102 | Psychedelics & Nutrition: Simple Tips to Improve Your Gut Health During Psychedelic Integration
“There’s so much science that’s come out in the last 10 to 15 years about depression actually a condition of inflammation in the gut. So yes, talk therapy can help, but let’s look at the gut, let’s reduce that inflammation. Our gut health controls pretty much how you feel on a day to day basis.”
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I don’t know about you, but my journey with nutrition and healthy eating has been in tandem with my psychedelic healing journey. In this episode, I am joined by Krista, a registered holistic nutritionist specializing in digestive health and the mind-gut connection. Krista, who does not engage with psychedelics, offers a unique perspective on holistic health, emphasizing the importance of individualized nutrition and gut health.
The conversation provides education around gut health and the spiritual and emotional aspects of holistic nutrition. Krista gives us five practical tips for incorporating healthier eating habits into daily life. This episode offers valuable advice for anyone looking to improve their health and well-being during their psychedelic integration process.
Topics Covered & Time Stamps:
01:36 Introduction to holistic nutrition, gut health and elimination diets
04:17 Krista’s personal health journey and career shift
07:41 The connection between spirituality and physical health
10:50 Lana’s experience with an elimination diet with Krista
15:11 The connection between psychedelics and nutrition
16:49 Gut health and how it relates to mental health
26:09 Signs of poor gut health
31:30 What healthy digestion looks like
38:07 Choosing the right oils
39:46 Reading food labels
41:02 Healthy food swaps
42:04 Using apps for better choices
43:44 Probiotics and fermented foods
46:09 Prebiotics and eating the rainbow
48:31 Chewing and digestion tips
52:06 Falling in love with cooking
55:15 How to begin your journey of healthy eating
59:02 Working with a nutritionist
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Things Mentioned in This Episode
Show Links:
Where to find Krista Znebel
About Krista Znebel:
Krista is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and founder of Sprout Your Health. She loves to share, educate and encourage people struggling with digestive issues, anxiety and burnout to make the connection between what they eat, how they think and how they feel both mentally and physically. She offers affordable and customized virtual 1 on 1 nutrition programs that are easy to implement and designed to help clients overcome their frustrating digestive symptoms for good by implementing a natural, root cause approach that addresses both the mind and body.
Looking for a professional coach to support you on your psychedelic path?
Look no further! Along with being the host of the Modern Psychedelics Podcast, Lana is a 3x certified professional coach who works with people on the psychedelic path.
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[00:00:00] Thanks for having me, Lana. I'm super excited to be here today.
Yeah, so well, just a little note on that. I do think it's something that perhaps will come for me in the future. I think it's just something that I haven't really like delved into too much yet, but there's a lot more science and research coming out about it. And I'm one of those people that when that kind of research is there to back it up, like why not try it?
So you'll be the first person I'll ask. So my name is Krista and I'm a registered holistic nutritionist. And I specialize in digestive health and the mind gut connection, which I think is becoming a much more popular topic that has a lot more awareness around it these days. I help clients essentially go through the same process that I helped you go [00:01:00] through Lana, which is to become more aware and in tune with their body and how foods make them feel and to learn how to listen to those symptoms that your body is giving you so that you can rebuild and strengthen your gut to have a better resilience when it comes to coming in contact with, you know, parasites, viruses, bacteria, bacteria, bacteria, Having a stronger immune system, more clarity, stronger mental health, and that type of thing.
Yeah, so when it comes to people's, people's nutritional habits and how they can improve their body, it is very individualized. I do. You know, usually like to do some kind of intake with people and not want to use a cookie cutter approach that you may get [00:02:00] with other practitioners in other fields. So diet is very specific for each and everyone's body.
And so an elimination diet is a really great tool to help you. grow your mind body connection and bring your body into a state of balance. So I know when you had come to me, I think you had, I can't remember what you had just done, but you had just come back from an experience in Costa Rica and we're looking to kind of take the next step in learning about your body and improving upon your health.
