We all experience gut feelings. You’ve likely felt butterflies in your stomach when you’re nervous or had a gut instinct about something. Japanese view the gut as the seat of the mind and soul. When anything gets in the way of gut-brain communication, your health suffers.
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​The foundation of good health starts with what you eat.  Focus on fiber-rich vegetables, low-sugar fruits, non-gluten grains and good fats. And cut the CRAP - Carbonated drinks,  Refined sugars, Artificial sweeteners, and Processed food.

If you want to fix your health, start with your gut. It affects your entire body.

Consider the important jobs your gut performs regularly, including breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, keeping out toxins and producing nutrients. That’s a lot of work! For optimal immunity, detoxification and nourishment, your gut must function seamlessly.

​One of the reasons why your gut has so much influence on your health has to do with the 100 trillion bacteria--over a kilo worth--that line your intestinal tract. This is an extremely complex living system that protects your body from outside offenders.

DID YOU KNOW?
For many people, the root cause of their IBS may be dysbiosis – meaning an unfavorable balance of bacteria in the small and/or large intestine. Modern life has been hard on this world of bacteria within us – known as our microbiome – stress, junk foods and antibiotics can all upset your bacterial balance. And if like so many people who have IBS, your symptoms started after a bad infection, your poor microbiome may not yet have fully recovered.


THE LOW FODMAP DIET CAN AFFECT YOUR INNER WORLD OF BACTERIA
Researchers have found that people who follow the low-FODMAP diet experience changes in their inner bacterial make-up. What they don’t know yet is what this actually means. However, they have also found that people who follow the diet can, over time, expand the range of food that they eat without a problem, suggesting that these changes are changes in the right direction.

We have talked about what can hurt your gut bacteria – now let’s talk about what helps! Eating more real, whole food, such as vegetables, fruits, protein and healthy fats. Taking time out of your busy life for some healthy self-care, such as exercise, meditation, or simply going outside and taking some deep breaths.

Don't view the low-FODMAP diet as one of restriction, view it as a diet of opportunity! The opportunity to:

• Nourish your gut bacteria by eating those healthy foods you used to be afraid of – probably because you were eating the wrong ones!
• Expand the range of healthy foods that you eat – so you are not only addressing your IBS, but enhancing your overall health and reducing your risk for other chronic illnesses.
• Experience how good life can be when you are not dealing with constant stomach pain, bloating, and worries about your next bathroom trip!

Why pre-probiotics help your digestive system

Prebiotics and Probiotics are not the same thing! Probiotics (good gut bacteria) are live micro-organisms, and are responsible for ensuring your digestive system is working to it's best ability. They help your body absorb health boosting nutrients, boost your digestion reducing levels of (bad gut bacteria) and strengthen the immune system. Prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients found in certain foods that stimulate the growth of good bacteria in the gut. They both work together to boost gut health, so you need both, either through supplementation or food.                                  *As you can see below many foods contain FODMAPS so caution needed / control portion size

Prebiotics are found in:                                            Probiotics are found in:

• Bananas
• Berries
• Asparagus*
• Garlic*
• tomatoes
• Onions*
• Spinach, Kale
• Lentils, chickpeas*
• Kidney beans, Black beans*
• Oats
• Unrefined wheat and Barley*

• Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)
• Kimchi (Korean spicy* cabbage)
• Miso 
• Fermented dairy products* such as acidophilus milk (available at all good health food stores)
• Some soft cheeses*
• Cultered buttermilk*
• Soured cream*
• Yogurt products* (live cultures added)
  
• Coconut yogurt (live cultures added)

Vitamin c makes pre- and probiotics more effective, so include vitamin c rich foods everyday.

• Kiwi fruit
• Oranges
• Sweet potatoes*
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts*
• Peppers
• Strawberries
• Papaya*
• Grapefruit*
• Tomatoes

Supplements and Probiotics Probiotics are most widely available as dietary supplements in tablet, capsule and powder forms or as a component in yoghurts and fermented dairy drinks. They should also contain different strains of bacteria, including Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus thermopiles and bifidobacteria. Kefirs, such as coconut kefir or goat milk kefir are a fantastic natural probiotic and lactose free. 

*Probiotics should be taken 15 minutes before a meal 

 FODMAP's lower levels of good bacteria and starve beneficial gut flora

digestive enzymes

What are digestive enzymes, and why are they so important?
​ We eat food, but our digestive system doesn’t absorb food, it absorbs nutrients.  Food has to be broken down from things like steak and broccoli into its nutrient pieces: amino acids (from proteins), fatty acids and cholesterol (from fats), and simple sugars (from carbohydrates), as well as vitamins, minerals, and a variety of other plant and animal compounds. Digestive enzymes, primarily produced in the pancreas and small intestine, break down our food into nutrients so that our bodies can absorb them.
*They are also made in saliva glands and the stomach
If we don’t have enough digestive enzymes, we can’t break down our food—which means even though we’re eating well, we aren’t absorbing all that good nutrition.
 Digestive enzymes are very safe and reasonably cheap, you can always try them and see if you notice any difference in your digestion e.g. bloating after meals

is your core calm or stressed?

Does your stomach churn when it's stressed? Your digestive system starts working erratically or shuts down completely when your anxious, which is why highly stressed people often get stomach ulcers. Stress impacts hugely on the health of your  gut.

When your stressed, your body releases certain "fight-or-flight" stress hormones that are produced in the adrenal glands: cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine. When you first get stressed, these hormones kick into gear. Norepinephrine tells your body to stop producing insulin so that you can have plenty of fast-acting blood glucose ready. Epinephrine will relax the muscles in your stomach and intestines and decrease blood flow to these organs. Once the stressor has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing these hormones and to go back to digesting regularly. It's normal for your cortisol levels to go up and down throughout the day, but when you are chronically stressed your cortisol level goes up — and stays there.

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STRESS AND BELLY FAT

When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss. Your body thinks times are hard and you might starve, so it hoards the fat you eat or have present on your body. Cortisol tends to take fat from healthier areas, like your butt and hips, and move it to your abdomen which has more cortisol receptors. Hello ab flab! In the process, it turns once–healthy peripheral fat into unhealthy visceral fat (the fat in your abdomen that surrounds your organs) that increases inflammation and insulin resistance in the body. This belly fat then leads to more cortisol because it has higher concentrations of an enzyme that converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol. The more belly fat you have, the more active cortisol will be converted by these enzymes — yet another vicious cycle created by visceral fat. Excess belly fat has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers and stress.

So what if you have belly fat? Lose weight by following the best nutrition and lifestyle strategies that support you in times of stress, like the ones in my program. You will find on the low FODMAP diet you will lose excess weight simply from eating more whole foods and cutting the CRAP.  When you limit your caffeine, avoid simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains, and get plenty of high-quality protein, in addition to de-stressing yourself, you'll automatically help your body keep your stress hormones, especially cortisol, lower. It's a day by day choice you'll have to make, but the results will be worth it. Think how good it will be when you are as healthy on the inside as you look on the outside.
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