THE FOUR PHASES OF GUT HEALING

Now that you understand your gut’s connections to the other systems within your body, it’s a good time to get practical with how you can heal your own gut and bring about optimal health. There are four phases to healing the gut and improving your health, so let’s get straight to it.

1 HEALYOUR INTESTINAL WALLS

Give your digestive system a rest by reducing all heavy and hard-to-digest foods that will irritate your gut. Follow a four-week anti-inflammatory elemental diet to supply your body with key nutrients, using smoothies, juices, soups, stocks, mashes and nutritional supplements. Think of your gut as a garden where you are planting seeds, then watering and tilling the soil.

2 DETOX YOUR BODY

Aid the detoxification of your body by oil pulling, Epsom salts baths, dry skin brushing and gentle movement. Very gradually include a natural antimicrobial to kill off yeasts and bacteria. Cleanse and sweep out your gut, support your liver while detoxing and reintroduce solid foods at your own pace. Pull out your garden’s noxious weeds to make way for healthy new life to be planted.

3 START A LONG-TERM HEALTHY DIET

Repopulate your gut with healthy microflora and eat foods that promote healthy bacteria. Digestive enzymes can be used to help your body break down food and minimize your symptoms. Fertilise your inner garden with naturally abundant probiotic-rich foods.

4 DETOX YOUR LIFE

Resolve any outstanding emotional issues, learn self-care and to love and nurture yourself, and develop an attitude of gratitude for everything you have. Plant perennials, annuals and evergreens, and allow your inner garden and spirit to flourish.

Let’s break down each phase and look at it in more detail. The first and most important stage in achieving a healthy gut is to heal your intestinal walls and create an environment where bad bacteria, candida and other yeasts cannot survive or dominate. The following plan will rectify any permeable holes that may be leaking undigested food into your bloodstream, and create a strong “net” that will provide a safe home for your microflora.

The gut wall acts as the gatekeeper to decide what stays in and what stays out, so it needs to be healed and healthy. Fortunately, the surface microvilli in the small intestine (little lumps all over the inner surface that vastly increase its absorption capacity) are highly regenerative. If given total rest from everything that irritates and inflames them, they can recover fully in a matter of weeks. I noticed a dramatic increase in my overall health once the health of my gut was restored. It’s really important to make changes in your own time and listen to your body and what it’s trying to tell you. Try not to force anything if it doesn’t feel right.

This book is just a guide for you to create your own healing plan. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon; it’s completely natural to do that from time to time and to give in to cravings. Just take each day as it comes, allow your body the time and space to heal, and don’t be too hard on yourself. If you prefer to undertake the four-week protocol with others, join the Heal Your Gut program on my website. You’ll make friends and enjoy additional support.