And so the first thing that you do. And that process is bringing your body back to a state of balance. And so this happens by eliminating a lot of the inflammatory foods that are in our modern diet these days. You know, I think many people have heard of inflammatory foods being, you know, sugar, alcohol, processed foods, refined carbs and fats and that type of thing.
But when you cut those out, it really gives your body a chance to come back to that baseline again. Which is really so powerful [00:03:00] because that's where you start understanding how your body really should feel. And when we have those food in our diet regularly, we forget how good we can feel. So that whole process of bringing the body back into balance is kind of that first step to understand really this, how your body feels.
And how it should feel. And then when you bring foods back in, which is that reintroduction of food, in a, in an ordered process and journaling and paying attention to the symptoms that you're feeling, that's when you really gain the awareness around this food makes me feel this way, perhaps I shouldn't have it now, doesn't mean you won't have it in the future, but whatever your body's going through at the time, it might just not be supportive of the transition that you're looking for in terms of improving your gut health at this time.[00:04:00]
Yes, yeah, I think so many practitioners in this space, most of us have some kind of journey that we've gone through ourselves. And, you know, I didn't really know it at the time, but I think going through that experience for me is what I needed to go through for my own spiritual development, but also to be able to help people go through.
this process now as well. Done a complete kind of 360 in my life. About five years ago I was working corporate real estate in Toronto building condos and my health pretty much came to a halt. I was experiencing crippling anxiety and panic attacks. My gut was in really bad shape. I was dealing with chronic yeast overgrowth at the time which led to, you know, more anxiety, skin issues, poor mood.
I pretty much just had to take a break from everything and I took some time off of work and that's kind of when I really reassessed like what is important in my life and that it's, you know, it's not worth a job or money to go [00:05:00] through the stress to my body and the impact that it was having. Um, at that point, I decided to go back to school for nutrition, I think mainly to figure out what was happening within my own body.
There always kind of was something like I knew before I really wanted to just help people learn how to eat food that's healthy for them because I think we are led with marketing these days and diets and what is healthy and not healthy for people. So I think it was a little bit of both that kind of got me into this space.
And then. I actually, just as I started school, um, got another diagnosis for SIBO, which is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which is essentially what causes IBS. IBS is a, it's a diagnosis of symptoms. It's not really the cause of it. So as science has progressed, we found out this is what the issue is.
And so this is really what I specialize in now with the greater context of gut health as well, because I have gone through so many other things with my own gut. And it's just kind [00:06:00] of been a journey. I've learned a lot, obviously, through my schooling, but I've done a lot of kind of more spiritual, personal development work along the side.
And I've Nervous system regulation, which I think is kind of a bit of a, what do you want to call it, like a word that you hear a lot about these days or see on Instagram, but regulating your nervous system plays such an important role in your digestive system and digestive health, and until you can kind of learn to master that, it's difficult to overcome Overcome a digestive issue for good, right?
It may come back if you haven't resolved that piece. That kind of brings me to where I am today. And now I just, I'm doing this because I just really want to help people who've gone through the same kind of issues and transitions that I have.[00:07:00]
Yeah, that's a good question. I think. As you become more aware of your body through spiritual development, when I talk about that, you know, like meditation, for example, is a really great one. I didn't have awareness of my body before I learned how to meditate. And I think a lot of people probably struggle with that, that when we have lots of trauma in the past, we, you know, everything goes into our head and we kind of leave our body.
And then we don't know how to listen to the signs and symptoms that our body is telling us. So I think, you know, a great first step for people who are, you know, looking to improve their gut health is to work on that, that mind body connection in terms of feeling into your body and so body scan meditation was like really a big piece of the puzzle for me because it allowed me to feel, you know, you know, When you're lying there, feeling parts of your body without touching, let's say, you know, your mid thigh, that way, you probably never really paid attention to before, but when you start building that [00:08:00] connection of the mind and places in your body and focusing on them and learning to do that, You're able to then pay attention to symptoms that you're experiencing more that you might have through digestive digestive issues or even mental issues that come through the foods that you're eating.
