What's Up With Your Gut

I have done quite a few episodes on gut health, leaky gut, healing the gut, and food sensitivity testing but since going through these topics again in the Integrative Health Practitioner certification, specifically in regards to food sensitivity testing and how to utilize those results, I thought a few follow-up episodes here would be necessary.

Gut health is a huge foundation of your overall health; you’ll learn more about that here and in upcoming episodes while I do this gut mini-series.

I can’t say I’ve changed my perspective much on these topics. Honestly, a lot of what I had already studied on my own still holds true. But I have seen the usefulness of food sensitivity testing when working with a practitioner who understands how to use the results and heal your gut properly.

Let's start with the basics in this episode to kick off a gut health mini-series!

• Apply for Simply Healthy Academy
• Free Simply Nurtured Hormones Guide
• Ways to work with us
• Follow on Instagram @simplyhealthykacey or Facebook Simply Healthy Kacey

Transcript

[00:10] Kacey K: Welcome to the simply healthy you. Podcast, your place for overcoming overwhelm with your health to reach your fullest potential. I'm your host, Casey Canaan. I am so pumped to have you here. I'm a recovering, burnt out high achiever who is diagnosed with an autoimmune thy a condition by my early thirty s.

[00:27] Kacey K: I didn't realize that running myself ragged.

[00:29] Kacey K: In the name of being superwoman and determined to achieve all the things in life was killing my body. I created this podcast so that you don't have to continue the struggle like I did for over a decade. I sat down, studied the data, and simplified what it means to prioritize your own health needs so that you can be the best for all the things on your to do.

[00:50] Kacey K: List.

[00:50] Kacey K: Everything you hear on this podcast. I have tested and implemented in my own super pact, Life with my Family, to bring you the tips, tools and strategies that will keep your life simply healthy.

