If you’re tired of dealing with your gut health conditions - gas, bloat, stomach pain, food sensitivities, brain fog, low immunity, aches & pains….the list is lengthy my friend and you’re feeling really confused on where to start here my top 4 places to focus. 

1. Get Your Gut Moving!

Your GI tract is the primary way your body gets rid of metabolic wastes and dangerous chemicals. If you are constipated, you are essentially poisoning yourself as the toxins are recirculating back into your body. Studies show that being constipated changes what microbes are dominant in your gut. (1) The microbes associated with pathogenic diseases take over your GI tract and release toxins. Get this drainage pathway moving regularly. This might even help you lose a few of those stubborn pounds!

2. Make Sure Your Liver Bile Duct Is Open

The liver bile duct is another drainage pathway you should keep flowing. One function of healthy gut bacteria is to take your bile salts and turn them into TUDCA. If yo...

Salad - if you follow me on Instagram you know I’m a fan of #bigasssalads. A bowl full of leafy greens, a simple protein, and healthy fat makes for a balanced lunch. But, when it comes to feeding your healthy gut bacteria, diversity is crucial in your diet. 

There are different species of gut bacteria and each have different functions. If you continue to only feed one type of species your gut may become overpopulated with a certain species. Overpopulation of any species can lead to gut dysbiosis. Getting a variety of different types of fiber into the diet increases the growth of healthy bacteria species and increases production of beneficial byproducts. 

Roots like carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnips, are a rich source of nutritious complex carbohydrates. Instead of upsetting blood sugar levels like refined sweet foods do, they help regulate them. They are especially rich in soluble and insoluble fibre, which helps to boost the health of gut bacteria (1)

Why Eat More Root Veggies? ...

In 2012 I started my gut restoration process and since 2019, I’ve helped countless of clients balance their gut health so they can reduce their chronic symptoms and feel “normal.” Because I get it, eating “different,” running to the bathroom in inappropriate times, or hiding the stomach bloat makes you feel embarrassed and like an outcast.    

To support your self-care efforts here are 3 steps in reviving your gut health naturally:

1) Chisel away your hidden stressors

Chronic stress on the gut is catabolic, it breaks the body down. Mental stress can promote consumption of highly palatable foods, influencing which gut bacteria thrive. Additionally, stress can reshape the gut bacteria’s composition through stress hormones, inflammation, and autonomic alterations. [1] Stress can also inflame or damage the microvilli which causes malabsorption.

Most often your current lifestyle activities are the root cause of poor gut health. By taking an honest assessment of your stress level you can...

Reset, Detox, Elimination, Fastening, Cleanse, Diet, 

Depending on your state of health a “detox” can be helpful or harmful.

In our modern world of bleach wipes, whole foods genetically grown to resemble supersize, and convenient process food laced with chemicals to support our 100 mph face paced lifestyle, you are exposed to harmful toxins which can clog the body.

Your body was built to naturally detox harmful toxins. Unless you’re living in a secluded area and eating off a soil rich land your body is overexposed to levels of toxins. Things like chemicals, heavy metals, mold mycotoxins, environmental pollutants, pesticides, and more sneak into your life like a toddler at 2am 😊

Your detoxification organs – the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs were designed to suck up toxic waste. Think of them like a vacuum cleaner. When your vacuum is clogged with potato chip crumbs and breakfast leftovers its efficiency rate is extremely low. 

When your detox organs are clogged,...

With warmer weather comes the annoyance of lathering up your squirmy kid with sunscreen. As a parent you understand the sunscreen battle is worth the fight vs. a sunburnt crying kid.

The skin is the largest organ of the body. One of the main functions of the skin is protection. It protects the body from external factors such as bacteria, chemicals, and temperature. (1) The gut lining is similar to the skin expect it’s the body’s internal layer of skin – aka 2^nd skin.

As you consume items like whole food, processed crap (PC), chemicals, additives, medication, etc. it takes a journey along the digestive system and ends up in your gut. Once in your gut these items encounter your gut barrier (aka 2^nd skin). The gut barrier consists of one cell layer between the gut content, and your immune system and bloodstream. A healthy gut should be permeable enough to absorb nutrients, while keeping the food, bacteria, other microbes, and their components inside the gut. (2)

Just like your 1^st laye...

Do you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up because you finally fell asleep?!

