Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Shit Talk Podcast.
Speaker: I'm your host, Liz Broder.
Speaker: Are you ready to shoot the shit?
Speaker: I'm sort of sick of hearing about resolutions.
Speaker: I'm recording this first week of January.
Speaker: I have to say I've been somewhat flabbergasted by the amount of people that have asked me if I have resolutions.
Speaker: Maybe I'm being...
Speaker: dramatic or oversensitive.
Speaker: I think that's kind of a personal question.
Speaker: Like if I had a really good friend asked me, that'd be different.
Speaker: But I've had like coworkers ask me, random people ask me, I'm like, well, excuse me, maybe I do, maybe I don't.
Speaker: And I don't want to share them with you.
Speaker: Am I the only one who feels that way?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Like my answer when people say that, because I always have goals I set for the new year and things I want to accomplish, things I want to continue and things that I want to grow off of the progress I've made.
Speaker: I don't consider them resolutions.
Speaker: I don't call them resolutions.
Speaker: I call them goals.
Speaker: For whatever reason to me, resolutions are like a January thing and then everyone falls off and it's like very much associated with starting in the new year and failing.
Speaker: I do have an episode.
Speaker: I remember scripting it from last year with all the stats and resolutions and I don't remember exactly.
Speaker: It's interesting if you are someone who's interested in resolutions and why they fail and like a better way to go about it, like I encourage you to go back and listen.
Speaker: But
Speaker: it's something like 70% of them, like in the data, it was like, these people all set resolutions.
Speaker: And then by like six weeks into the year, like mid-February, like 70% of the people polled that they were no longer adhering to the resolution.
Speaker: So maybe it's just what I associate it with, but I have goals like I always have goals and I build upon those goals.
Speaker: I don't call them resolutions, I call them goals
Speaker: The other thing that's just coming to me now is perhaps because I do have goals all year, I don't set resolutions because I already have things in motion.
Speaker: I feel like resolutions are for people like you have to like force it like, okay, it's New Year.
Speaker: I have to set a resolution and then they just fall off.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I don't mean that rudely.
Speaker: I'm not saying everyone falls off.
Speaker: I just feel like most people who do resolutions, it's like expected that like you do it for a few weeks and then just stop.
Speaker: So for anyone out there
Speaker: nosy and curious wondering, have I set resolutions?
Speaker: I haven't, but I do have goals, new goals and goals from last year and previous years that I'm continuing to work on.
Speaker: I would, I'm sorry, I would never ask someone that.
Speaker: And it's funny because one of my coworkers, who I actually like very much, asked me that.
Speaker: And I gave her like a professional answer.
Speaker: But it was clear she just wanted me to ask her back.
Speaker: So she was like, yes, I have 13 resolutions.
Speaker: And now I'm her accountability coach and helping her go on midday walks, which I already do.
Speaker: But, you know, she's coming with me for herself.
Speaker: And it was really funny because, you
Speaker: She just wanted to talk about it.
Speaker: And I have to say, it was really cute.
Speaker: Like, I appreciate when people are excited and passionate about their goals.
Speaker: And what I give her credit for is she's clearly excited about the vision of who she wants to be, what she wants to become.
Speaker: And that's something I am always reevaluating with myself, but that's something I constantly discuss and work on with clients and patients as well is like,
Speaker: Who do you want to be?
Speaker: What does that person do?
Speaker: What are the steps you need to take to get there?
Speaker: What kind of decisions would they make?
Speaker: So in any given moment, whether it's a food choice, whether it's a behavior choice, whether it's staying in bed longer or passing up plans, it could be literally any aspect of your life.
Speaker: The person you want to be or become, what decision would they make in that moment?
Speaker: And if you are already exactly who you want to be, exactly where you want to be, what decision needs to be made to maintain that?
Speaker: So
Speaker: That's something I work on all the time.
Speaker: And I'm just offering that framing of resolutions and decision making for anyone who does have resolutions or goals and needs to look at it that way.
Speaker: But anyway, I, as a dietitian, don't love the term reset.
Speaker: Again, it's one of those things I find kind of gets associated for me with resolutions, like
Speaker: We're gonna reset and then everything's gonna be perfect.