So I think, oh, you know, to kind of tie back to that question, like the foods that you eat do impacts the way you feel and then can impact the way that you focus through spirituality and meditation. And so, yeah, I guess I'm going in circles there, but I do think it plays. That's a good base for learning to really understand how your body and your mind are connected.[00:09:00]
I would say you're probably the first. The thing that I loved about working with you and your journey was, like, you were so open to it and you were like, I just want to learn and improve. And you like took the whole process and like really dove into it. [00:10:00] Whereas I think there's a lot of resistance from people when it comes to changing their diet.
I can't do that for two weeks. I can't give up coffee or chocolate. That's so hard, right? And there's, it's a lot of the mindset that like we have to do a lot of mindset work to help get through that phase. That's where it is. With you, you knew what you had to do and that you weren't really questioning it.
You just were like, I'm going to do this and dove like straight in and learned, you know, what foods felt really good for you and like learning new recipes and stuff. Right. Did I think it was a, like a different type of intro to working with a client? Yes. But I, you know, having again, driven into that more spiritual realm, like it wasn't like a, an abnormal thing to me.
Like I was kind of like more intrigued. Like, that's. pretty amazing that you can have a one experience and just know that you need to make these changes. So I think, you know, whether you do that and you have a message come through or just start to pay attention to your body signals and understand that something [00:11:00] is wrong and that thing, something needs to be changed and addressed.
Like you're coming from two different places, but you're kind of going to the same place, right? Different journeys there.[00:12:00]
And I wanted to add to that too. I think so many people don't realize too, like, when you learn to eat a different way by having to go through something like that, then you're, you know, you can then bring that forward. Like, people don't realize they will bring those meals forward because they end up liking them.
And you don't really, until you go through the experience, you don't really think, know or understand that. Because when you do cut out foods like sugar or, Um, artificially flavored ingredients for a bit, and then you bring them back in at the end. You're like, wow, like your taste buds pick up on the fact that it's way too sweet or the flavor is like way too fake, but you don't get that piece without the elimination.
So there's so many, you know, different things about like the symptoms that you're [00:13:00] experiencing, your mental clarity. Yeah. Thank you. And then, like, how your taste buds are reacting, right? It is, I think it's very eye opening, the process. But you are right, there's so many products today that are a lot cleaner, because I think there is demand for it now.[00:14:00] [00:15:00]
It's a huge topic, and I think a lot of people have heard about it these days in terms of the importance of it, and really, when we talk about the gut, it's, you know, our large and our small intestine, which is where we digest and absorb our food. And a lot of people, I think, maybe have heard of the word gut microbiome before.
And, um, what that is, it's a collection of bacteria in our gut. So, you know, we talk about ecosystems having all different parts that kind of work synergistically together. The microbiome is kind of the same way. There's bacteria, yeasts, and there's balances of good and bad bacteria. And for a healthy gut, we want to have a good balance with lots of plant fibers feeding these bacteria because they then produce synergistic benefits for our body.
So some of them will produce vitamins and minerals for us, for example, really like the way that we're feeding our body, like every single thing we put in our mouth [00:16:00] impacts these bacteria. in our guts and then how they then help us and that's really where it comes down to in terms of eating a variety of plants to feed these microbes and so they also can impact our neurotransmitter production and neurotransmitters like serotonin, a lot of people have heard of that with depression, it's neurotransmitters impact our mood.
So the guts and the brain are very connected through the vagus nerve and the signals kind of go back and forth and bring. controls the gut and the gut controls the brain. And the microbes in your gut play a really important role in that, that two way conversation with your brain. So an example I like to give, too, is when it comes to depression now, like a lot of people are familiar with depression.
