My Journey - Part Three - How I Healed My Gut

I've talked about my reasons for wanting to heal my gut in Part One and Part Two, and I know a lot of you want to know HOW to heal your guts, so I'm going to detail what I did in this article. Before I do, I want to make it clear that this is not a general plan that everyone can apply, each individual will have their own needs and shouldn't mistake this for personalised advice, I worked with a nutritionist so this plan is personalised to me, for this reason I haven't included every supplement I took. Be aware that supplements can have side affects when taken with certain medications, so please do research before taking them.

The main goals I wanted to achieve by healing my gut were

• Break out of the calorie counting cycle, lose weight while improving my metabolism

• Heal the eczema on my hands and face

• Improve my allergies

• Get rid of the parasite H pylori

• Reduce bloating and improve motility

The plan was 12 weeks long and was broken into 4 week segments. I implemented some lifestyle changes across the 12 weeks and these were:

1. I practiced grounding outside (standing on grass in my bare feet and touching trees with bare hands) a couple of times a week.

2. Not eating 3 hours before bedtime.

3. Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly.

4. Aim for over 7 hours sleep a night.

5. Meditating or doing a relaxing activity every day.

6. Exercising - lifting weights 3x a week, aim for average of 10,000 steps a day, cardio exercise (spinning or dance) once a week.

7. Detoxification including sauna 2-3 times a week and dry brushing daily.

Phase 1:

Diet:

1. I loosely followed paleo principles but included organic cheese, nuts and seeds.

2. I cut out all ultra-processed foods and also removed gluten.

3. I ate a protein source with each meal and only ate three times a day. I still had snacks but would eat them straight after lunch or dinner.

4. I ate a kiwi everyday to help with motility.
   

Supplements (not a complete list):

1. Zinc l-carnosine

2. Magnesium glycinate

3. Quercetin

4. Lactoferrin

5. Beef liver

6. L-carnitine

Phase 2:

Diet:

1. Added in some whole foods that I'd previously removed, e.g. sourdough bread, and legumes. I didn't experience any reactions to gluten but found certain legumes would make me bloated so I kept these out.

2. Continued to avoid all ultra-processed foods.

3. Stuck to eating three times a day and incorporated a day of fasting, usually having bone broth for my evening meal and fasting overnight once a week.

Supplements - I continued with a lot from Phase 1 and added:

1. Berberine

2. Black cumin seed oil

3. Mastic gum

Phase 3:

Diet:

1. Added legumes back in.

2. Allowed myself occasional desserts, only good quality ones from local bakeries or nice restaurants where it was all made in house.

3. Continued to eat homemade, whole food based meals for 90% of my week, with a focus on protein at every meal.

Supplements - same as above and added:

1. L-glutamine

2. BPC-157

Things I wish I knew before starting my gut-healing protocol

I really loved the process of healing my gut. I enjoy challenging myself and getting to know my body better and to see the physical affects so quickly was a great motivator.

• One thing I found key in my journey, was to reflect on how I felt each week, making a note of it in my journal so that I could track my progress as I went through each phase. This forced me to start examining how I felt after each meal and overall, which helped me to strengthen my connection to myself.

• Ultra-processed food literally tastes like chemicals to me now, so I don't enjoy it at all.

• Some products you think aren't ultra-processed, are. Grocery shopping took longer while I familiarised myself with the products I needed to avoid.

• I was also shocked at how expensive some of the supplements were, it really was a bit painful buying them multiple times throughout the process, so be prepared for this.

• Eating whole foods is NOT more expensive than eating processed foods. This is a limiting belief that a lot of people hold and I'm sure the big food companies are enjoying this narrative (e.g. Kelloggs CEO suggesting we eat cereal more to save money). This overly simplifies a nuanced conversation. Think about the money you save getting less takeaways, fizzy drinks, sweets, crisps and all the extra processed food purchased outside the weekly food shop. You save money by making multiple meals from the same ingredients, yes this takes planning but you get used to it. The money saved on prescriptions and future health treatments is also a big bonus that can't be ignored.

• It's not done after the 12 weeks, I actually took a break for a month when I finished the protocol and went on holiday, then started the protocol again. Mostly because I enjoyed it, although I also felt I had more healing to do and the H pylori parasite was still present.

• It's likely I'll repeat some form of protocol again in the future, I've kept my gut really healthy since, however I'm sure at some point life will get in the way and I won't be able to maintain the level of health I'm currently able to. I don't think I'll ever let it get as bad as it was though as I have great habits in place, don't enjoy any form of ultra-processed food and love eating delicious whole foods.

Going on a gut healing journey is a big undertaking, and it's SO worth it. It will change your life, probably change your families lives, it'll improve your relationship with food, your cooking will become more simplified but delicious, you'll be able to maintain a healthy weight without thinking about it, you'll get fitter, you'll be comfortable in your body everyday. It's up there with one of the best things I've ever done for myself. You will never regret making an investment in your health.

If you're interested in healing your gut and would love support and accountability, book a free Discovery Call to find out how I can help!

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Girl presenting

Chicken thighs

Grounding

Steak salad

Girl journalling

Chia seed pudding