Kelly Vangrud, FDN-P - Gut Health Coach

You've seen me post about liver function, liver congestion, and the importance of liver health, but did you know that liver health is DIRECTLY related to gut health? Here's how:

3 Reasons a Happy Liver = a Happy Gut

👉a congested liver produces less bile – If bile production is low, you are unable to digest fats properly. Undigested food in your GI tract feeds bad bacteria and can lead to leaky gut and food sensitivities.

👉a congested liver can lead to a microbial overgrowth in the gut – Your liver is part of your immune system and if it is congested, it is less able to fight off bad bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens that enter your body.

👉a congested liver can lead to leaky gut – Your liver is tasked with neutralizing toxins that enter your body and removing them. If these toxins are not neutralized, they have a negative impact on the lining of your gut, which can lead to leaky gut.
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3 things I do every morning as a functional practitioner for optimal gut health
👇👇👇

🌞Sunlight exposure as soon as I wake up

🥩High-protein breakfast (30+ grams of protein) within an hour of waking

🧘‍♀️Positive affirmations/journaling

Comment below and tell me one thing you do every day for optimal gut health.

Every year around wintertime I would notice that I really didn’t want to do too much. I slowed down my overscheduled, hectic life. I slowed down on my business. I didn’t want to expend energy on social media posts. I started turning inward and focusing on myself and my own health, and on finding joy instead of running myself ragged all the time.

This feeling seemed to last through about March of the following year. I always felt kind of guilty for feeling this way. I felt kind of lazy…and if you know anything about me you would know that’s not the case. But I wondered why it always seemed to happen at the same time every year.

I have since come to learn that the period of time when I feel like to conserve my energy and I, instead, focus inward is my own version of hibernation. I mean, animals do it…and we’re animals too, right?

And now that I know what it is, I stopped trying to fight it. I stopped judging myself for it. And I have really tried to honor it.

Who, like me, feels like they hibernate during the winter??

We talked earlier this week about Candida yeast overgrowth. We now know what it is and what some of the signs are of a yeast overgrowth. Now let's take a look at some of the causes.

Here are 5 causes of Candida yeast overgrowth:

🍪Diets high in refined carbs and sugar >> fuel candida overgrowth

🍷Excessive alcohol consumption >> weakens your immune system and creates an environment for yeast to thrive

🍽Fermented foods >> feed active Candida infections

😫Chronic stress >> lowers your immune system and your body’s ability to fight off Candida and also shuts down your digestive system

🦠Not enough good bacteria in your gut >> this also lowers your immune system and your body’s ability to fight off Candida

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This is no joke, y’all! I track eVeRything so I can analyze cause and effect, reactions, etc.

It has been the one thing that has helped the most on my health journey.

Comment “SAME” below if you do the same thing.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

Acid reducing and proton pump inhibiting medications wreak havoc on your gut.

These medications are prescribed to help reduce stomach acid in people who have symptoms of acid reflux or what doctors say is too much acid in the stomach. However, the opposite is actually usually true.

People who have symptoms of acid reflux actually have TOO LITTLE stomach acid. Too little stomach acid makes it so you’re not breaking down your food properly and you’re not killing off bad bacteria that enter your body on the food that you’re eating. And the undigested food particles wreak havoc on your gut health and actually feeds bad bacteria, weaken the mucosal barrier, and lead to food sensitivities and autoimmune diseases.

You see, the acid in your stomach is meant to be very strong…after all, it has an important job to do! And that strong stomach acid is what is supposed to signal the valve between your esophagus and your stomach to close tightly when you eat so that the stomach acid stays in your stomach. BUT when you have too little of stomach acid (due to stress, medications, alcohol etc.), the signal that is sent to the valve is weak and it causes the valve to not close tightly. This allows the acid in your stomach to back up into the esophagus, causing symptoms of acid reflux.

Acid reducing and proton pump inhibiting medications actually SHUT DOWN your digestion further which leads to more gas, bloating, constipation, acid reflux, and diarrhea and can also lead to an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast in your gut and leaky gut.

Comment “DIGESTION” if you are taking an acid reducing or proton pump inhibiting medication and would like to revive your digestion again!

Have you heard of Candida albicans?

Candida albicans is a type of yeast that lives on our bodies in small amounts and is usually located in places like your mouth, skin, and intestines. When your immune system is low or the flora in your gut are out of balance (low good flora/high bad flora), Candida can become overgrown. Unfortunately, Candida overgrowth is all too common due to the Standard American Diet, stress, and alllll the other things that affect our gut health.