Speaker: And then, oh, I'm gonna fall out of it.
Speaker: So I'm gonna have to do a reset again.
Speaker: Like, I don't love the way they typically go.
Speaker: However, it's a new year.
Speaker: And while I kind of say the same thing over and over because it's constantly the same information, the same things that damage the gut, the same things that are healthy for the gut, the same things you should do and take to support your gut.
Speaker: I mean, I don't say the same thing over and over, but I'm sure anyone who long-term listeners
Speaker: are aware of the ongoing themes in the episodes.
Speaker: So a lot of that is going to be reiterated for those who are listeners, but I'm just packaging it in a way that if you're someone who wants to be more in touch with your gut, if you're someone who wants to improve your bowel movements, perhaps decrease bloat, be more in tune with hunger and satiety, whatever, that's what we're talking about today.
Speaker: How do you reset the gut microbiome if you feel like your gut is totally fucked or
Speaker: you've been doing things, unhealthy behaviors or things that are not supporting your gut.
Speaker: That's what I'm talking about today.
Speaker: New year, new gut, new me.
Speaker: Let me tell you, a new gut, there's nothing that's going to make a new you more than a new gut.
Speaker: I truly believe that because as I always say, if your gut is fucked, you're fucked.
Speaker: Here we go.
Speaker: What's most damaging to the gut?
Speaker: and your microbiome and therefore everything, your mental health, your immune system, literally everything.
Speaker: First is antibiotics.
Speaker: Most people know that.
Speaker: Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections.
Speaker: What does that mean?
Speaker: It means they kill bacteria.
Speaker: They don't differentiate good bacteria from bad bacteria.
Speaker: So when you take them, you kill your microbiome.
Speaker: While it's helpful, say you have whatever bacterial infection and it kills it, good.
Speaker: We needed that to happen.
Speaker: It also kills.
Speaker: Everything else was killed.
Speaker: All the positive gut microbes in your gut microbiome.
Speaker: So every microbiome.
Speaker: They're all dead.
Speaker: No more bugs.
Speaker: So what do you do?
Speaker: You have to rebuild them.
Speaker: And just brief side note, this is why for a lot of women, if they take antibiotics, perhaps they will experience a yeast infection.
Speaker: This is because all of the bacteria is killed off, which then gives
Speaker: the yeast, yeast in your system, the opportunity to thrive.
Speaker: And then there becomes this huge imbalance because there's no bacteria and a shit ton of yeast and it leads to yeast infections.
Speaker: And men can experience yeast infections as well, obviously not vaginally, but for women, a lot of people do experience that when taking antibiotics.
Speaker: So that's just something I wanted to note as I go down this list.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Next, what's most damaging to your gut?
Speaker: Inflammation, you knew I was going to say that because that's the most damaging to everything.
Speaker: Inflammation is fueled by processed foods, by sugar, and by alcohol.
Speaker: Sugar and processed foods tend to go hand in hand because most processed foods have a shit ton of added sugar.
Speaker: So if you're someone who's looking to take inflammation down, gradually cut out sugar and processed foods, and of course alcohol, next.
Speaker: Next.
Speaker: Most damaging to the gut, lack of fiber.
Speaker: So this is twofold.
Speaker: Tying into the processed foods.
Speaker: Processed foods lack fiber.
Speaker: Fiber is found in fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Speaker: Natural foods, whole foods.
Speaker: So oftentimes, when you're eating more processed foods, you're eating less whole foods, and when you're eating less whole foods, you're getting less fiber.
Speaker: As we know, fiber is what fuels the gut.
Speaker: Fiber is what supports the gut's microbiome, feeds your gut's healthy bacteria.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: Not enough fiber, not supporting the gut.
Speaker: Lastly is stress.
Speaker: Stress is damaging to everything.
Speaker: There's something called oxidative stress, which...
Speaker: It's like, I see it as just like, it ages your cells.
Speaker: It literally just wears everything down.
Speaker: Now that's caused by different things that can be caused by different foods, caused by alcohol.
Speaker: It's also just caused by emotional stress, the body's response to stress.
Speaker: Stress wears every system down.
Speaker: It wears every organ down, including your gut, including your gut's microbiome.