As a stressed out Super WoMOM, it’s difficult to shut down the brain. All you want to do is sleep, but your body refuses to get into the Zen Zone. You toss and turn, annoy the hell out of your spouse, or sometimes rack 3,000 steps while under the covers!

Most of us rely on over-the-counter melatonin to catch our Zzzz’s, so much that our society is immune to its effectiveness.

Melatonin is a hormone in your body that is responsible for regulating your sleep cycles and helping your sleep wake cycle. Your pineal gland and gut are responsible for producing that melatonin. The gut contains at least 400 times more melatonin than the pineal gland. (1) When I see low melatonin levels on a client’s stress hormone panel test it’s an immediate clue about their gut health as deficiency in melatonin have been linked to increase permeability of the gut.  

Fun fact: You are a diurnal animal. When th...

I’ve been reviewing a lot of blood panel reports from client’s who would explain their lifestyle status as HIGH STRESS.

I get it! As a working mom, we love the challenge of trying to “do it all” but sometimes ignore the chronic cascade stress curve you're riding on. When you operate at 100 mph, 24/7 without proper care in diet, rest, exercise, stress management, and supplements the body will start to breakdown from cortisol dominance.

I’m finding a common denominated among stressed-out mamas, correlations to low stomach acid.

Stomach acid is a key component in the digestive process. When the stomach cannot produce enough acid, key minerals and proteins can’t be absorbed into this body. This leads to vitamin and mineral deficiency. So you may be eating all the right foods but without proper digestion and absorption you may be feeling blah and suffering with chronic symptoms due to nutrient deficiency.

Stomach acid is also responsible for killing harmful bacteria from foods and neutr...

Do you feel like you’re doing all the right things by eating a “balanced” diet and you still feel blah?

This was and is still me! Unfortunately, I was not blessed with “I can eat & drink whatever I want and feel like a million bucks.” It doesn’t matter how many food sensitivity tests I take, dairy still shows up as a high reactive food (as many others, WTH). My digestive system and skin also give me friendly clues that these high reactive foods are NG. 

You also may be sensitive to foods otherwise considered healthy. Remember, every gut has a unique blueprint so does every lifestyle! A stressed out gut is more likely to have more food sensitivities than a gut living in a stress free environment. 

Before diving deep into my gut health education I had no idea there was a difference between food allergy vs. food sensitivity vs. food intolerance. I was also clueless on how one becomes sensitive / intolerant to food but not allergic.

Causes of Food Sensitivities

Difference between Al...

I tend to snack a lot. Mainly because it takes the edge off of my stress level. I mean, don’t you find yourself digging for food when the mind needs to escape from reality? 

Snacks seem to have a bad wrap. They either fall into the category of PC (processed crap) or bland as hell (aka rice cake or bitter broccoli florets). Neither of these categories fit my mission of gut reviving and exciting enough to curb my craving. 

While decompressing after a corporate day of triple booked meetings, I saw a video on making chocolate covered stuffed dates and my mouth started watering. 

Dates can easily squash a sugar craving and are extremely easy to stuff, honestly the combinations seem endless. So I went our pantry to craft up a few of my own combinations. 

Base Ingredients for these Chocolate Covered Date Bombs:

• Dates
• Nut Butter
• DF Chocolate
• Coconut Oil
• Pink Salt

Combo 1: Coconut D’Bomb

• Dates
• Coconut Butter
• Macadamia Nuts
• DF Chocolate

Combo 2: Almond Joy D’Bomb

• Da...

How do you know when it’s time to focus on gut health?

Plain and simple: a SYMPTOM

A chronic symptom or symptoms is a key indicator it’s time to focus on improving your gut health. For example, low melatonin levels are a window into poor gut health as the gut contains at least 400 times more melatonin than the pineal gland. (1) If you’re having trouble staying asleep or if you feel tired after sleeping several hours this could be an indication your melatonin levels are imbalanced and a good sign you need to focus on gut health. 

3 Quick Tips to Improve Your Gut Health TODAY:

1) Listen to your gut.

Sometimes our mind gives us bad advice (like staying with that old boyfriend for too long, ha!) The gut and brain are connected through the vagus nerve and they communicate when there is distress. Tune in to your body's discomfort signals. Your gut will tell you when it’s unhappy.  Awareness is your ally!

2) Record what you eat in a journal for two weeks, and look for patterns. This i...