So, how can you tell if you have Candida overgrowth? Well, there are functional lab tests that can identify whether you have a Candida yeast overgrowth, but there are also signs you can look for.

Here are 8 Signs
👇

🍪Sugar cravings
🦠Fungal infections (vaginal, skin, nail fungal infections, oral thrush, ringworm)
😭Fatigue
🎈Bloating
💩Constipation
😭Mood swings
🧠Brain fog
🦶Skin issues, including eczema, psoriasis, hives, and rashes

Comment “ME” if you have any of these symptoms or have suspected you may have a Candida yeast overgrowth.

A little friendly reminder to

👇

NeVeR underestimate the power of fiber in your diet.

💩💩Fiber helps move things along in the digestive tract and aids in elimination

🦠🦠Fiber feeds the good bugs in your gut, which help protect your mucosal barrier and provide a robust immune system

🩸🩸Fiber helps to slow the rise of blood sugar when you eat carbohydrates

🥦🥦Fiber helps you feel fuller longer.

You should aim to eat 25-30 grams of fiber a day, but if you're not used to it, start SLOWLY.

Drop me a 🥦 if you get the recommended amount of fiber in your diet daily.

🦠🦠5 of the WORST things for your gut🦠🦠

🍞🍞Gluten 👉👉 gluten increases zonulin which opens the tight junctures in the lining of your gut, which can lead to leaky gut

😫😫Stress 👉👉 stress increases cortisol. Cortisol reduces digestion which can lead to unpleasant gut symptoms and an overgrowth of bad microbes in your gut. It also increases histamine, which creates inflammation in the gut. And it lowers secretory IgA, which is your body’s first line of defense against pathogens in the gut, and breaks down the integrity of the mucosal barrier (again, leaky gut)

🌶🌶Spicy foods 👉👉 spicy foods increase zonulin just like gluten.

💊💊Antacid/acid reducing medications 👉👉 these medications basically shut down your digestion (see above).

🍭🍾Sugar and Alcohol 👉👉 sugar and alcohol kill the good microbes in your gut and create an environment where the bad microbes can thrive.

Drop me a comment below to let me know which of these things you have eliminated.

Dealing with gut health issues like constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, and acid reflux can feel overwhelming. And there is so much information out there on the internet about gut healing, but nothing that can help you with your specific situation.

I am offering 5 FREE Gut Health Strategy Sessions to answer any questions you may have about your gut health issues.

Just like this post and comment "GUT HEALTH" in the comments below, and I will reach out to schedule a FREE session.

🦠🦠🦠How to Have a Diverse Microbiome 101🦠🦠🦠

🥦🍎Eat a variety of plants and fiber every day - The fiber in plants feed the good gut bugs so that they can do their jobs of protecting you, digesting your food, and sooooo many other things.

🌈🫐Eat the rainbow of fruits and veggies for polyphenols - Your good gut bugs need polyphenols to help them grow and thrive. This means you should aim to eat all colors of plants to get all of the different polyphenols.

🥖🥛Avoid gluten, dairy, and processed foods 🍟🌭 - These foods wreak havoc on your microbiome, including destroying your good bacteria, breaking down your mucosal barrier (hello leaky gut and food sensitivities!), and creating inflammation.

🍷💊Limit alcohol and OTC meds - These things also destroy your good bacteria, break down your mucosal barrier, and create inflammation.

🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️Manage stress like a BOSS - Stress is the thing that starts poor gut health. Chronic cortisol production makes it so you can't digest your food properly, causes an overgrowth of bad bacteria/yeast in your gut, creates inflammation, and breaks down your mucosal barrier.

Like 👍 and follow for more gut health tips, tricks, and recipes.

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In case you need to hear this today...

👇

In any health journey, it’s hard not to find yourself stuck in the weeds on the details.

Stop, take a step back and look at it from the 10,000-foot view for a while instead and see if things don't get clearer.

Ignoring your symptoms is like ignoring the check engine light 🛑 in your car 🚗

Symptoms are your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right…that SOMETHING is malfunctioning.

👉Bloating isn’t ok.
👉Constipation isn’t ok.
👉Acne isn’t ok.
👉Headaches or “migraines” aren’t ok.
👉High blood pressure isn’t ok.
👉Diabetes isn’t ok.
👉An autoimmune thyroid disease isn’t ok.