[01:06] Kacey K: Hello friend. Welcome to another episode of the simply healthy you. Podcast. I'm so grateful to be infiltrating your brain with today's topic. It's gonna be a good one. My name is Casey Kane. I'm an integrative health practitioner and certified holistic nutritionist with a Master's in Psychology and I'm here to bring you science based conversations to help you live a healthier and happier life. I have done quite a few episodes on Gut health, on leaky gut, on healing the Gut, and food sensitivity testing. But since going through these topics again in the Integrative health practitioner certifications that I have been working on over the past few months, specifically in regards to food sensitivity testing and how do you utilize those results? I thought it would be helpful to do some follow up episodes here because really the last ones that I did, I looked quickly back through my podcast episodes are almost a year old at this point. Gut health is such a huge foundation of your overall health and you'll learn more about that here today and in upcoming episodes while I do this little Gut miniseries. I can't say that I've changed my perspective much on these topics, but I do think there's a little bit more nuance to the conversation that I wanted to bring up by doing a new miniseries here on the Gut. I think it's such a popular subject right now on the internet, in holistic health spaces, functional health spaces, integrative health spaces, all the ones that I belong to and that I've been studying. I'm actually pretty excited that most of what I have been sharing about gut health, most of the things that I have already studied on my own and through the various certifications that I have done, still holds true when it comes to Gut health. So I'm pretty pumped about that. I am always challenging myself, following people from different perspectives and different modalities of health just to make sure that I am kind of staying up to date on what the best information is out there that we have and not kind of falling down a rabbit hole somewhere and kind of putting myself on any extreme when it's just not necessary. Right? If there is a reason, a good medical reason to be going to one extreme or the other, I'm going to tell you. Right. So I was really happy at least that in my most recent studies that a lot of what I have already previously studied still holds true. But I have seen the usefulness of food sensitivity testing when you're working with a practitioner that actually understands how to use the results and heal your gut properly. Which, if you did listen to my episodes a year ago about gut health and about food sensitivity testing, I echoed the same sentiment. But I also didn't really fully understand how food sensitivity testing could be useful to me. It seemed pretty extra. It seemed like a waste of a couple of now I really understand that there is not could be there is more validity when you're using the appropriate lab and you're going through the appropriate practitioner. So I know I said that back then too, but that is really something I want to stress. Most of the food sensitivity tests that you can get out there on the Internet and get to your home are not going to be the same quality standards as the one that I most recently learned about and I'll talk about in an upcoming episode. First, I want to start by understanding what exactly is the gut and what goes on that makes it so foundational to your health. Your gut is actually your small intestines, not your stomach, although both are obviously a part of your overall digestive system. Your gut isn't the only place in the system where you might be facing issues, but it is definitely one of the most common root causes of disease I see my clients experiencing. Your gut is essentially your first line of defense against pathogens and it has very sensitive walls that filter everything going through your system. This is why your gut is so important and is really such a foundation to your overall health, because that's your first line of defense. When your first line of defense is damaged in some way, well, you could get a lot of shit going on in your body from that. And we'll talk more about that in a minute. In your gut wall are something called tight junctions. And stick with me here on the science because I do think it's important you understand because it will allow you to better spot the bullshit on the internet that isn't going to help you, that isn't all these fucking things sold for your gut health and gut healing and everything. I think you'll be able, when you understand how the system works and you understand what leaky gut actually is, you should better be able to spot the bullshit. So that's my goal for you here. So in your gut wall are something called tight junctions. Healthy tight junctions are like a well sealed wall where the only thing getting through is properly broken down. Nutrients that then go straight to your bloodstream and are sent to the necessary places in the body. The larger particles of food, microorganisms, pathogens, toxins, et cetera, all the different things that pass through our digestive system on any given day. Then all will pass through your bowels. This is why your bowel movements are so damn important. You need to be pooping at least once a day, hopefully more than that. Unhealthy tight junctions, most commonly known as leaky gut, are when there are gaps or spaces between the cells, where now those large particles of food, those microorganisms, those pathogens, those toxins can go right into your bloodstream, triggering inflammatory, immunological, autoimmune and neoplastic reactions. These reactions can feel like a whole host of things. They can feel like everything from fatigue to muscle and joint pain, to skin rashes, mood disorders, learning disorders, headaches and migraines, brain fog, sleep apnea and Snoring fibromyalgia, acid reflux, water retention, weight gain or rapid weight loss, food cravings, and autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's and celiacs and rheumatoid arthritis. Wow, that's a lot, right? But again, when you think about it, it makes sense. Your gut is your first line of defense. When there's damage to that wall and there are all of these pathogens and large particles and all sorts of things getting straight into your bloodstream that's getting carried throughout your body. And some of this is going to depend on genetic predisposition, right? What gets inflamed for you and what gets triggered for you will depend on genetic predisposition like myself. I am obviously genetically predisposed to thyroid conditions. And so for me, whenever this was happening years ago, for me, whenever this started, I was obviously triggering that inflammation in my body that was then presenting itself as Hashimoto's, right? Now, I am always going to be predisposed to Hashimoto's. And I know I've said this in many episodes before when it comes to autoimmune conditions, but I can fully control whether or not I am symptomatic. I can shut that switch off, turn that inflammation off, and be able to be completely