THE 5 STEP METHOD TO HEALING YOUR GUT
1️⃣REMOVE any irritants, triggers, or potentially harmful substances that could be contributing to your symptoms. This can look like potential allergens, intolerances, gut infections, parasites, etc. Of course, if you have a bacterial overgrowth or parasite we usually have to test for that (I offer the GI Map test if interested) and then be put on a protocol to eradicate the infection. Keep in mind this step is probably the toughest because some bacteria or parasites require us to go through more than 1 protocol- especially if we’re trying to keep the metabolism working simultaneously
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2️⃣REPLACE, or rather support, the production of systemic reactions in the gut like the production of stomach acidity and digestive enzymes. Many practitioners like to provide digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid capsules, but my approach is a lot more natural with the uses of plants like digestive bitters, ginger, apple cider vinegar, etc
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3️⃣REPOPULATE your microbiome once the infection is gone. Antibacterial, anti parasitic, anti anything can be harsh on our gut and wipe out a lot of the necessary flora that is there to protect us. One can opt for a probiotic for a month, or if they feel uneasy over a pill, turning to fermented foods is also a good option. Just keep in mind in order to preserve and keep our bacteria strong, we need to also include prebiotic rich foods. A probiotic I highly recommend is @microbiomelabs MegaSpore (DM me for a discount)
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4️⃣ REPAIR the gut lining that was damaged by medication, stress, poor diet, etc., in which allowed these bacteria, parasites, endotoxins to enter through. This can be done through some soothing plants like aloe, slippery elm, marshmallow root, or compounds like l-glutamine or zinc-l-carnosine. I also highly recommend emphasizing protein rich foods like bone broth or gelatin for this step
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5️⃣REFEED is the last step, and in my opinion, should also be done through out the entire process, because we do NOT want to starve the body of necessary nutrients or energy, for it will then have a slower recovery rate and struggle to get enough energy to heal. Foods that tend to not be very problematic are bone broth and gelatin as mentioned before, applesauce, raw carrots or white button mushrooms, coconut oil, squash, and even fruit.