There's so much science that's come out in the last 10 to 15 years now about depression actually a condition of inflammation in the gut. So yes, talk therapy can help, but that should be, you know, like a later on approach if [00:17:00] you're really struggling, let's look at the gut, let's reduce that inflammation, because what happens, and this is what's, I think, different in holistic, um, Medicine versus conventional is like our bodies is one connected unit.
So when that inflammation in the gut circulates through our blood to the brain, and you know, these days we have things like leaky gut and leaky brain, which are little holes in the lining of those areas where they shouldn't be, the inflammation can then go into the brain and create an inflamed brain.
And then that's where we're experiencing a lot of, um, But mental health diseases and issues, I guess we would say imbalances really like when it comes to gut health, it just it controls pretty much how you feel on a day to day basis, strengthening your immune system, your energy levels, you know, your hormones, which play a big role, especially in a woman's body.
So, you know, just. Eating real whole food that you're switching up regularly, right, and not eating the same specific foods all the time is what will help feed these [00:18:00] bacteria so that you're feeling your best and, you know, have energy to exercise and maybe don't need to have two coffees to make it through the day, right?
There are ways to live life fully with vitality without having to. have all these crutches, I think that so many of us are used to having. So it does take time to get there. You know, the body takes time to incorporate what you're feeding it. And then, you know, you have to regrow certain bacteria to strengthen your gut.
And you do that with, you know, prebiotic foods and probiotic foods that I know we talked about. It's one of those things where, you know, let's say you've had a psychedelic experience and then you're going to start working on your gut to make sure that you are patient with yourself and that it's not going to happen overnight.
It may take, you know, three to six months before you start seeing noticeable effects and then to keep going because you're just going to keep feeling better. And that's probably where you're at right now, because it's been a host, I think, a year since you've gone through the elimination diet.[00:19:00] [00:20:00] [00:21:00]
Yeah, no, I agree. And to your point with, it does seem like a lot. And I think if, you know, in an ideal world, if I could see people every week for six months, that would be a great time for him to like work through things. It doesn't work out in terms of the time people have and the money for programs and stuff, right?
But I think what you did was great, which is you just take the time. the time to implement them, even after we're done working together. And it's bringing that awareness to those pieces. But one thing I did want to mention in terms of, you know, going back to the other point with patience and patience with the changes that are going to happen through your body is recognizing and understanding as well that you go through changes throughout your life and that there is no one Diet that you should follow for the rest of your life.
And I don't want to say diet, whatever nutritional changes, for example. So if you feel really good [00:22:00] eating less meat, for example, that doesn't mean five years down the road, if you become deficient in something and you need to eat meat that like, you should feel bad about it, right? Like our bodies are always changing.
There's no constant in life, right? So it's understanding what your body needs. And the more in tune you become. And you're able to kind of follow those intuitive signals. Then you kind of follow that, like you said, it's a journey and it will be a journey through your whole life because you're changing as you age, right?[00:23:00]
Yeah, no, that is a good question. I feel like even in my circle of friends, sometimes I'm like, you know, I'm always the person like suggesting things and people be like, oh, yeah. No, I don't need that. It's like gotta kind of pay attention because these symptoms you're describing to me mean you need to, you know, make some changes or whatever.
I think really it's the severity and frequency of symptoms is what you need to Uh, pay attention to with your body. When it comes to digestive stuff, that's usually where we start, right? So if you're experiencing bloating or lots of gas and burping or farting or, you know, when it comes to bowel movements, more constipation or more diarrhea, like starting to check your bowel movements in the toilet bowl, which is, you know, something that a lot of people probably don't do and probably aren't comfortable with.
But I encourage you to do it because it's [00:24:00] the best indicator of what's going on in your gut. And so, you know, you can Google the Bristol stool chart, which is a seven, six or seven stage stool chart, which describes like the different, like, um, they're not phases, but the different types and where you should be at.
So if it's, you know, too hard and too lumpy, you have to strain, or if it's less than one a day, that's constipation. If it's mushy and you have to wipe a lot, or watery, that's diarrhea. You want to be somewhere in the middle where it's nice and smooth. And you generally don't have to wipe too much. And if, you know, your bowel movements are not in that ideal bowel movement category for like most of the week, your body's telling you something, right?