symptom free. And I do believe that with all of these autoimmune conditions, in the case of celiacs, that is a gluten issue, right? It doesn't mean that if you consume gluten, at some point it's going to be okay. No, that's not the case, right. The key is turning off the inflammation markers that are turning the switch on and making you symptomatic for celiac. And all of these really affect our nutrient absorption, right? This is our first line of defense. This is where we absorb, like I said, when that wall is working properly, it's absorbing all the nutrients that we need for our body, and that's what's going to get sent throughout our bloodstream, throughout our body. And so this is why we see in cases of autoimmune, in particular ones like celiacs or even crohn's, where it does directly affect the digestive system. This is why we see really poor nutrient absorption. And this is where we start to then add on to the inflammation, nutrient deficiencies and things like that. I mean, you can see how this can really cascade. This is why, especially in Simply Healthy Academy, but with all of my clients, that we really work on the foundation of gut health and figuring out what the issue is here when my clients are experiencing these different symptoms. How we can get to the root of it. And if the gut is the root cause of it, how we can heal that as fast as possible. So how does this happen in the first place? How do we get these unhealthy tight junctions? How do we get leaky gut? This intestinal wall damage can be caused by gluten or dairy, depending on the individual. Those are some of the most common inflammatory food sensitivities that can really damage a person's gut. Food sensitivities in general, they can be either temporary or permanent. And we'll talk about that more in a minute. The use of NSAIDs, the use of antibiotics, alcohol, birth control, chronic stress, chlorine and fluoride, and other environmental toxins like herbicides and pesticides, and even chemotherapy. This is not an exhaustive list, but it really can be a battle when we don't know what we're up against to keep our gut healthy. And there are a lot of things in our environment now yay for us that weren't always there. And that's why gut health has become such a topic of conversation, because it is so important and it has never been more under attack than in the current modern day. When our gut continues to become damaged, it increases that intestinal permeability or that leaky gut and those tight junctions become unhealthy, creating those gaps, the pathogens escape. And this could include things too, like yeast and fungi. And I know I mentioned food particles, proteins, bacteria, toxins, and those things move into the bloodstream. Our immune system then becomes triggered because these are foreign particles. These are not supposed to be in our bloodstream. And there are a few different kinds of reactions that we might see here if we were to test at this time. So there's an IgM, big I little g big m reaction. And those are the short term initial reactions that the immune system will have to these foreign substances. Over time, these reactions will become IgG big I little g, big g immune reactions because of the chronic exposure. And this is what creates that inflammation in the body that I was talking about. This is where we see the right kind of food sensitivity testing becoming really helpful because depending on the markers, we can see if the body is in early or later stages of inflammation. Now, I do want to make a distinction that there is also Ige reactions, big I, little g, big E reactions. And these are actual food allergies. These are not ones that we mess with. This affects about 4% of the population and it's when the body sees a food as harmful and attacks it, which then releases histamines and other chemicals. And that's what causes that immediate reaction. We're used to seeing with food allergies things like hives, mild to severe swelling, red itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion, itchy, mouth, tongue or lip swelling, throat tightness, trouble speaking, impaired breathing, rapid breathing, coughing or wheezing, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, weak pulse, loss of consciousness and anxiety. Now, these are all possible allergic reactions and they happen immediately to within a couple of hours of consuming the allergen. The most common allergies that I am sure you've heard about are milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and strawberries are actually a growing one in that category of food allergies. Now, food sensitivities are very different and that's what I am talking about here and will be talking about in this gut miniseries. Food sensitivities affect about 90% of the population either temporarily or permanently. This is because in many cases of food sensitivities, when you heal the gut, many of the food sensitivities will disappear. Now that some may be permanent, there are some people that even when their gut is in top shape, there are certain foods that are just triggering for their body. And this is very bio individual. And this is where food sensitivity testing on more than one occasion can be really helpful. Both in the early process of identifying what the triggers are and then after going through a healing protocol, testing again to see if there are still any triggers. And there might be some foods that very common, everyday foods, things that you're eating on a regular basis, that could be something that is just triggering for your specific body. And unfortunately, you may not be able to eat that food. Or if you do, one of the ways that I talk with my clients about it, as we're figuring it out without testing, because I didn't have testing available until now, one of the ways that we do it is to spread out your inflammatory foods. So this is obviously when we're eating more ultra processed foods, or my clients want to go out to dinner or something. They're not preparing their own foods, they're not sure about all the ingredients, or they want to have something later at night. Or even if we're just talking about something basic like having alcohol, we know that those are going to be more inflammatory for our systems in general, regardless of food sensitivities. And so my recommendation is always to do those kinds of things two to three days apart. So you're allowing your body and system to have time to recover and you're not just continuing in this onslaught of inflammation because that's where we see these chronic issues coming up. Food sensitivities affect about 90% of the population, either temporarily or permanently. This is when individual components of food cannot be properly processed and assimilated by the digestive system. The reactions from food sensitivities are not immediate. Remember this. Remember this. They are not immediate. That is not a food sensitivity reaction. These reactions will show up two to three days after consuming the food. And the range of symptoms is that huge range that I mentioned earlier. This does not include those immediate digestive symptoms you might have