33: Foods, Tips & Tests to Improve Your Gut Health & Performance with Jackie Bowker

The thing is you’ve got good critters and bad critters. And in that biome is really important. It’s like holding soil in your hand, you know, when you hold soil, and the soil can be so moist, that’s the community of organisms in there. And there’s trillions of them. And they all have a role. We’ve all got bacteria, funghi, yeast, protozoa, and they all have a role in the body. But it’s really important that the good bacteria stronger than the bad bacteria. So it’s always really, really important to have a plan of how we’re going to feed and seed that good bacteria, probiotics and prebiotic foods that feed the gut flora. So things like saccharomyces boulardii is a fantastic probiotic, we can use fiber, so veggies veggies, veggies are a wonderful way to really build a community of healthy flora in the body. Hi, there, welcome to the feel better now podcast. I’m your host, Jackie Bowker. And if you’ve arrived here, no, there is something in here to spark yourself to create a better future, in your health, in your career, in your relationships for both yourself. And for those around you just one small action step at a time. With so much love and gratitude to be your guide, let’s get started. Jackie,

I’ve got tests worth it. I am so excited about this special edition of the podcast all about the gut. And if gut tests are worth the investment, this is a topic that I am so passionate about. There was a time where I lived my life with alternating constipation, diarrhea, bloating, low energy, puffiness, all of the symptoms that I know now not supporting my ability to have maximum impact and help the most people possible. At the time, though I didn’t know that. Have you ever had a situation where you’ve been experiencing health concerns, but you’ve gone to the doctor and been told that everything is normal, we have a tendency to just listen to what everyone else is saying or maybe Dr. Google or try something that other people are doing. Not really taking the time because we don’t know how to look at what is going on inside our own body. Well, I wish I knew then what I know now. So it’s my mission to help you understand the tests that are available to you. So you can be empowered to know what’s really going on inside. I was working with a client today she was telling me how her fingers were so puffy, her rings wouldn’t fit. She was a bit emotional. Her clothes were feeling a bit tight. Her digestion was completely off with soft stalls. The first place to look is the gut. When we looked at the results of her gut tests, the tests that I run in clinic is a DNA test. We saw so much information. This test yields incredible amount of data that I need her to know about her body. I tell him to my clients to know as much about themselves as I know about that. Imagine a test that you could see what’s actually going on in the quality of your gut lining. Your gut lining has tiny perforations kind of like a coffee filter, and they’re supposed to be really small, but with stress with food sensitivities with bacteria or parasites, yeast overgrowth, those small tiny holes can break open. Imagine knowing if your tiny, tiny holes of your gut lining your the wall, the protective tube that’s like a doughnut that protects things that are supposed to be on the inside from getting into the bloodstream. Imagine if the holes in that wall were broken open, don’t you want to know the status of your gut lining? I think the DNA stool test is one of the most powerful tests I run in my clinic. Other practitioners have other tests that they run but for me, this tests yield so much information about what’s really going on inside with this client. I need to understand is she breaking down her food does she have enough in pancreatic enzymes and stomach acid to break down her food? I can see that is her gut lining nice and healed and sealed and those tiny holes of the of that coffee filter. Are they the size they’re supposed to be? I can see that. Is there any inflammation in the bowel and we know that inflammation is the leading cause of disease inflammation in the bowel in particular is a really good indication of whether that person is then going to go on to create more sinister things like bowel cancer is one of the leading causes of death. Globally, it is a man made disease that is reversible, I can see that in the DNA stool test. So much information is gleaned from one beautiful test, I would really encourage you to understand what’s going on in your body. The other thing that I think is so powerful is autoimmune. For those of you suffering from autoimmune conditions like Hashimotos, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac or Crohn’s disease, and there are many more, you will know that once you get one autoimmune, the chances of you getting up to five more are very, very likely. In the stool test, we can actually see the bacteria that can overgrow and triggers for auto immune, and it’s really important that we keep that bacteria under control. And we do that by supporting your own healthy bacteria. And if there is an overgrowth, there’s certain things that we can do about it. And there’s a different, there’s a different method, depending on how overgrown it is. If it’s really really overgrown, we might choose to use herbs to knock it back, you know, beautiful herbs like oregano or Wormwood, there’s lots of Berberine there’s lots of great ones on offer. Or we may just work with your own beneficial Flora to really boost up your own microbiome to defend itself because the thing is, you’ve got good critters and bad critters. And that biome is really important. It’s like holding soil in your hand, you know, when you hold soil, and the soil can be so moist, that’s the community of organisms in there. And there’s trillions of them. And they all have a role. We’ve all got bacteria, funghi, yeast, protozoa, and they all have a role in the body, but it’s really important that the good bacteria stronger than the bad bacteria. So it’s always really, really important to have a plan of how we’re going to feed and seed that good bacteria. In my clinic, I love probiotics and prebiotic foods that feed the gut flora. So things like saccharomyces boulardii is a fantastic probiotic for that we use that in all sorts of conditions as well. It’s very good for symptoms like anxiety and overwhelm. So symptoms that are seemingly unrelated to gut symptoms like bloating or indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, we can use fiber so veggies veggies veggies are wonderful to really build a community of healthy flora in the body. The more fiber that you can eat, it’s really great because you’re literally just like you’re putting fertilizer on your plants. You are fertilizing your microbiome which is so important for a lovely strong immune system.