Unfortunately, the symptoms you’re experiencing do not tell you exactly WHERE they’re coming from or what part of your body is malfunctioning in order to cause these symptoms.

For example, your headaches could be caused by food sensitivities. 🍞🍞🍞 Your autoimmune thyroid condition could be caused by leaky gut. Your blood pressure issues could be caused by nutrient deficiencies and other stressors to the body.

It requires some deep digging and detective work to figure this out, for sure. And most of the time, it’s more one thing that’s causing your symptoms.

One thing is for sure though…if you don’t address the cause of your symptoms, the dis-ease process and the malfunctioning within the body will continue.

You have the power to catch it and STOP it. 🛑 🛑

Let's talk about bloating for a minute!

It's super uncomfortable. It's super annoying. And it can cause you to not live the life you want to live.

So, here are 👇

🌟🌟3 potential root causes of bloating🌟🌟

🍞Food sensitivities – When we eat foods that our bodies are sensitive to, it can cause a whole host of symptoms, including BLOATING.

🥦Poor digestion – Most people do not digest their food properly, whether it’s due to age, stress (which reduces digestive juices), gallbladder removal, h. pylori, overgrown bacteria in the gut, a weakened mucosal barrier, or a congested liver.

🍪Bacteria/yeast overgrowth in the gut – An overgrowth of bad bacteria or yeast in the gut can lead to a number of symptoms as well, including bloating.

Comment "BLOAT" below 👇 if you want me to send you my FREE guide on 6 Foolproof Hacks to Eliminate Gas, Bloating, and Constipation.

And tag a friend who needs to see this.

💊Do you try every single supplement out there on the market hoping that it will be the magic pill that finally makes you stop feeling bloated all the time??

If so, then I have a secret for you…

Unfortunately, there is no one pill that is going to resolve your symptoms. Your bloating could be caused by:
🍄Food sensitivities
🍄Overgrown bacteria or yeast in your gut
🍄Poor digestion
🍄Poor detoxification
🍄Hormone imbalances
🍄Leaky gut
🍄And more!

And the problem is that you don’t know which one is causing your symptoms.
Even if you have a diagnosis like SIBO or leaky gut, that doesn’t help you to resolve your symptoms because there is so much more that goes into healing these things than just one pill.

Not only that, but you also have to address the diet and lifestyle factors that ALLOWED YOU TO GET SIBO or leaky gut in the first place. If you don’t, you’ll be chasing your tail forever.

So, while there is no magic pill out there to resolve your symptoms, there is a magic formula for healing. It involves:
🌟Functional testing to identify the malfunction and the healing opportunities in your body
🌟Making the right changes in your diet and lifestyle (based on your test results)
🌟Taking the right supplements (based on your test results)

And, friends, that’s what I do. I can help you end the cycle of “trial and error” and get you the results you’ve been dreaming of. Reach out if you’re interested in applying to work with me.

🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️The Importance of a Holistic Health Approach🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️:

Holistic health is a means of measuring our current state of health that takes into account the whole person in mind, body, and spirit.

A holistic health approach enables us to support our health from the perspective of our whole-body system versus treating one symptom at a time.

Holistic health practitioners understand that everything in the body is connected, and you can't just look at a malfunction in one area or system because a malfunction in one area leads to a malfunction in another area. And the place where a symptom shows up is usually not the system in the body that caused that symptom. You have to look at the whole body.

This is exactly how I practice with my clients. We look at all the areas where their bodies are malfunctioning and then we remove as many stressors as possible. When you do that, the body is able to heal itself by itself.

Comment "HOLISTIC" below if you've made the switch to taking a holistic approach to your health.

🦠🦠Why you need sodium for gut health🦠🦠

Let’s face it…salt gets a pretty bad wrap. 🧂 Afterall, it is in processed foods in high quantities, and we are told to stay away from salty foods because it leads to high blood pressure and cardiovascular issues.

The salt that is bad for you, however, is PROCESSED salt, including table salt.
High-quality, unprocessed salt, like sea salt, Himalayan salt, and Celtic salt is actually good for you and your body needs it in high doses.

Sodium👇
🧂Aids in digestion – Salt is necessary to produce stomach acid and actually helps facilitate the absorption and transport of nutrients into the intestines after they have been broken down in the stomach. You need strong stomach acid in order to break down your food, to extract nutrients from the food, and to kill of bad bacteria that enters your body on the food you eat. Low stomach acid = bacterial overgrowth in the gut.

