Help Clients Heal with the Basic Gut Health Protocol_HHC July18

>> Hello and welcome back. Now that we've talked about all the ways in which the gut can malfunction, you're probably wondering how do I stop this out-of-control locomotive and help my clients fix their digestion. Don't worry. We've got the solutions for you too. In this lecture, we're going to discuss the basic gut health protocol, a tool that you can use to help your clients heal their digestive tract. Whether they only have one of the issues we discussed or all of them, this three-part protocol can be used as a universal starting point for getting them on the road to feeling great again. When your clients have issues with gut health, the ultimate goal is to optimize digestion and heal gut dysbiosis so that the immune system surrounding the gut can function optimally. This will reduce the inflammation in the gut and allow for optimal absorption of nutrients so your clients can start healing their hormones. Dr. Alessio Fasano, a leader in gut health and celiac disease research mentioned something really remarkable in the study he conducted back in 2014. He said, "The autoimmune process can be arrested if the interplay between genes and environmental triggers is prevented by reestablishing intestinal barrier function." This basically means that if you have a really strong intestinal barrier, you can potentially avoid autoimmune diseases because those harmful pathogens and undigested food won't get through the gut lining and trigger the immune system over and over again. So essentially, avoiding autoimmune disease is a matter of personal preventative care. This is good news for your clients because it means that they have control over their health in this area and they have the power to strengthen their gut walls. This is especially important information for clients who have an autoimmune condition or who are genetically disposed to developing one. So what can they do? The first step in the basic gut health protocol is to reduce exposure to inflammation causing agents and toxins. This will begin to heal the injured GI tract. I'm going to share with you seven easy ways to reduce exposure to inflammation causing agents and toxins. These are simple steps your clients can take, but don't throw them all at them at once. This could overwhelm your clients. Have them instead add these into their lifestyle one step at a time. You can introduce a new one for them to try each session, being sure to check in on how they are doing with sustaining the previous recommendations. Ready? Here they are. Eliminate inflammatory foods. The most common allergenic and inflammatory foods are wheat, dairy, soy, corn, and refined sugar. Conventionally raised meats are associated with inflammation too due to both their high omega-6 content and the use of antibiotics and other hormones in their production. Of course, the most inflammatory foods are also those that happen to be the hardest for many of our clients to give up since they are commonly found in so many of our comfort foods. It's not realistic for a client who eats the standard American diet to give up all of these foods at once. What works well is to really explain how and why these foods are affecting your client's health and then help them to be their own explorer. Encourage them to intentionally wean off one at a time, reducing their intake by crowding them out and adding healthy foods in their place. Your clients may not want to cut back on or give up their favorite foods, but remind them that if they are committed to improving their gut health, this is a necessary first step. Once your clients have a few days under their belt and start to feel a little better, they will also start to gain momentum. Continue to encourage them by highlighting their wins and suggesting they reward themselves each day with something non-food related, like a massage, a luxurious bubble bath, or a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And don't forget to remind them that this is not forever. These changes will add up to big results in the long-term. Number two, reduce exposure to inflammatory toxins. Alcohol, antibiotics, American diet pills, and synthetic drugs should be avoided unless they're absolutely necessary. These act as toxins in the systems, damaging the microbiome. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, like Advil and Aleve should be reduced or avoided altogether because they directly cause a weakened gut lining. Reducing or eliminating alcohol can be really hard, especially for clients who drink frequently. You might find that they struggle to comply with this recommendation because alcohol is very much woven into their social fabric. A glass of wine may help them wind down after a long day at work, a girls' night out usually involves a few drinks, and so does a date night or even a weekend brunch. Resistance to these changes, either initially or as they get into the process are common, even expected. This is where those coaching skills that you learned in your Health Coach Training Program will come into play. It is so important to really take the time to listen to and learn about your client, not just about their symptoms and hormone health concerns but about all aspects of their lives. It's your role as their coach to collaborate on a holistic action plan that anticipates and addresses any barriers or challenges that may come up in the process. Help your clients get excited about making changes by setting clear goals and continually highlighting their wins so they can take ownership of their health. You'll also want to explore your client's safety net of support before jumping into any big changes. Is his or her partner on board? Do they have a close friend or group of friends who can provide accountability and encouragement when the going gets tough? Number three, drink bone broth. Bone broth is a digestive aid and helps support and rebuild the gut. It heals and seals the gut according to Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride, Author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome. The gelatin found in bone broth is actually what's responsible for this healing and sealing. It essentially fills in the holes of the leaky gut and should be a part of any gut healing regimen. To ensure quality, we suggest teaching