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you. One of the things I love about the DNA stool test is that we can see the impact and I can show you the evidence of whether your body is tolerating the protein in wheat. This is a huge problem at the moment for humans. The scientific research shows that humans cannot tolerate the protein in wheat, it actually damages the gut lining of all humans. And you’re never going to know whether your gut lining regenerates or whether it doesn’t and whether that hole in the gut lining stays open and is just made worse and worse. And what happens when there’s a hole bigger than it’s supposed to be in the gut lining is that the waste that’s in that tube, it’s in your intestinal, a passage is allowed into the bloodstream so no amount of waste is supposed to be in the bloodstream. That’s the reason that you’ve got an intestinal wall So we don’t want food to be floating around the bloodstream that just causes an issue where your immune system is on high alert, and your immune system starts saying, there’s broccoli in the bloodstream, why is there broccoli and all of a sudden, you become sensitive or allergic to broccoli. So we don’t want that. We really want the gut lining to be nice and healed and sealed. And this is a key component to keeping your immune system strong. Remember, the majority of your immune system sits in your gut, your gut is directly connected to your brain via a nerve called the vagus nerve. So they were one organ, it’s just that one grew up in one grew down. So whatever we do to the gut, is having a positive or negative influence on the brain. The client I was working with today, we were talking about her tolerance for weight products, she was eating completely gluten free at home, that was easy eating a whole foods diet, lots of veggies, and berries, and protein and healthy fats. But when she was out, she was feeling embarrassed to be altering the menu in some way. And she was feeling like she was a bother to ask for something that was gluten free or dairy free. When you work with a practitioner, remember that your practitioner wants to get you results. So much, the practitioner works really hard to get you the results, we know that you’ve invested your time and energy, and we give a piece of ourselves as well. So when there’s a situation where we don’t really know what’s going on, we have to dig deeper. In this particular client stool tests, it was really obvious what was happening, her marker for wheat, which was in the soil test anticline and was through the roof, and her immune marker was way out of range. So her immune system was totally on high alert. And it was saying whoa, I cannot tolerate all of this gluten and wheat products. What was happening then down the line is that it was triggering and overgrowth of bacteria. And probably about five or six of those bacteria were autoimmune triggers. So she had the perfect storm going on to then go on and develop an autoimmune condition. And once you’ve got one remember you can develop up to five quite easily. The protocol for her was to completely remove the gluten and the dairy from her diet for a period of time to allow the immune system to calm down. While we did a gut repair. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time. And the the human body is so brilliant, we are innately brilliant, we know what to do, we just need the right environment to be able to heal. I’m so excited for this client because we could give her some answers, I could show her the evidence that what she was doing was impacting her health. And remember that we have this beautiful temple we have a vessel. And the more that we can get ourselves in good health, the more that we can have the transformation that we’re looking for. When we’re in these ages of perimenopause and moving into menopause, it’s really important to be able to get these foundational areas right to get our gut in a position where it is ready to move into the future. I was away at a farm say a couple of weeks ago and I was at a cafe in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country Tallinn and there were two women, they were probably around the same age. And one got up after their cappuccino. And I noticed that she had to hold her arm out to help the other one up and the other one really was struggling, she was overweight, it was hard for her to get up, you could tell that her hips weren’t right, there was probably a bit of joint pain because she was wincing this period of time to look at what’s going on in your gut, your hormones, your brain is the time to rebalance all of this because that’s the difference between you being vital and having excellent longevity. I thought to myself when I was watching these two ladies, I want to be the Nana and the grandma that is bouncing out of my chair that’s able to take my grandchildren to the park and chase them around. On the weekends. I want to be the one that is doing races with my 10 year old during spring training. I mean he can already outrun me now but at least I want to be able to compete and not always have that up to my husband. I want to be the one doing handstands and cartwheels with my eight year old daughter, not