🧂Assists your adrenals in handling stress – Your adrenals are tasked with many things to help you handle stress and one of them is maintaining fluid balance through sodium and potassium regulation. This is done through the production of the hormone aldosterone in the adrenals. If you do not consume enough sodium, your adrenals are tasked with extra work in order to bring your fluids/electrolytes into balance. This puts extra stress on your adrenals. Providing your body with the sodium it needs can take the extra burden off of the adrenals. Happy adrenals = happy gut health.

🧂Further aids the stress response – If you’re not consuming enough high-quality sodium, your body can see this as a stressor and increase cortisol levels. And we all know what increased cortisol does!! It increases histamine, breaks down the mucosal barrier, decreases stomach acid, and more! On the other hand, if you are chronically stressed for any and all reasons, this further depletes your sodium levels (because your body needs sodium in order to handle stress). It’s a double-edged sword. Simply put, you need high-quality sodium for your adrenals and to aid in the stress response.

Tag a friend who you think needs to hear this.

NOTE: I am not a doctor. Do your own research to see that there is a difference between processed salt and high-quality salt and that your body does truly need high-quality sodium in high amounts.

What if you could reduce your symptoms by 80%??

When this client originally came to me, he ranked his symptoms in the areas of hormones, immune system, digestion, detoxification, energy production, nervous system, and oxidative stress at a total of 312. (The goal is to be as close to zero as possible.)

We ran some functional testing to identify some hidden stressors that were causing his body to malfunction. I then designed a protocol for him based on his test results that required changes in diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction, and supplements.

He was diligent about following the protocol and, as a result, he reduced his symptoms by over 80%.

And these results are typical, folks!

Comment "interested" below if you're interested in reducing your symptoms too!

🌟🌟My experience with the weight-loss device called Lumen🌟🌟

Have you heard about the Lumen device? It is touted as a weight loss device that shows you when you’re burning carbs and when you’re burning fat. Based on how your body is burning energy, the app recommends the amounts of macronutrients you should have for the day. It also has some recommended “recipes” although this is definitely not a robust feature and doesn’t have many suggestions for those with food sensitivities, like gluten, dairy, and soy.

When I first started using Lumen, it showed I was burning carbs all the time. Now, I do have adrenal issues that I’m working on and that will cause you to burn more carbs as well. According to my numbers, every day was supposed to be a “low carb” day for me. But as I lowered my carb intake, I noticed that my “carb burn” got WORSE.

At that point, I had to take a step back and use the knowledge I have about adrenal health, and what I discovered was this 👇👇

I was eating too little carbs.

When you’re on a low-carb diet (which I was for MANY years), it stresses your adrenals out. Your adrenals are constantly called upon to produce cortisol in order to bring your blood sugar up where it needs to be since you’re not eating carbs to bring it there. This taxes your adrenals.

Since I already have adrenal issues, the low-carb diet was stressing my adrenals the F out. I decided to INCREASE my complex carbs each day and lo and behold, I’m burning nothing but fat right now.

The Lumen definitely gives useful data (and I’m ALL about data)…but you need to know how to interpret the data you’re given. If it were up to Lumen, I would be low-carb forever. And that is a great way to rapidly deteriorate your health.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned being a functional practitioner and health coach, it’s this 👇👇👇

You have to be in the right headspace to start or progress your health journey. You have to find the 🔥pain🔥 that motivates you to make the changes that are necessary in order to heal. Without that pain, the changes do not seem “worth it.”

For me, it was my relentless constipation. I would have done literally ANYTHING to make it stop. ANYTHING. For others, they maybe don’t mind being constipated or bloating “that much.” But if you tell them that they have the beginning of an autoimmune disease, they are ready for change. Or if they have a symptom that affects them to the point of that pain, then they’re ready for change.

Even when you’re ready for change, you still have to take it in steps. I didn’t make allllll my changes at once. I started with one or two, got them under my belt, and then moved on to more changes from there. And I never stop because health is a continued journey.

For those of you who are suffering with symptoms, but not to the point of “pain” that motivates you to make changes, I would like to say this:

For every moment that you’re not addressing the cause of your symptoms, your body is malfunctioning in another area that will lead to a new symptom in days, weeks, or months. You have the power to stop that process.

You do not have to suffer with the symptoms you’re having. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK.

Comment below and let me know what your “pain” is.