Only recently has science confirmed our gut is our endocrine home. Finally science meets spirituality and connects us to gut intuition. It is within our power to create the life we desire, but first the gut needs to be cleansed. It is the place that takes estrogen and pushes what isn’t needed out of our bodies, it creates most of our feel-good hormones. It helps us with our appetite, with our periods, our moods, our weight gain and weight loss and it gives us that intuition we rely on to keep us out of trouble. It’s called the gut-brain connection. I decided to interview women and learn more about what they knew about their gut, their habits, their triggers.
Here are the questions I asked 10-women:
What are your biggest struggle?
What time of the day is your hardest?
What is your go to for energy?
As I went into it and got more and more comfortable, I began to ask questions like
Do you drink alcohol
How prepped are you when it comes to your meals
Do you believe that what you eat affects your mood
9 out of the 10 woman were not prepared so ate whatever
10 out of 10 knew they felt better if they ate healthier and exercised
8 out of 10 connected their alcohol with a mood
10 out of 10 struggled with coffee
Every single one of them had heavy demands on their day that required lot’s of energy and yet no one said they ate sugar. I wasn’t sure if they were disconnected to using sugar as a way to get energy or they didn’t have sugary foods…I later learned they all deny eating sugar but all have sugar in their lives, either their kids snacks or the muffin they bought with their coffee.
There either is a disconnection or a disbelief on the gut-brain connection.
The term “you are what you eat” was a quote stated by Hypocrites. When you feed your body foods it can utilize for healing and manifesting, then you can easily receive the messages what you’ve put in your body is toxic and not beneficial to your body and mind. These toxic habits disrupt the endocrine system, causing estrogen, testosterone, serotonin, dopamine, melatonin and progesterone to go against your healthier body and mind.
But who’s to say what each of us really should be eating or doing to heal our guts, right? My great uncle is 84 years old. Never been to a doctor and lives on bread and coffee. Not even kidding. He was in the Korean war, came home an alcoholic and has suffered plenty of trauma throughout his life. Barely has teeth left, yet he is always smiling and joking. Gets up at 6am, plays dominos most of the day and walks about 5-10 miles everyday. Anyone looking at him would say, he’s doing ok. Then there’s my best friend who was a mother of a little girl, yoga teacher, personal trainer and studying to be a nutritionist who died at the age of 44 of cancer. What’s that about?
You can find research backing your beliefs, whatever that may be. I grew up during a time where it was recommended to eat bacon and cheese as a snack and you will be healthy and thin, Dr. Atkins. So what can you rely on? You. You need to rely on you. You need to get connected to your guts intuition and always check in with yourself and see “is this for my highest good?” Sometimes you’re not ready to let go so you proceed from habits, other times you know and so you let go.
If your gut isn’t rebuilding it’s microbiota with healthier habits, then likely you will find yourself not sleeping well, not having sex, foggy brained and anxious. Imbalances in the hormones estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid hormones, and cortisol have all been linked to an unhealthy gut. This can lead to leaky gut syndrome, as the chronic inflammation in the gut lining damages it, causing it to become more permeable. This can explain why you may not be able to heal even with all the work. you’ve been doing to feel better.
Here are some you can choose to do to help rebuild your guts microbiota.
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Eat more probiotic foods:
Acidophilus Cottage cheese Kefir Sour cream Yogurt (plain, no added sugar, active cultures) Fermented vegetables, Kimchi, Kombucha, Miso, Pickled vegetables, Sauerkraut, Tempeh
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eat more prebiotic foods:
Asparagus, Banana, Burdock, Cacoa, Dandelion greens, Endive, Flaxseed Garlic Honey Jicama, Leek, Legumes, Onion, Peas, Whole grains -
Eat serotonin, grounding foods like celery, yams, carrots, lentils, nuts, seeds, blueberries, and of course your probiotics. Clear up the gut so you can get the brain to work for your success, instead of against you.
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Another great recipe with one of Joule's Recipe made with some of our favorite activated ingredients of turmeric, cayenne, apple cider vinegar lentils, and carrots. This is a twist to the usual veggie patty because of the added anti-inflammatory, gut-healing ingredients.
GUT HEALTHY RECIPE
"Lentil Carrot Plant-Powered Patty"
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and grated
- 1/2 onion, small diced
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- pinch cayenne
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2/3 cup vegetable broth (or any broth you choose)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°
- In large mixing bowl or hotel pan, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly until well combined.
- Using a food scale, measure mounds of mixture weighing 4.5 oz per serving.
- Shape mounds to resemble “burgers” and place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20 minutes
You can make these in advance and freeze to eat when you are needing something quick and easy. You don't need to defrost them either. Simply put them in the oven at 350* for 5-minutes, then put it on 380* for another 15-minutes
APPROPRIATE FOR:
12PM, 7PM, Creativity, Dinner, Energy, Focus, Happiness, lunch, Paleo, Relaxation, Vegan