your clients how to make their own bone broth or have them order it from a trusted provider. Vegetarian or vegan clients will want to skip this step since bone broth is derived from animal bones. Introduce gelatin or collagen into the diet. Talk to your clients about introducing gelatin or collagen hydrolysate into their diet. Gelatin is an ingredient in bone broth that can be consumed on its own or added to bone broth for additional healing. Collagen hydrolysate is a slightly more processed version of gelatin. It can be added to bone broth or to cold beverages. Both help improve intestinal permeability or leaky gut and improve the mucosal layer in the gut. While they're relatively equal in their health benefits, collagen might be easier to digest. Collagen can be dissolved in cold liquids whereas gelatin causes liquids to gel. It's basically the same thing that Jell-O is made of. Collagen and gelatin are both derived from animal bones. So as with bone broth, your vegetarian and vegan clients will likely want to skip this step. You can let them know that these substances are healing for the gut, but be sure that they are fully aware that they are animal-based. Number five, introduce L-glutamine into your diet. L-glutamine is an amino acid that feeds the cells of your gut lining. It's your gut's favorite food and is really good at healing the gut permeability issues. It's also found in bone broth. Glutamine should only be taken for a short period of time. It can be over stimulating to the brain cells. If your client has a history of neurological issues, they should avoid this one altogether. Even healthy clients should only take it for 28 days. That should be enough time to heal the gut if they're doing everything else in the protocol. So if your client is working on adopting the protocol one step at a time, you'll have them integrate this step last. Not all L-glutamine products are vegan or vegetarian, so it's important that your clients carefully check labels to determine which product is most suitable for them. Consume turmeric. Curcumin is the active ingredient in the spice turmeric. Your clients can pick this up for just a few dollars from the spice aisle at their local grocery store. It reduces overall inflammation and works wonders for pelvic pain, migraines, and joint pain. Turmeric is not absorbed well by the body without the presence of fat and black pepper. One of the best ways to take it is mixed with coconut oil and black pepper. Number seven, include zinc and quercetin supplements. These two supplements can also help heal and seal the intestinal lining. Zinc carnosine is a nutrient that is essential for repairing the damaged cells that line the intestines. Carnosine is both an amino acid and a powerful antioxidant. It's believed to protect organs from stress. Quercetin is a flavonoid found abundantly in onions, apples, and leafy greens. It is healing for those with leaky gut, and it prevents allergies and pain by preventing histamine release. So to recap, seven things your clients can do to reduce exposure to inflammatory agents and toxins are eliminate inflammatory foods, reduce exposure to inflammatory toxins, drink bone broth, introduce collagen or gelatin into the diet, take L-glutamine, consume turmeric, and take zinc and quercetin supplements. The second step in basic gut health protocol is to balance the good bacteria in the gut. There are six things your clients can do to help grow good bacteria. They can eat fermented foods, take probiotic capsules, take digestive enzymes, chew food thoroughly, add fiber to their diet, and consume resistant starch. Let's explore each of these in more detail. Fermented foods. Probiotic rich fermented foods have been found to improve the health of the microbiome. We're talking about foods like refrigerated sauerkraut, kimchi, or any kind of fermented vegetables, the wider the variety the better. It's important to note that fermented and aged foods, like cheese, are high in histamines. These are compounds that trigger allergy-like symptoms in people who are histamine intolerant. Hives, headaches, and sneezing are common reactions. So if your client is sensitive to histamines recommend probiotics instead of fermented foods. Probiotic capsules. The recommended dose is 10 to 50 billion colony forming units or CFUs per day taken with food. The severity of symptoms will determine how long a client will need to take them, but a good starting point is to take them for 28 days at a time, two to three times a year to maintain gut health. It's always best to have them start with a smaller dose and work their way up to higher dosages. If a client has never taken probiotics before, have them start with 10 billion CFUs per day. This will help them to avoid any adverse reactions such as bloating, gas, skin rashes, and other common side effects of taking too many probiotics at once. Digestive enzymes. These are one of the easiest and most beneficial digestion helpers. They will help the body break down food more efficiently so that it can then be absorbed and utilized. They are particularly helpful for clients who experience gas and bloating after meals or feel full after only a few bites of food. Recommend that your client take one capsule before each meal for 28 days. Number four, thorough chewing. How many times would you say you chew each bite of food before swallowing? Did you know that, for optimal digestion, you should chew your food 20 to 30 times with each mouthful? In our fast-paced lives, many of us don't slow down enough at meal times to do this. It is likely that many of your clients are not chewing this much and they probably don't realize that this can help improve their gut health condition. Proper chewing is an important part of mindful eating. And while it can seem like an annoying task at first, it becomes a habit over time. It also helps get the digestive enzymes in the saliva working. After chewing properly, your client is likely to experience less bloating, burping, and stomach pain. An added bonus is that you can remind them that they will get to savor their food for longer. Fiber, encourage your clients to get that fiber into their diets, especially if their bowels are slow moving, it's important that your clients are getting at least 35 to 45 grams of fiber each day. Make sure they start slowly to