Speaker: So stress often goes overlooked.
Speaker: I don't know why.
Speaker: But that's my fourth and final factor that damages the gut the most.
Speaker: So antibiotics, inflammation, lack of fiber, and stress.
Speaker: Okay, now I'm going to talk about the action plan to take.
Speaker: This is the gut reset part.
Speaker: So I talked about what's most damaging.
Speaker: Now I'm going to talk about you may or may not need all of these action items.
Speaker: You may need some.
Speaker: Some may not be applicable to you.
Speaker: Let's start with addressing antibiotics.
Speaker: If you're someone who has chronically been on antibiotics or you just finished a round of antibiotics, what you're going to want to do is repopulate your gut's flora because you just killed off all that bacteria.
Speaker: So hopefully you're feeling better and all the bad bacteria was killed.
Speaker: Whatever the infection was is gone.
Speaker: Now you want to focus on rebuilding the gut and the gut's microbiome.
Speaker: So
Speaker: What does that look like?
Speaker: The first probably easiest thing to do is add in a probiotic.
Speaker: It's very minimal effort for you.
Speaker: You buy the probiotic and you take it orally.
Speaker: There is mixed science.
Speaker: I have mentioned this previously.
Speaker: There are some studies that show, oh, the acidity of the environment of the stomach and just the journey from the mouth all the way to the gut.
Speaker: the bacteria doesn't even survive.
Speaker: It's not worth it.
Speaker: And then there are studies that show, no, it makes a huge difference.
Speaker: IBS has significantly decreased and bloat has decreased.
Speaker: People experience different things.
Speaker: So I always say it can't hurt.
Speaker: Try it.
Speaker: If you start taking a probiotic and all of a sudden you're in a lot of pain, obviously discontinue it.
Speaker: I will say you may feel a little discomfort, like maybe a little bloating, maybe a little gas, but
Speaker: if that's the first few days, but I would say finish the bottle before you make a decision.
Speaker: Again, if you're always consult a doctor and if you're in serious pain from it, stop taking it.
Speaker: But in general, especially if your gut has unhealthy bacteria that you're killing off, or in this case, all the bacteria is killed off.
Speaker: So that's not what's happening, but you're trying to repopulate, your body is going to respond to it.
Speaker: It's new, it hasn't been there and there's no bacteria.
Speaker: So if you feel a little bit of discomfort, I would say push through it.
Speaker: if that continues over after a week, then I would say stop.
Speaker: And that could just be for whatever reason, that probiotic in particular did not agree with you.
Speaker: But so like I said, mixed science, I still say do it.
Speaker: Some of the ones I like, well, first off, I always say go for 10 to 20 billion CFUs, which is colony forming units.
Speaker: You'll see some, it's like,
Speaker: 3 billion CFUs.
Speaker: I'm like, no, because you have to assume, like I personally assume that at least some of them don't make it to the stomach just based on the journey from the mouth to the gut.
Speaker: So you want to aim for higher, especially if you're repopulating.
Speaker: There are ones specifically that have like a hundred billion CFUs.
Speaker: I've taken those before after a round of probiotics.
Speaker: The brand I personally use now is called Florastore.
Speaker: It's actually yeast based and it's recommended a lot for people with IBS and diarrhea.
Speaker: I really like it.
Speaker: I've noticed a huge difference.
Speaker: And it's funny, even if I've had a yeast infection, this, they say it does not contribute to yeast infections, like a candida overgrowth.
Speaker: And I've taken it while trying to improve yeast infection.
Speaker: And I thought it greatly helped.
Speaker: So that's just something to know.
Speaker: It's a yeast based probiotic, which I know seems weird.
Speaker: But Florestore, I like.
Speaker: Just Thrive is a good brand.
Speaker: Culturelle has a bunch of different ones.
Speaker: BioCult, Hum, and Garden of Life, I like.
Speaker: Like I said, they have a few that have higher CFUs.
Speaker: So I think I took one once.
Speaker: It was like 100 billion.
Speaker: It literally is called repopulating.
Speaker: So the point is, you want to look for one with diversity.
Speaker: You want multiple strains.
Speaker: Because again, we're always looking for microbial diversity.
