Is your digestion underperforming and are you going about your day in a perpetual state of blah? Do you wake up in the morning feeling like a furry animal just died in your mouth? Do you need coffee, sugar, carbs or neon coloured drinks to zest you back up at regular intervals?
A disgruntled microbiota is a force to be reckoned with
An exploding amount of scientific evidence is linking a disgruntled gut microbiota (gut flora if you’re old school) with decreased stress resilience, fatigue, weight problems, allergies and poor blood sugar control.
Every day you ignore your 10 trillion bacteria’s desperate rumbling for help you’re being subjected to an onslaught of increased inflammation, toxic microbial waste (yep, they poo just like we do) and decreased production of energy, vitamins and neurotransmitters from a disgruntled, uncooperative microbial cohort.
When gut bacteria go on strike
The result of this en-masse strike action is:
– Fatigue – by the way, it’s a myth that you should feel tired because you’re ageing. More on this at a later date.
– Muffin top – I’m not being a sizeist. Skinny people also get muffin tops and they’re a sure sign your metabolism and gut microbiota are out of whack. Hint: just exercise won’t work.
– Bloating
– Gut pain
– 2pm-itis
– Brain fog – (forgetting your words, your train of thought, your keys, your dog)
– Sugar addictions
– PMS-itis – for both men and women
– Feeling down in the dumps
From Sahara to Savanna: probiotics, poop pills and poo infusions
If your gut ecosystem is out of whack, just taking a probiotic is going to do jack-diddly-squat. Just as you cannot turn a desert into a savanna, you cannot ‘recolonise your gut’ by swallowing a probiotic or eating fermented foods.
At some point in our lifetime, I hope that (enteric coated) poop pills will become an over the counter reality but for now, the only way you can truly broaden a gut’s sparse microbial diversity is with a human fecal microbial transplant (FMT) from a healthy donor.
If poo infusions are not your thing
However, if you don’t have a spare $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket to found your new poop worker colony with an FMT, there are heaps of food-based tricks you can use to modulate levels of your existing bacteria.
Firstly and most importantly, you have to work out where the imbalance is then remove it. Secondly you have to rebuild the rich and beautiful landscape that will harbour, nourish and promote a robust gut microbiota.
I have used this process successfully for years on my, excuse the irresistible pun, pooped clients and helped them regain vibrant vitality, joyfulness and oomph.
If you’d like to feel vibrantly vital, piquantly zesty and with bowel movements worth of the Olympic Gold please do come and join me for my Reclaim Your Gut Health Masterclass in Melbourne.
It is going to be a hell of a ride, with amazingly practical information and a personalised poop plan by the end of the 2 days.
Scatological humour is guaranteed.
NB: Please do NOT bring a sample. However do bring along your best poop jokes and plenty of humour.