Like maybe if they are more mushy, like maybe you need more fiber. There's you know, some simple changes and then there's more drastic changes. So it kind of depends on like where you're at, [00:25:00] but the symptoms that you're experiencing, if they're happening, you know, two to three times a week or daily, then that's something you want to start paying attention to.
If you, let's say, get heartburn once a month, maybe you're just eating, you know, a more inflammatory food that you're reacting to. And that's not, um, as much of a concern. It's the daily. I think the daily and the bi weekly are like multiple times a week that you need to start paying attention to. And it's not just digestive symptoms.
Like I think a lot of people think, Oh, I don't have digestive issues. I'm fine. But then they have eczema or they have like really itchy skin or they have migraines, right? Those are all connected to what you eat as well. So it's not just, you know, the standard or typical digestive issues that you want to look out for.
It's you can react in your body. to a food in any way. Like, joint pain could be one, two, or muscle aches, right? So it, it's really individual to, like, your body and so that's why that elimination diet kind of isn't good at bringing back to balance point [00:26:00] because you can understand hey, maybe those headaches I'm getting, like, regularly are related to a food because when I stopped eating it, I don't get them anymore.[00:27:00]
I think brain fog is one of those ones where like, so many people don't really know what it feels like to be normal anymore because it's just like, it's the norm for them and they can't, you know, have that clarity or they lose their train of thought a lot. Or, you know, you walk into the other room and you're like, why did I come here?
You know, like, that's brain fog. Yeah.
Yes. Yeah. Like a lot of the kind of mental symptoms can be like the migraines, the headaches. That's brain fog. The brain fog, anxiety, poor mood, even like poor focus to like more, not if you have ADHD, but more of that ADHD type of hyper activity as well.[00:28:00]
No, it's a really good question. I just think we always focus on like the negative and it's like, what is the positive? But I think that's a really deep question for me because for so long, I didn't know what normal felt like, and so now to feel it, it's just like, you appreciate it so much more. So, for anyone who's had arterial issues or fungal issues, having a proper bowel movement is, like, one of the most exciting things.
Every day, you're like, It's going good. And so, that would be, I'd say, the best kind of indicator, but, you know, your energy levels, you know, waking up in the morning, not feeling like you need that coffee, I think can be another really good indicator. Skin, you know, like acne on your face, or like dry hand, that type of thing.
For me, again, who specifically had A lot of pain in my stomach, like no pain in your stomach. You shouldn't have to feel pain or bloated after a meal regularly. And, [00:29:00] you know, I know bloating is a huge one for a lot of people too. And you had mentioned with around your menstrual cycle, like being able to put on jeans that you love without being like, Oh my God, these are like way too tight right now.
Actually, it's inflammation, right? And I remember when I went through this, when I was working in the last career, and I took that time off of work, and like, I was training for a triathlon, and I thought I was eating so healthy, and I was doing all this exercise, and I like, was, whatever my weight was, I can't remember what it was at the time, and then my naturopath was like, you need to just go for walks, do yoga.
Don't do any intense exercise. And by just changing my exercise, I [00:30:00] lost a lot of that inflammation because my stress went down. Also, the stress had stopped with work. It's always off of work, but um, stress can hold onto inflammation in the body as well as eating foods that you're sensitive to can create that inflammation in your body.
So when, you know, can reduce both of those by cutting out some foods and like working on stress reduction would be You know, go hand in hand for good gut health, that inflammation kind of just comes off. And I think people are the most surprised at that, that you really don't have to do, like we over, we overwork for trying to lose weight.
And it's just do activity that you're enjoying with foods that make you feel good. And like, you will lose that. But we've, we live in a society now where it's like, you need to go to HIIT, HIIT workouts, like five days a week. Right. And that's when you're stressed, that's creating more cortisol in your body, more inflammation.
