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.