. In studies, even a moderate iodine deficiency in a pregnant woman can lower her infant’s IQ from 8 to 16 points. This is also why so many women become hypothyroid after pregnancy- the body lacks the proper building blocks to even make hormones even more so than before pregnancy.

Iodine rich foods: sea vegetables (seaweed, kelp, dulse, kombu, wakame), cranberries, & navy beans. I recommend cooking grains like quinoa, rice & amaranth with a strip of kombu in it, which will allow the grains to soak up the minerals from the kombu.

Selenium. The thyroid contains more selenium than any other organ. It uses selenium and enzymes to convert the inactive T4 hormone to the cell-active T3 hormone; without selenium this process cannot happen and the thyroid hormone remains inactive (and you continue to not feel well). Selenium is also protective of the thyroid: hydrogen peroxide is generated by thyroid cells when making hormone and selenium protects the gland from oxidative damage cause by these reactions. Without sufficient selenium, destruction can occur to the gland’s cells.

This mineral is especially important if you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Studies show that antibody levels can decrease just by adding a selenium supplement in 66% of patients, but it is estimated this number is actually higher the more antibodies you have (selenium assists thyroid conversion even more so when antibodies are very high).

Selenium rich foods: brazil nuts, yellowfin tuna, halibut, sardines, & grass-fed beef.

The easiest way to know you are getting enough of both of these nutrients is to supplement. Talk to your healthcare practitioner about the right dose and product for you.

Other helpful herbs for thyroid are: licorice, ashwagandha, lemon balm and motherwort.

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What causes this?

Numerous things cause mineral deficiency but I will highlight a few.

Poor digestion caused by:

– chronic “flight or fight” state of the body and an inability to enter “rest and digest” aka adrenal overdrive

– several months or more of an acid reducer like nexium, omeprazole, pantoprazole etc causing insufficient stomach acid to break down foods properly

– SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) where the bacteria consume nutrients and ferment as a byproduct causing gas & bloating

– Inflammatory foods disrupting the absorption process, this includes alcohol

– Poor gut motility

– Overexercise and/or poor recovery

Parasite Overgrowth which steal the nutrients

Leaky gut and food sensitivities

– aka inflammation

Poor diet/non-organic foods and grown in a nutrient depleted soil

Chronic loose bowel movements

Drinking Reverse Osmosis water without adding minerals back in

And more! How do you know if you’re mineral depleted? It isn’t always obvious- we recommend checking through Live Blood Analysis and further breaking down the specifics through HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis).

If you only drink RO water I HIGHLY recommend adding back in fulvic or ionic minerals. Shilajit is a great product too- a resin found in Asia abundant in minerals. Fulvic minerals are typically the liquid form taken from Shilajit. This can be found in powder form and added to water and smoothies.

I personally drink RO water as I believe distilled has too much of a detoxifying effect for daily use and spring water is not clean anymore unfortunately (and can be acidic).

Hope this helps you on your health journey!

This is Mullein whom I found yesterday. A beautiful medicinal plant with an affinity for the respiratory system. In summer it has beautiful yellow flowers that erect on a spike several feet from the center.

It has a super soft cozy feel seen rarely in the plant world. I liken it to sage “on steroids”. However Mullein often grows in disturbed soils and tends to improve the soil making it good enough for other plants to thrive and then moves on and quits growing there.

This plant is great for many respiratory ailments like coughs, laryngitis, sinusitis, hoarseness, whooping cough and bronchitis; and is generally recognized as safe (meaning no known cautions).

Mullein has been known since Dioscorides, a Greek pharmacologist and botanist, recommended it for use in lung conditions around 2,000 years ago. Plant medicine is truly ancient medicine!

You can find this medicinal herb along with many others in many respiratory herbal products. A great one to have on hand in your winter medicine cabinet! I have personally seen the wonders of this plant many times over in patients.

This is done in a precise order on the slide, in a precise angle from practitioner to patient and from practitioner to microscope & camera. This is crucial for accurate results.

In past decades it was found through thousands of samples that there are specific areas on the slide which represent areas of concern with in the body- for example: lymphatic, liver, colon, kidney, pancreas, overall digestion, nutrients/minerals, heavy metals, sinus/headache, and more.

This picture here tells us several things:

This person is very mineral deficient as

seen by the “spokes” radiating out from the center.

Also this person has a large amount of digestive inflammation as seen by the holes in the digestive center- if this is the 3rd droplet or beyond, it highly suggests the digestive inflammation is emotional in nature

Lastly, we can see that the bacteria balance in the digestive tract is off by the very dark areas, centered. This is most likely overgrowth of microbes (bacteria, yeast, pathogens) and lacking enough beneficial microbes.

The good news is that all of this has a correlating protocol and none of it has to be permanent! The terrain of the blood and the health of the cells are crucial to correct underlying imbalances. By clearing the junk and excess and nurturing the cells and organs, health can once again reign over the body.