Yeah. Which doesn't help on top of the food piece, right?[00:31:00]
The first one that I'm sure a lot of people have heard before is just eating some real whole foods and eliminating the inflammatory foods. So it's going to be the sugar, inflammatory fats, right? That's a big one. And I think we maybe talked about this too, is swapping out your poor oils like corn and soy and sunflower, safflower oils.
Those are all processed in a way that change the fatty acid structure in theirs. Like chemicals added to them that you can absorb into your body, those types of things. Switching those out for the healthier oils, which are going to be your olive oil, your coconut oil, grass fed butter, and ghee, that type of thing.
Yeah,[00:32:00]
oh my god, the almond, the almond flour one, I love those. Yes,
yeah, so,
yeah, no, exactly. It's, as a rule of thumb, like, darker bottles and smaller bottles too. I think we also, if you have a family that you're cooking for and you go through oil quicker. Then it's fine, but oil's oxidized, so it's kind of the nature of the structure of them. So getting smaller bottles more often to keep them fresher can be [00:33:00] another kind of important point.
But yeah, you also want to look for like cold pressed oils. The heat that's used in some of the more inflammatory oils in their processing can change the fatty acid structure, and then that becomes more inflammatory. So cold pressing is more of a pressure extraction than, you know, a heat extraction. And then that also keeps more of the raw nutrients from the oil present in the oil as well.
Uh,
and I just wanted to circle back as you're talking about the oils too, because I remember when we were working together and you hadn't, I think you had done the elimination diet and then I think you went to a festival and I remember you came back and you're like, I had to eat at the food truck because it's all they had.
And I noticed it so much. And I was like, yes, but those are like the important turning moments. Brilliant. Oh yeah. Okay. Now I realize it. Right.
Yeah, so the next [00:34:00] one I would say would be re learning how to read food labels, and understanding that like anything that has more than five ingredients that you can't read or don't know what they are, and then being wary of if they're packaged or not, like those food that for some people are Yeah. Yeah.
A lot of the staple foods in their diet are probably not as good for them than fresh real whole foods, so sticking to the outside of the grocery store where things are fresh and they're in the form that they were found in nature, so that they're not processed. Obviously, you're not going to be able to avoid processed foods completely.
It's unrealistic, but when you do choose those foods, Read the ingredient label, get familiar, look for ones that only have a couple ingredients because they're going to feel a lot better in your body than the ones that have 20 ingredients with a lot of, you know, and the other thing too, with that is a lot of companies know.
That the internet has a lot of information on one ingredient, so they'll [00:35:00] change the name and it will be disguised as something else. And so, it's best to avoid lots of different ingredients, kind of for that reason.
Yes. Yeah.
I totally agree, and I'm like a huge advocate of that. Like, you don't have to give up the foods you love. Just maybe try cooking it. You know, like french fries, for example. Make baked oven fries with avocado oil. Those are a lot healthier, they're still potato in their whole food form, they haven't gone through all the processing and freezing and everything that like McDonald's would.
So, there is always an alternative, and we have so many recipes online now available to us, so I think it's just a matter of finding a couple good, healthier websites that you like that probably [00:36:00] have some options. I'm always happy to help people through Instagram chats and sub to if you need a specific recommendation.
An app that I really like to use as well with my clients is called Yooka. It's spelled Y U K A and it's an app where you can scan a barcode or take a picture or search a product and it is based in Canada so it's more for Canadian products and it rates every ingredient. And it gives it like, you know, a yellow, green or red, depending on the quality of the ingredient.
And if it's like a, you know, rated like a bad number in a red, then it will have a health care suggestion. And it's a great way to get familiar with the ingredients, because I think where people get lost at the start is they just, they don't know what's a good ingredient, what's a bad ingredient, right?
And it takes time to get there and maybe a bit of research, whereas the app has kind of put everything. And one so you can start understanding like that red ingredients is not great. And then you go the next time the store and like at the product that you know, like you shouldn't [00:37:00] get it.
