Signs Your Gut Needs Attention

If you’re like the majority of my clients, you’ve spent way too much time trying to figure out how to heal your gut. Wondering why you bloat after every meal, what determines if you’ll wake up constipated or with non stop diarrhea, and if this food is suddenly going to become a trigger for stomach aches (or worse😣) .  

You’ve tried eating more fiber, eating less fiber. You’ve taken pre and probiotics and just about every other supplement you’ve seen online. You’ve eliminated foods. And still nothing. You’re desperate. Desperate enough to spend your free time googling how to heal your gut. And it’s time to change that.  

So I’m gonna give it to you straight. In this post we’ll go over what you can DIY, what’s a hoax, and when to call in a pro.

Gut Healing Foundations 

When it comes to marketing, the sexy stuff gets all the attention: new supplements, influencer programs, and that one doctor’s change-your-life-with-my-NEW-approach book. There haven’t been million dollar marketing campaigns designed to cover the true medicine like stress management. But when it comes to gut health, it’s the boring foundations that help you go the distance. Before you jump into functional testing, supplements, or elimination diets: start with these foundations.

Gut healing tool #1: Minerals

Minerals are maybe the singlehanded best thing you can do to heal your gut. They help you produce stomach acid and digestive enzymes and ensure the muscles of your GI tract can function properly. Plus, they’re the MVPs in keeping you regular. If you want to deep dive on minerals, you can read alll about them here. My recommendation? Incorporate 1-3 mineral mocktails per day and watch your gut health skyrocket.

Gut healing tool #2: Nervous System Support

Digestion is a top down process. You may have heard it starts in the mouth, but really it starts in the brian. And the brain is the big boss in regards to how we digest our foods. Depending on our current mood/feelings/etc., our nervous system is going to be in one of two states. Either rest and digest (parasympathetic nervous system) or fight or flight mode (sympathetic nervous system). And with digestion, we’re aiming for… you guessed it, that sweet rest and digest mode.

This makes complete sense: the stress response comes from a time when humans might need to be prepared to… oh I don’t know… face off with a saber tooth tiger at any given moment. And if you’re running from a saber tooth tiger, whether or not your able to digest those wild berries you just foraged doesn’t really matter. So digestion shuts down to make sure your muscles stay fueled and your feet stay moving.

We know that stress is directly linked to gut problems like leaky gut, dysbiosis, and decreased digestive output. And yet, the marketing dollars are still spent on convincing you that you can’t heal your gut without bovine colostrum. Sigh.

Gut healing tool #3: Mealtime hygiene 

Mealtime hygeine is the best way to help make sure you stay in that sweet spot of rest and digest. This involves three things and can greatly speed up your gut healing. 1) Taking three deep belly breaths before meals to help stimulate your vagal nerve. 2) chewing your food to applesauce consistency. 3) And eating without distractions.

This is probably the least fun tool out there, but it goes SUCH a long way. Remember: digestion is a top down process. 

Gut healing tool #4: Diet

Diet gets a lot of attention when it comes to gut healing. And for good reason, diets are soo powerful. But I’ve listed it last here for a reason: the wellness world and mainstream media get diet advice for gut healing all wrong.

We’ve fallen into the trap of blaming foods for all of our gut symptoms– it must be because of the gluten, the dairy, the FODMAPs, or just because you haven’t found the right elimination diet yet. But this is rarely the case. Food is not the problem.

The truth is: most of the gut problems I see aren’t because of a reaction to food, but because of a poor digestive environment.

If you’re ready to stop blaming foods and take a true root cause approach to healing, you’re in the right place. That’s our bread and butter at Kasey Benavides Nutrition and we’d love to help you feel better.

This being said, there are a few dietary principles that help you keep your gut right.

First, eating the right amount is crucial as both eating too much and too little can impact the gut negatively. I see equal numbers of cases of clients eating too little as clients who aren’t eating enough. You also want to make sure you’re eating a varied whole food based diet that includes plenty of high fiber foods. I will note, some people with sensitive guts don’t tolerate high fiber foods like raw veggies and beans. If this is the case, it’s probably time to dig deeper (more on that below).

Beyond that, eating a macronutrient balanced diet to support blood sugar balance is so important not only for a happy gut, but for your overall health. If you have no idea what that looks like, or struggle to find balance in your diet, my free PFCF Meal Guide was created just for you!

Supplements for Gut Health

I thought about taking some time for a good ol fashion take down of the plethora of supplements that have undoubtedly taken over your targeted ads. But we honestly don’t have the time to swim through the cesspool of tummy teas and misleading claims. Most of what’s out there is more effective at wasting your money than healing your gut. So instead I present to you my white night: Digestive bitters.

Kind of like how smelling something sweet makes your mouth water, tasting something bitter makes your entire digestive tract water: it stimulates stomach acid production, bile release, and the release of pancreatic enzymes. 

The cool thing about this effect is that you don’t have to buy anything: you can accomplish it just by tasting bitter foods like dandelion greens or arugula. But in case you’re like me and don’t want to chomp on raw greens before every meal, you can also utilize tinctures like this one (you can use code Kasey10 for 10% off)

When to Dig Deeper:

Advanced Treatment Options for Gut Healing

If you’re reading this in a slight panic that you’ve already done alllll of these things and still feel 6 months pregnant after each meal, don’t panic. This isn’t an all inclusive list, because sometimes the root cause of your symptoms is more complex. There can be nutrient deficiencies impacting gallbladder and bile function, infections like H pylori making a home in your gut, or histamine intolerance making you reactive to every meal. Once you identify what is causing your lingering symptoms, you’ll be able to target them more specifically. 

At KBN we used advanced functional stool and blood tests to identify exactly what is behind your complex gut issues, so that you can know exactly how to heal. This means you won’t have to spend another day researching how to heal your gut: you’ll have the exact strategies you need for your individual biochemistry and the expert support to execute.

If you’re interested in functional testing, or want to talk with an expert to know if it’s the right next step for you, you can book a complimentary strategy call with us here! We’re so excited to get you feeling great!