Gut Bacteria Rebalance - Step 2
Step 2
Rebuild your Gut Bacteria and Heal Your Gut
Follow for 2 – 4 months
Things you will need for this part:
Gut healer
Probiotic
Favourite fermented food
Lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and beans (plant-based fibre)
Now you’re ready for the good part, rebuilding your microbiome! To do so we need to:
1. Heal your gut - create a good environment for your new microbiome to thrive
2. Seed your gut with good bacteria
3. Feed your microbiome so it can thrive
Please note - this part involves adding a few key gut healing and microbiome building ingredients to your day. It does not involve continuing a restrictive diet for the duration. Start eating normally, focusing on lots of plant-based fibre :)
Heal Your Gut
These are foods that can help to soothe your gut and heal your intestinal lining. Some leakiness in your gut is common, especially if you suspect candida or mold has been growing in your gut. Leaky gut can lead to food sensitivities and inflammation.
If you’re not sure, do this step anyways. It’s helpful even if your gut is perfectly solid and healed.
You don’t need to use all of them, just find one or two that help with the symptoms you’re feeling.
Bone Broth or Beef Collagen (10g per day) –
Bone broth is full of minerals and gelatin (a.k.a. cooked collagen) which heals and seals your small and large intestinal lining. Collagen works in the same way but doesn’t supply the minerals.
L-Glutamine (5g per day) –
This is an amino acid that has been used for decades for gut healing. It’s very effective and is budget and vegan friendly.
Slippery Elm –
This fairly simple powder is like a soothing balm for your gut. It can soothe and heal any painful, irritated spots. It’s also a great regulator for your colon and helps with both constipation AND diarrhea.
Best for – pain, cramping, irregularity
How to take – 1 tsp to 1 tbsp in water (best shaken), 1 – 4 times per day. Give it 1 – 3 days to start working (although some feel some relief almost immediately)
Aloe Vera Juice -
Aloe vera juice on the inside is like putting aloe gel on a burn on your skin. It’s cooling and soothing. It’s great for a tender esophagus after acid reflux and it’s also helpful for healing leaky gut. It can be helpful after radiation as well.
Best for – acid reflux, leaky gut, gut healing following radiation
How to take – 2 - 4 ounces, 2x per day
Not for – anyone with latex or aloe allergies.
Seed Your Gut (Probiotics)
Your gut bacteria need regular seeding. In the past, your gut bacteria were seeded through the bacteria that is naturally found in water (streams and lakes), dirt (on food that was grown and dirt on your hands), and through poop contamination (which happened frequently before running water and toilets).
Today, we can mimic the natural seeding of our gut through probiotics. They’re important at the beginning of your journey and you can cut down your dose to 1 – 2x per week once your microbiome is thriving. This will keep it well-seeded.
*Spending time in nature and getting nice and dirty will help to seed your gut!
Look for a multi-strain probiotic supplement that contains human strains of bacteria. These strains are most likely to take up residence in the gut. Also, look for one that contains lots of bifidobacteria, this is the type we would have gotten through poor sanitation in the past.
If you’ve had a microbiome problem for a very long time or you weren’t breastfed as a baby, look for a supplement that contains “bifidis infantis”. It has become a more popular addition to adult probiotics recently because it’s an important base strain for the gut. It’s needed to create the right environment for a balanced ecosystem and many people didn’t get inoculated with it as a baby. That’s okay, you can seed your gut with it now :)
Good brands (just choose one):
Cultured Coconut – This is new on the market and looks FANTASTIC (many clients have been raving about it)! It’s a super potent probiotic (1 trillion per tbsp) and the fermentation process helps create a good environment in the gut for your newly built microbiome. Start slow, otherwise you can cause digestive issues. This also counts as your fermented food! (this is what I’ll be using :).
Renew Life Probiotics – this is a very popular line of probiotic supplements and they tend to give great results. Some contain b. infantis, but not all. Most are now shelf stable.
Genuine Health Probiotics – All of their products contain b. infantis and they’re very popular. All are shelf stable.
Flora’s Senior’s Probiotic – I’ve been using this one for over a decade when I work with someone with severe constipation or diarrhea with great success. Start here if you’re dealing with either of these issues. (Ignore the name, it’s for all ages)
How do you know if you’re taking the right probiotic?
Simple answer – your digestive system is happy (or happier). Your digestive symptoms should improve as well as your poops. If you’ve been on a probiotic for a month and you’ve seen no change (or you have new symptoms), try a new one.
Everyone’s microbiome is as unique as a fingerprint; therefore, you need to find the probiotic supplement that your gut likes best.
Feed your Microbiome (Prebiotics)
Prebiotic supplements are all the rage right now, but they’re completely unnecessary. It’s better to use your diet instead…a capsule of prebiotic fibre doesn’t make much of a difference inside your large microbiome (100 trillion cells)
Your gut bacteria eat the indigestible fibre in your diet and their favourite food is plant-based fibre (fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and beans). And, research has found that you create a strong and diverse community of bacteria by eating a diverse range of plant-based fibre.
But…we’re creatures of habit and tend to eat the same things day in and day out. Stretch your plant-based fibre boundaries by incorporating a few new fibres into your diet, like:
Beans
All seeds, chia seeds are especially good
Unique veggies, like Jerusalem artichoke (and any new veggie will do)
New-to-you fruits
All whole grains, like oats and quinoa
My challenge to you – try a new plant-based fibre source every week for the next two months, and then once a month for a year. Keep what you like, and you’ll quickly find that your diet has easily become much more diverse :)
Fertilize your Microbiome (Fermented Foods)
Fermented foods used to be a big part of our lives as humans. We’d ferment foods to store them and new storage techniques (like canning and freezing) have made fermentation unnecessary.
But your gut LOVES fermented food. It’s like Miracle Grow for your gut. Just one serving a day makes a HUGE difference!
Grab some unpasteurized sauerkraut, kefir, whole-milk yogurt, miso, tempeh, or kombucha, and enjoy some every day. Or, try your hand at fermenting your own veggies…at-home fermentation makes for a stronger and more diverse ecosystem in each spoonful!
Extra – Reduce Your Gut Bacteria Stressors
As you rebuild your microbiome, you want to make the environment as conducive as possible for a thriving ecosystem. Here are some common gut bacteria stressors:
Chlorinated water – chlorine kills bacteria, that’s why it’s in our water, but it kills the bacteria in our body too. Chlorine is easily removed through a carbon filter (like Brita) or leave a jug of water on the counter overnight (it’ll dissipate into the air).
Antibiotic residue in food – this has improved over the last few years, but antibiotics are still used in some food production. Farmed salmon is a huge source of antibiotic residue. And, you can still find some antibiotic residue in non-organic milk, eggs, and meat. If it’s in your budget, look for organic animal protein options whenever possible to avoid antibiotic residue.
Lack of plant-based fibre – your gut bacteria eats the indigestible fibre found in plant foods. If you don’t eat plants (fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and beans) then your colonies starve. Refined white sugar is hard to break down and also acts as a food to your gut bacteria…but that usually feeds the less-desirable strains.
How long should I keep this up?
Step 2 can be followed indefinitely, but your strictness can ease over time. Aim for 2 to 4 months of following it fairly strictly. Then move onto Step 3 – Long-term Gut Support
Got any questions or comments? Comment below, jump to our private Facebook Group, or the Ask Lisa page :).