Gut Healing Simplified

Paula Youmell, RN Functional Medicine RN - Herbalist – Sacred Circle Mentor

https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/

Gut Healing in Simple Steps

From your mouth to your anal opening, all organs (all cells) need to be functioning at top notch for proper digestion to occur so the delivery of nutrition to all body cells can happen.

This all begins with the selection of **healthy, whole, well raised foods and proceeds like this: •

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Well chewed in mouth, slowly and consciously, paying attention to the sensual side of the food allows the rest of the digestive tract to be able to do its work digesting the well chewed food. Salivary enzymes, in the mouth, begin carbohydrate digestion. Chewing activates saliva as well as all other digestive juices along the length of the digestive tract.

Chewing also gives the mouth – brain – gut interaction the time to happen. Your digestive tract gets informed about what is coming down the pipes so it is prepared to well digest your food.

Stomach: hydrochloric acid primarily for protein breakdown (and stimulation of other digestive enzymes for proper digestion of all foods) so we can use the amino acids for building blocks of growth and healing, making hormones and other biological chemicals, and so much more… High levels of HCL are required for this. Squelching the natural acid process with medication is not recommended from a holistic or functional medicine perspective. Reflux is very rarely contributed to too much stomach acid; this is a huge myth. Reflux is from too little stomach acid and the food in the stomach cannot be properly digested. Further reducing stomach acid with “the little purple or pink pill” or any other form of acid reducing drugs is a mistake and contributes to amino acid, several minerals, and B12 insufficiencies / deficiencies to name but a few issues.

Small intestine works to further “finish” digestion with chemical assistance from the liver – gall bladder and pancreas.

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Small & large intestinal microbes aid in digestion and assimilation of food’s nutrition as well as produce neurotransmitters (think happy moods & peaceful “rest & digest” existence), nutrients, enzymes, immune factors, manufacture vitamin K, work to keep balance in the gut… their jobs are many and we have not discovered all of their important functions.

Having a profound appreciation, and deep gratitude, for the work your digestive tract does with each meal makes it easier to consciously care for it, feed it well, chew food very well, and get plenty of rest and sleep to assist whole body healing… Remember your glorious gut when you are passing around the gratitude.

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” -Willie Nelson

How To Fix The Gut in 4 Easy Steps (heal your gut lining) 1. Whole foods 100% of the time. The body was not meant to eat (and have to deal with / process out of the body, basically detox every time you eat something synthetic / refined) manufactured “food” crap with food science chemicals, additives, and the refined substances contained in them. Yes, this means eliminating sugar. And organic is important. Read up on the impacts of agricultural chemicals on gut health.

2. Eliminate gluten (wheat, rye, barley), corn and oats (and perhaps all grains, grain mimicry is an issue, yes research that term: grain mimicry).

Gluten Free resources to navigate change, eating out, converting recipes, grocery shopping, change recipes, etc.

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https://issuu.com/paula754/docs/recipes_pdf https://issuu.com/paula754/docs/making_any_recipe_a_whole_food_meal_1fa4bb0dd 70269 https://issuu.com/paula754/docs/gluten_free_pdf__2016

Gluten Free Bread: • •

simplekneads.com https://happycampersgf.com/

3. Most people need to eliminate dairy as well IF it is an auto-immune condition.

Some people tolerate dairy IF: • it is from goats or sheep (A2 casein genetics) • organic & pasture raised animals • the milk is not pasteurized or homogenized (raw) • some tolerate cow’s milk if it is raw, organic, pasture raised, and A2 casein genetics (not A1 genetics) •

Dairy elimination for months to benefit the body’s healing with a re-introduction of high quality dairy later may or may not work. Paying attention to how your body reacts is the key to vibrant health.

4. Heal & Seal the gut lining: Give this stage a minimum of 4 weeks and it may take longer depending on how long the gut’s health has been disrupted. Generally speaking, and this will vary from person to person, plan for 1 month of healing for each year of ill health. Relax into it; you are on a journey of growth and discovery. The below list is healing options for the gut lining. You do not need to do them all. Instead, pick ones that make sense to your gut intuition, will work in your lifestyle (and tastes) and add them in.

I do recommend the slippery elm or marshmallow root as one choice. It helps to coat, heal & seal the gut lining. Click here for information on zonulin and gluten to better explain leaky gut.

• Aloe juice to reduce inflammation and heal the gut lining.

• Slippery elm and/or marshmallow root powder. Take in capsules or buy the powder in bulk and mix into yogurt (see dairy info above), applesauce, smoothies, etc.

Marshmallow root is a bit more of a sustainable product. Marshmallow is easier and quicker to grow to harvest the roots than growing elm trees to harvest the inner bark.

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Cabbage juice Bone broth: Bone Broth: What Is the Hype? Bone broth is an amazing gut lining healing food. It is easy to make at home in the oven on low heat (220F) or in a crock pot on low heat.

Cultured foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, true fermented pickles & veggies, etc.

• L-Glutamine powder (esp. helpful with chronic diarrhea and gut lining healing) 3 gms to 10 gms daily in water or juice between meals. I also mix it into goat’s milk yogurt with nut butter & slip elm or marshmallow root powder. See Brain Permeability information as some people do not tolerate L-Glutamine. IMPORTANT info on L-glutamine & actual

time to heal the gut is at the end of this document. Healing takes time, Love, & patience.