somebody else. To do that. I need to make sure and empower myself with data with what is going on with my body so that I can make a plan for how to fix it. Now I’m in the very fortunate position where I know how to do that. But I still follow the same process that I use for all of my clients. I still look at all of my blood chemistry markers. I still look at my DNA of my store. I test I don’t guess I still look at all of the science. I mean, I’m a scientist, I love all of that. And it’s really important that I build a protocol for myself, just as I do for my private clients. Does that make sense? I’m so passionate about this issue about empowering you to know what’s going on with your body. I think it’s really, really important that you know, and that the future of medicine is the patient is the doctor, the way to get in that position of empowerment is to know what you want. What are your goals? Do you want more energy? Do you want a calm, comfortable stomach? Do you want to make sure that you have really good pools and that you’re putting once, twice, three times a day. So these are all really good goals to have. And then once you have those goals, we need to make a plan for you where once you have these goals, you can determine which tests are required to make sure that you’re getting the answers that you’re looking for. So for the clients in my practice, I always recommend a DNA stool test, we look at full blood chemistry, and I never let anyone be satisfied. And if anyone ever tells you that everything’s normal, when you’re not feeling good, that is not okay, I would run for the hills, make sure you have a care network around you have practitioners that understand you that care enough to really do a deep dive into what’s going on with you and work collaboratively in partnership. Because as a practitioner, we need to know what your goals are, what we’re going for, we need to know where you are now, and what problem we’re trying to solve, and then lay out the path to get you there. So we lay out the path to get you from A to Z. And those steps are carefully laid out in a personalized plan for you. I want you to feel comfortable and confident that you know what’s going on in your body. And that you have a plan to work out how to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. And that’s wherever you are on the journey. So if you’re puffy, and really, really tired with no libido, you know, your rings don’t fit on. That’s okay. That’s where you are now. And there’s a journey to get you to where you want to be. But how can we go on that journey, if we don’t really know what’s going on with you. My approach is to test don’t guess, and I take all the data that I possibly can and work with you to make that plan. Super important to work with a practitioner that you connect with that you’ve got charisma with that believes in you, and you believe in them really important that you guys are on the same page in terms of the overall philosophy. Otherwise, it’s never going to work. Because if you got into something skeptical, if you go into something thinking I don’t really trust her or him, I don’t really think that’s going to work. Don’t waste your time and money. When you go in go all in because the practitioners are heart centered. Like I said earlier, we want to get your results so much. That’s why we’re here we’re here to help as many people as possible, because for me anyway, I know that the more people I help, the more good is going to come because the people I help are going to feel better. And then they can share their very special gifts with the world. I’m so excited about this my program, the ultimate gut and energy reset is a great example of that. It’s my exact scientific system which accelerates your impact your vitality, your metabolism, your performance, the people that go through my program, go from feeling bad to feeling better, wherever they’re at. And we do that through understanding what’s going on in their body and making a personalized plan to get them the transformation that they and you so truly deserve. You matter, you’re worth it. I hope this is inspiring for you to find out what’s going on in your body. And then make a plan for how to rebalance the body really wants to heal. It knows what to do. It just needs the right environment. So go ahead, go forth and conquer those imbalances so that you get the transformation you so truly deserve. I’ll see you next week. Bye bye.

If you made it to the end of this episode, celebrate yourself because it means you are truly dedicated to feeling better in your health, in your career in your relationships, and I am so proud of you. And if you want more of the feel better now. So tune in every Monday for new episodes and join our community on Instagram at Jackie Bowker for all All the behind the scenes action and more. Hey, why don’t you sign up for a chance to have your question answered at feel better institute.com/sign up that feel better institute.com/sign up, but most of all, please keep reaching to feel better because the world needs you to feel good. So you can share that very special gift that only you have. So with that said, See you soon. Here’s to feeling better. Now. Jackie Bowker