Speaker: And you're going to have a better time achieving that with a probiotic that provides your stomach better.
Speaker: multiple strains.
Speaker: So tip number one, add in a probiotic.
Speaker: We want to repopulate the gut.
Speaker: The second thing you can do using food is fermented foods.
Speaker: So things like sauerkraut kimchi, cultured yogurts, cottage cheese by the brand Good Culture specifically is cultured.
Speaker: You'll see it in the ingredients.
Speaker: Fermented pickles, things like tempeh and miso, those are all fermented foods.
Speaker: Now, within this fermentation process and digestion in your body, it creates or gives off good bacteria.
Speaker: So they support the gut.
Speaker: So add in the probiotic.
Speaker: If you're finished around with antibiotics and you're trying to repopulate the gut, aim for fermented foods, add in a probiotic.
Speaker: One thing to note,
Speaker: Fermented foods, people love saying kombucha, kombucha, kombucha, you know, good for the gut.
Speaker: It does also have a lot of sugar.
Speaker: So I'm not anti-kombucha, but I don't encourage it.
Speaker: I always say drink water instead.
Speaker: If you're in a scenario where you need something other than water,
Speaker: fine, have a kombucha.
Speaker: But if you're looking for a gut reset and you're trying to repopulate specifically after antibiotics, like repopulate your gut flora, I don't think you should be down in kombucha because it's going to add up to be a shit ton of sugar.
Speaker: And that's just inflammatory.
Speaker: So-
Speaker: That's my take on that.
Speaker: My second point regarding inflammation, which is fueled by sugar, alcohol, processed foods.
Speaker: So of course, if you can entirely cut out alcohol and sugar, great, do it.
Speaker: That's not really realistic for most people, some sociopaths, but most people not gonna do that.
Speaker: So how do we fight inflammation?
Speaker: I always encourage whole foods over processed foods and anti-inflammatory foods.
Speaker: So what helps fight inflammation?
Speaker: Foods high in antioxidants,
Speaker: and omega-3 fatty acids, which are also known as like healthy fats.
Speaker: So antioxidants are found in fruits and veggies.
Speaker: Some fruits that are particularly high in antioxidants, wild blueberries, you can buy them frozen.
Speaker: I buy them, there's this brand called Wyman's.
Speaker: It comes in this like big blue bag, you'll find it frozen.
Speaker: They're good in smoothies.
Speaker: I'll put them in overnight oats.
Speaker: You can put them on yogurt.
Speaker: They're very high in antioxidants.
Speaker: Cherries and basically all berries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, known for being higher in antioxidants, tomatoes, beets.
Speaker: And then if you're a green tea or matcha drinker, green tea and matcha both are very high in antioxidants, given that it's winter here in New York City.
Speaker: A lot of people like a cold, excuse me, a hot beverage.
Speaker: Those are great options, especially if you're looking for an antioxidant boost.
Speaker: Now, some omega-3 fatty acids, salmon and fatty fish like sardines, mackerel, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, walnuts in particular are highest in omega-3 fatty acids, avocados, chia seeds, flax seeds, and flax oil.
Speaker: Those are all foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids and will help fight inflammation.
Speaker: Turmeric is a spice.
Speaker: It gives curry
Speaker: and lots of foods that like bright yellowy orange color, the active compounded curcumin, or you'll see on the ingredients like curcuminoids, those are anti-inflammatory.
Speaker: So if you're looking for an additional supplement, try that.
Speaker: And avoiding, so just avoid processed foods to the best of your abilities.
Speaker: They are often packed with seed oils, canola oil, soy oil, peanut oil, safflower oil.
Speaker: Those are all inflammatory.
Speaker: Fried foods, red meat,
Speaker: processed meats, oat milk.
Speaker: These are all highly inflammatory and oat milk.
Speaker: I've said this before, but it's highly inflammatory because there's huge, first of all, it's high in sugar, but secondly, there's usually an inflammatory oil added into it.
Speaker: So that's just, there's of course more, like there are extensive lists you could find, but just giving you some things to go off of.
Speaker: These are some ways to help your body fight inflammation.
Speaker: Now, okay.
Speaker: Moving on to point three, a lack of fiber.
Speaker: So how do we increase fiber?