from foods. So I want you to really pay attention to that because I think there's a lot of products that are marketed out there to help you with gut healing, and they talk about bloating and gas and diarrhea, those kinds of things. That is an immediate digestive reaction, and that does not have anything to do with your actual gut. Like, that does not have to do with food sensitivities. I mean, I shouldn't say it doesn't have to do with your gut. It doesn't have to do with food sensitivities. There is a different digestive related issue going on there, right? Obviously still a digestive issue, but that is not a food sensitivity reaction. So separate those in your brain. Digestive issues are different than food sensitivity issues. Okay, I hope that clarifies that for you because I know that is a common misunderstanding. And like I said, I see a lot of people and companies kind of capitalizing on, oh, you have bloating and gas, use this to heal your gut. And it's like that might not be the thing that helps you with those digestive symptoms and or is not the thing that's healing your gut. Right? Two separate things. Two things that we have to look at very differently. There's different protocols that you would use to heal those different issues and figure out what the root cause of those different issues are. The most common food sensitivities are gluten or wheat, dairy, corn, eggs, whites, especially nuts, soy, fish and shellfish, yeast, like bakers and brewers yeast, beans and chocolate. I know it's kind of depressing chocolate's on that list, but again, these are just some of the most common ones. It's not the same as food allergies. And you may have a food sensitivity to something not on this list. In looking at the case studies of the food sensitivity tests that I just finished in my integrative health practitioner certification, there's several different case studies that he gives us to study and figure out what we would recommend as a protocol and all that kind of stuff. There are a lot of variations of this. There are a lot of reasons why a food sensitivity test might come back with a whole bunch of things showing up as inflammatory. There's reasons why a food sensitivity test would come back with showing nothing as reactive. And again, you really need to have someone who understands what that actually means. Because in the case of everything being elevated, it would not be because all of those foods are triggering you. That is a system that is on high alert, and there are a few different things that could be contributing to that. And again, there might be a different protocol that goes along with that because you can't eliminate everything that you're eating. That's the thing that I hate about food sensitivity testing and all the people out there trying to use it. Telling people just to eliminate the foods that show up high on their food sensitivity testing, not giving them a proper gut healing protocol and not giving them a proper procedure for reintroducing these foods. Because you should try to reintroduce all of these foods unless it's something that you never plan on eating, right? In my case, if for some reason there was an animal product that showed up on my food sensitivity test, like dairy or something that showed up on my food sensitivity test is high, I'm never going to eat dairy. So there's no point in me even trying to reintroduce it if I'm not going to eat it in my daily life. And I'll be honest, dairy is a high one for most people. Most people have an inflammatory response to dairy, and it's one that most people should not be consuming on a regular basis. But if any of the symptoms that I mentioned before sound familiar to you and you haven't been able to identify a root cause of those issues and that's a big list. I know it's a big list. And you're like, Casey. Really? Like, my gut could be the cause of all of this. Yes, it might be. It absolutely might be. Gut health is something you have to be looking at. If you have not been able to figure out what is going on with your current health and some of the symptoms that you might be experiencing, especially if you have some of these more inflammatory foods, some of these foods that are high for food sensitivities, and you're eating them on a regular basis and you don't think that they're having any impact on your health, you really should look at something like food sensitivity testing. If you eat some of the high sensitivity foods, I highly encourage you to monitor how you feel two to three days after consuming them. So much of the time we go through these episodes of fatigue or brain fog or migraines and all that kind of stuff, and we don't necessarily look back at, hey, what were we doing two to three days ago? What did I eat two to three days ago? Doing some food journaling can be really helpful. Just jotting down the things that you had and then checking to see on a day when you're consuming some of these highly sensitive foods or highly sensitive foods. Foods have emotions. Now, the days that you're consuming some of these high food sensitivities. You can jot down what you're eating that day, put down the date, what time you ate it, and then in two to three days, check in with your symptoms and how you're feeling. This can be a really simple way to start to see if this might be an issue for you. And it is. For about 90% of the population, food sensitivities are an issue, like I said, either temporarily or permanently. Some of these things for each individual, some of these things might be around always. It just might be a trigger for you based on your bio individuality. But for a lot of my clients, many of these food sensitivities go away over time. And that's the goal. The goal is to heal the gut and make most of these things go away so that you can eat a well balanced diet and eat a variety of foods and not have it be triggering to your system all the time. This is really where I believe that food sensitivity testing again with the right practitioner who understands how to best interpret the results, and from a high quality lab, because not all labs are created equally, this can be really beneficial in your healing process. In the next episode, I'll talk more about what the food sensitivity test measures, how you can go about using those results, and how to heal your gut. I want to keep these a little bit shorter and concise, pun intended, a little bit more digestible. Oh, my gosh. Okay, I need to wrap up this episode clearly, so that will be coming up next in this Gut Health miniseries. Thanks, as always for listening, and I will catch you next time.

[21:59] Kacey K: Thank you so much for listening to the Simply Healthy You podcast. If these episodes are resonating with you, go ahead and click that subscribe button and leave a review with all the great nuggets that you're taking away from today's episode. I promise you I read every single one of them, as your feedback is really valuable to me in creating future episodes. As your host, I look forward to having you join me for the next episode. But in the meantime, remember, keep it simple and eat more plants.