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Healthy fats: avocados, pasture raised butter (A2 casein), fish oil, flax - black current oil, olive oil (oils should be organic & cold pressed from a high quality company) Digestive enzymes can be a big help here: Betaine HCL, Bile Salts, Amylase, Protease, Lipase (Renew Life DigestMore) Completely avoid sugars, GMO foods, agricultural chemicals as they contribute to leaky gut syndrome (Intestinal Permeability)

5. Rebalance Gut Microbial Flora • If there is a dysbiosis in the gut, unwanted microbes of any variety (yeast, parasites, bacteria, etc.) this needs to be cared for to restore optimal microbial balance in the intestinal tract. This is where the stool samples for microbial content or your waste can be very useful.

• After first healing the gut lining and getting unwanted microbes out, you can then move on to adding in some gut microbial supplementation. When the gut lining is impaired, adding in microbes can contribute to the added microbes leaking into the bloodstream. This can create ill health symptoms of its own. When the gut’s microbial population is out of whack, adding in more can create a turf war. Again, ill health symptoms can occur making you feel weak, tired, foggy brained, anxious, etc.

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Buy high quality gut microbial products, *probiotics, from reputable companies. You want a product that has many different species of gut microbes in the product, the microbes are live and viable, and there are large quantities of each microbe.

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When you finish one product, switch to another high quality brand.

Eat kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt (see dairy product info above), and other fermented foods that are live culture ferments. Most commercial yogurt is poor quality for many reasons and the milk is quick cultured. Remember, we want time honored methods of food prep and yogurt should be cultured for a minimum of 24 hours. Commercial yogurt (think grocery store) is fermented with GMO cultures that reduce the ferment time to 6 hours.

Great for the manufacturing world to pump out lots of yogurt quickly… not good for a quality product that contributes to human health. Canned and sealed jar sauerkraut or kimchi, off regular grocery store shelves, are not live culture products.

*Many companies have multiple formulas that each formula has a different blend of gut microbes. You can switch products within the same company. For example, the Toddler probiotic by Flora has bifidobacterium infantis, which is good for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis, but most adults would not gravitate towards a toddler's formula.

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Flora Health's Probiotics (Some varieties are available at Nature's Storehouse, Canton, NY) Nature's Sunshine Probiotic 11 (This product is available in the Massena, NY health food stores.)

Pharmax HCL products (Amazon.com) Mercola.com Complete Probiotics (I recommend the pet ones as well when you have to give your pet antibiotics for something like Lyme disease) Renew Life is another good manufacturer of probiotic supplements and their kid's formula also has the bifidobacterium infantis for eczema / psoriasis (adult or children) Wholistic Botanicals Probiotic Formula also contains bifido infantis for eczema / psoriasis Dr. Axe’s website has high quality probiotics.

Low stress, so your gut (and whole body) can be in rest and digest mode not fight or flight. Create Peace, your body-mind-spirit will thank you.

I recommend finding a daily Conscious Connection Practice that works for you: Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Tai Kwon Do, Woods Walks, Prayer, Breath Work & Meditation. Find a practice that brings you back to a balanced, whole health space of conscious thought and action as opposed to emotional reactions to every trigger. Practice helps to tone the Vagus nerve, keep you in rest & digest mode (para-sympathetic nervous system function) as opposed to the stress response of the sympathetic nervous system.

*Quality probiotics & additional gut health info are also on this link: Gut Health Three websites to research on your own: Dr. Axe, Dr. Hyman, Dr. Mercola

Every practitioner you interact with will have slightly different views on health and healing. That is just a fact based upon the type of education and lineage of the person’s education. There is a difference between western medicine herbal training and traditional vitalism herbal training. Just an example. Pay attention to what makes sense to you for your needs.

I am often asked about liver cleansing. I prefer to call it liver nourishment. What is happening in this liver nourishing phase is a person is eating food, herbs, and nutrients that support the liver methylation process (so the liver can better do its detox work) and stimulating the production and release of bile for all of the benefits of bile in the lower digestive tract.

Liver nourishment can be worked on after the gut is healed and the microbes are rebalanced. If you start dumping toxins quickly into a small intestine with its 1 cell lining in a “cheese cloth” state, those toxins will get dumped right into the blood stream. This can cause unhealthy and unwanted symptoms in body and mind.

**Healthy, whole, well raised foods eating habits restore the body’s health.

Eating natural food: • • •

repairs the gut lining, rebalances gut microbial health, and will basically turn around ill health, *dis - ease in the body.

Learning to eat whole food, prepared in time honored ways is a key to restoring whole body health.

*dis - ease: a body that is no longer at ease.

L-Glutamine & Gut Healing Time, it is important be aware of time frames and place yourself into deep healing mode. Creating dis-ease in the body did not happen overnight. Healing takes time.

“When it comes to repairing the gut, L-Glutamine is an excellent choice. Thanks to regeneration, new cells are created in the gut every few days, while the old cells are removed from the body. L-Glutamine plays a key role in this process by helping to quickly restore the gut lining and regenerate newer, healthier cells naturally. These new cells are the key in repairing the intestines and eliminating leaky gut. Thanks to L-Glutamine, the healing typically starts within 30 days, with it being repaired in approximately 12 weeks. For those with chronic health problems in the intestines, healing may take anywhere from 12 to 24 months in most cases.” -Dr. Daniel Pompa

Copyright © Paula Youmell, RN, Wise Woman Nurse ®