Speaker: I have plenty of episodes devoted specifically to fiber.
Speaker: So if you really want to delve more into it, go back and listen to those.
Speaker: I'm just going to give you a brief outline here.
Speaker: Um, so when it comes to fiber, variety is key.
Speaker: You want microbial diversity.
Speaker: So you need fiber diversity because different sources of fiber are going to support different microbes and that microbial diversity that we're after.
Speaker: So
Speaker: 25 to 30 grams daily is the goal.
Speaker: They say like 25 for women, 30 for men.
Speaker: I say aim for 10 grams per meal.
Speaker: Fiber supports the gut.
Speaker: It also induces satiety.
Speaker: I always recommend increasing five grams at a time.
Speaker: So try an extra five grams.
Speaker: First, you have to track where you are.
Speaker: Then from there, I'd say add five grams, do that for three days, see how you feel.
Speaker: If you felt good, do another five grams for three days, see how you feel, et cetera.
Speaker: If you notice gas or bloating, cut back.
Speaker: You also need to keep in mind water.
Speaker: If you're increasing fiber, you need to increase water or it will constipate you.
Speaker: You will also notice fiber, like I mentioned, induces satiety.
Speaker: It helps make you full and feel fuller for longer.
Speaker: Plus drinking more water, you're going to be fuller faster and fuller for longer as you're increasing fiber and increasing water.
Speaker: So you may find just with that tidbit alone that decreasing processed foods is a little bit easier.
Speaker: I encourage you to replace processed foods, sugar, alcohol, any junk.
Speaker: Replace it with fiber and veggies.
Speaker: Focus on foods that are rich in fiber.
Speaker: Like I said, fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, lentils are one of my favorites.
Speaker: Chia seeds are another favorite.
Speaker: And when you're getting fuller faster, you're less likely to be looking for that processed snack, dessert, alcohol, et cetera.
Speaker: You're flooding your body with these nutrients, more fiber, more antioxidants, more vitamins and minerals.
Speaker: Each day gets easier.
Speaker: I always say, you know, of course the first few days are going to be toughest because you're adjusting.
Speaker: After a week, see how you feel.
Speaker: After a month, see how you feel.
Speaker: Like, it's incredible.
Speaker: Bowel regularity, decreased bloat, all these things that people notice hang in there.
Speaker: I know it can be tough or you may be tempted to like sneak a dessert or whatever.
Speaker: And of course, you know, if you do do that, that doesn't derail you.
Speaker: Get back on track.
Speaker: But the point is, it actually is working more in your favor than you think because of fiber's ability to induce satiety and the
Speaker: need, the absolute need to increase water when you're increasing fiber, between those two, you're going to be, you're going to notice you're fuller faster and you're fuller for longer.
Speaker: Fiber also helps with blood sugar control.
Speaker: So again, you're going to have less of those dips and spikes, more stabilized blood sugar, more stabilized appetite, less cravings.
Speaker: So you actually may find that cravings for processed food and sugar and junk go down as you're focusing on whole foods and fiber.
Speaker: Let me know.
Speaker: Now, my fourth most damaging thing, stress.
Speaker: So how do I recommend fighting stress?
Speaker: Stress, as we know, ages your cells, causes inflammation.
Speaker: It damages your gut lining.
Speaker: It can lead to things like dysbiosis and leaky gut.
Speaker: Dysbiosis is just out of balance, gut flora.
Speaker: So what I ask people where I start is, how do you unwind?
Speaker: How do you relax?
Speaker: What do you enjoy?
Speaker: Walking, journaling, music, reading, coloring.
Speaker: going to the gym, deep breathing.
Speaker: It doesn't need to be like a three hour production every day.
Speaker: It could easily be a deep breathing routine that you get into or a list of gratitude in the morning.
Speaker: Perhaps there's affirmations you say to yourself midday when people at work are annoying and you fucking hate your boss and you're like, this is miserable.
Speaker: Maybe you come up with, you know, something quick in the morning, something quick midday, something when you get home from work.
Speaker: If not, if you're someone who like, no, I need like a 60 minute gym sesh to like get all my anger and stress out.
Speaker: Great.
Speaker: Do that.