give their system a chance to adjust, otherwise they may experience constipation, gas, and bloating. The GI tract can reprogram itself to adjust to the types of food that it is processing, so a slow start ensures a smooth transition. For proper absorption of food, optimal transit time should be 12 to 24 hours from the point of consumption. This means that if you eat at 7:00pm, you should ideally have a bowel movement the following morning between 7:00am and 12:00pm. Number six, foods containing prebiotic resistant starch. Research is showing that resistant starch selectively stimulates the good bacteria in our intestines, helping to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria. There are a number of foods that contain resistant starch such as lentils, white beans, chickpeas, cooked plantains, and potatoes that have been cooled like in potato salad. Your client can also try unmodified potato starch, which is one of the best sources of resistant starch. This can be added into smoothies or juices because it's best when not heated. Please note that if your clients feel bloated, constipated, or gassy after trying out prebiotic foods, they might not tolerate them. This is totally okay. They can still heal without them. Step three in the basic gut health protocol is to light the digestive fires. In other words, it is crucial that the stomach is producing adequate levels of hydrochloric acid to break down food properly and keep harmful bacteria out. The following steps will help your clients increase their stomach acid levels. First, it's important to determine whether your client has low stomach acid. Pay attention to your client's symptoms. If he or she experiences frequent heartburn, acid reflux, burping, bloating, gas, or even nausea after eating, then it is likely that he or she has a stomach acid issue. Refer your client to a trained functional medicine practitioner or gastroenterologist who is knowledgeable in digestive health and stomach acid production. They will perform clinical tests to determine stomach acid levels. If your client has seen a doctor and test positive for stomach acid deficiency or if they frequently experience the symptoms above, you can guide them through the following set of suggestions to stimulate acid production in the stomach. They are ranked in order of good, better, and best. Let's begin with the good options, which include lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Start each morning out with a glass of warm water with fresh lemon or lime. Instruct your client to squeeze a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice into a glass of warm but not boiling water. Drink it first thing in the morning before eating anything. The other good option is to suggest your client to add one tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar to an 8 ounce glass of warm water and drink it about 15 to 30 minutes before meals. They can even have it after meals to stop heartburn if this is a problem they experience. Please note that apple cider vinegar should not be used on a long-term basis because of the potential damage to tooth enamel. The better option for building stomach acid is digestive bitters. Suggest that your client take bitter herbs or digestive bitters, which have been used in traditional cultures for thousands of years to improve digestion. Research is somewhat conflicting, but the ability of bitters to increase the flow of digestive juices like hydrochloric acid, bile, and pepsin has been confirmed in some studies. Look for digestive bitters products containing some or all of these ingredients commonly used in herbology, dandelion, fennel, ginger, beet root, goldenseal root, milk thistle, peppermint, wormwood, and yellow dock. Your client can take a dose of bitters according to the label or directions from an herbalist before each meal to help get the digestive juices flowing. And finally, the best option for restoring stomach acid production is to supplement with betaine. It's important that any client consuming any anti-inflammatory medicines do not take HCL. Anti-inflammatory medicines include corticosteroids, aspirin, and ibuprofen or other NSAIDs. These drugs can damage the GI lining and supplementing with HCL could aggravate it further, increasing the risk of bleeding or ulcer. Clients with any kind of stomach ulcer should not take HCL. I want to remind you that, as a Health Coach, you shouldn't be diagnosing any medical condition, even if a client presents with glaringly obvious gut-related condition and you feel 99% that you know what it is. Diagnosing is always outside the scope of your practice. Instead, refer your client to a trained medical professional for proper testing and diagnosis. So to recap, the basic gut health protocol is a three-step process for helping your clients reclaim their gut health. These three steps are reducing exposure to inflammation-causing agents and toxins to improve leaky gut, reestablishing the beneficial bacteria in the gut, and improving stomach acid production. Each step is made up of a series of recommendations that clients can implement step by step to gain control and improve their gut health. The major takeaway for you to remember is that your clients should start slowly with no more than two to three recommendations at a time when trying to heal the digestion. Otherwise, they can become overwhelming for them. As much as both you and they want to see fast improvements, it is most important that they adopt a plan that they can manage long term without giving up. They won't be successful if they try to do it all overnight. Start by having your clients adopt the components of step one in the protocol and then, after your client is seeing improvements, guide them on step two. Step three should be initiated once steps one and two become routine and familiar. Once they progress through the protocol, your clients will likely see major improvements in their gut health, and ultimately, in their overall quality of life. Be sure to take the quiz and review the handout for this module and then come on over to the Facebook group and let us know what you learned. Do you now have a better understanding of the steps to take to improve your clients' gut health? Share with us in the Facebook group. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you again soon.