Speaker: The point is just to find something that's sustainable and that you enjoy.
Speaker: And if you listen to my, uh, blue zones, blue zone episodes on longevity, which dropped like at this point, two or three weeks ago, one of the power nine that they found amongst all five blue zones was stress management.
Speaker: So
Speaker: Stress management is very important.
Speaker: How is that something that helps you with longevity?
Speaker: Because like I said, stress ages you and it ages your cells and it wears you down.
Speaker: So the longest living, healthiest people in the world all have a form of stress management.
Speaker: And I also find when it comes to stress management that finding things that fit into your day.
Speaker: So like I was saying before, like even if it's something quick in the morning, quick midday, quick in the evening,
Speaker: It builds up over time.
Speaker: So it's not just like, oh, I'm stressed now, I'm gonna do this.
Speaker: It's something that needs to be part of your routine because you may not realize it, but doing it consistently every day helps keep stress down.
Speaker: It also helps with the stress response.
Speaker: So your adrenals, things like your cortisol levels, it helps in general, keep those at healthier levels, even if you're not aware of it.
Speaker: So figure out a way to manage your stress this year.
Speaker: And if you feel you have something in place, but it's not working, evaluate why.
Speaker: What is it that you're doing?
Speaker: What do you like about it?
Speaker: What don't you like about it?
Speaker: Also, firstly, identify what stresses you out.
Speaker: So that's the first thing to pinpoint here.
Speaker: But I hope that people take this seriously.
Speaker: It's a new year.
Speaker: You want to rebuild a new gut and start feeling less bloated.
Speaker: Start feeling more energized.
Speaker: Perhaps your bowel movements become more regular.
Speaker: It also just, this is going to help lay a healthy foundation for better habits and healthier, happier you in 2024.
Speaker: I encourage it.
Speaker: It really is only going to help.
Speaker: One thing that I wanted to note that I realized I didn't say is that I'm talking about antibiotics.
Speaker: So because they kill all bacteria, you don't want to continue taking your probiotics.
Speaker: Why are you taking antibiotics?
Speaker: Because it's just going to kill them off.
Speaker: You can, however, take the one I mentioned, the yeast-based one, Floristore, if you have to go on antibiotics.
Speaker: Floristore will not get killed off by antibiotics because it's yeast-based.
Speaker: It's not a bacteria.
Speaker: So that's just something to keep in mind if you are taking antibiotics.
Speaker: Unfortunately, sometimes we do have to take antibiotics, and that's
Speaker: You know, it's not ideal, but you have to take them.
Speaker: There are times you don't have to take them.
Speaker: They're offered to you because doctors just push scripts like nothing I've ever seen.
Speaker: But evaluate it.
Speaker: Of course, there are times you absolutely need it and you should take it.
Speaker: But just be mindful afterwards.
Speaker: Okay, I really need to focus on my fiber.
Speaker: I should probably start taking a probiotic.
Speaker: Add in some fermented foods.
Speaker: build up my gut flora because it's all been killed unfortunately by the medication um yeah and that's what I have for the gut reset for 2024 remember your gut speaks directly to the brain your gut is in touch with every organ your gut controls your immune system your gut controls pretty much everything so
Speaker: Even if you are not someone who necessarily needs it, go ahead and try it.
Speaker: Pick one of these things that you think you could improve upon and pay attention.
Speaker: Also sleep.
Speaker: Once people improve their gut and gut flora and gut health overall, a lot of times they'll notice improved sleep as well.
Speaker: So, so many things to look forward to, so many things to improve and do your best and don't expect one day of a probiotic to change your life.
Speaker: Like I always have to do that in the fine print, like consistency is key.
Speaker: Change takes time.
Speaker: Just remember that you can do all, apply all four of these things, focusing on all things that I mentioned, inflammation,
Speaker: Fiber, stress, antibiotics.
Speaker: But you have to do them for, I would say, at least two weeks, three weeks.
Speaker: Maybe someone, you know, the one-off after a week will be like, oh, wow, I feel drastically better.
Speaker: But stick with it and keep doing it and you will notice the changes.
Speaker: And that's it.
Speaker: Happy resetting.
Speaker: Bye.
Speaker: Bye.