So focusing on like feeding the good gut bacteria in your gut. So that's your pre and your probiotic foods, right? So your probiotic foods, I think a lot of people have heard about. That's your fermented foods like the sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, those types of things. Very easy to ferment yourself. And I actually have a fermentation guide that maybe you can link if people want to learn how to ferment foods there on their own, because it's also a lot cheaper than buying [00:38:00] them in the store.
Um, and so they provide, it came better. I agree. It's so true. And like a key thing to remember also with sauerkraut is fermented food should be cold. It's keeping that bacteria alive. You can buy like sauerkraut in a jar in the aisle of the grocery store, and that's more pickled. So pickled doesn't have bacteria.
The bacteria that fermented has, so be careful with that. If you want to look in, yeah,
yeah, please do because I've heard, I'd met the local sourdough company, I think they're based in Hamilton or something, but they were telling me that they have people who are celiac who can eat their fermented bread, which That is a pretty bold statement of a celiac person can eat from like [00:39:00] a sourdough bread.
I think if it's done properly and with a good quality wheat being, let's say organic, just because a lot of pesticides are sprayed on meat. And so you, a lot of people actually are reacting to the pesticides and not the wheat itself. Um, yeah, yeah. But I'd love to hear because I'm kind of tempted, I think they weren't tempted to try it after I've heard a lot of wheat milk.
Yeah.
And sorry, I did want to just finish off on the other one because we talked about the probiotics, but the prebiotics are just as important. And so the prebiotics are coming from specific fibers. So these are things like garlic and onions and leeks and green [00:40:00] banana. You can Google it. There's a list.
There's only about 10 or 12 of them, but these really feed. The bacteria. So if you're taking a probiotic or eating fermented foods without eating a lot of these prebiotic vegetables, they're not going to have the food to kind of stay alive and grow and make your gut stronger, which is what you'd like to do.
So becoming familiar with both pre and probiotic foods, eating them regularly, and that, you know, eating, I guess this could be my last point is Eating the rainbow, eating lots of color and lots of diversity. Something I do see with a lot of my clients is eating similar foods regularly, which I think if you need to do that in order to eat healthier, like as opposed to eating more processed foods, then that's a great starting point.
But what happens when you eat the same foods all the time is that you're only feeding those bacteria that like those foods. So you want to diversify and feed as many bacteria in your gut as you can by All the different plant fibers. And so you also get, [00:41:00] with different colored fruits and vegetables, phytonutrients, which are really good for our mental health as well.
And it's, they are nutrients that, it's, science really hasn't, there's research about what they do, but when we look at nutrition labels, they're not included. Phytonutrients aren't included, which really play a big role in, like, how we feel. I'm sure that will come at some point in the future, but that's what you best when you eat like more processed type of foods is the phytonutrients in plants.
Exactly. Yeah.[00:42:00]
So this one is a little bit more specific depending on your body. So for people who have low stomach acid, you don't want to like dilute that stomach acid while you're eating because you need the acid to break down protein and if you're deficient in it, you, your digestive capacity is decreased. So it's helping to improve your digestion in that sense.
So I wouldn't say that like every person should do that, but I will say that low stomach acid is much more widespread than people realize that it is. And I. because stress plays a big role in your stomach acid. And again, [00:43:00] eating foods you're sensitive to can also reduce your stomach acid. I think it would apply to more people than expected, but I don't want to blanket that for every single person.
But when it comes to chewing, yes, that's something everyone can work on. And I think I said this to you, like, we learn our eating habits from our parents and we don't really know anything different, right? Like you just, pick up like at the speed, I don't know about you, like my dad would finish his meal in under 10 minutes.
So you are like rushing to like finish with your parents when you're a kid and you don't know any better. And it's like when you start learning like this is the way to chew fully and how much more time it takes to eat a meal, it's oh my god, no wonder maybe I feel so bloated after a meal, right? Because chewing is the first step of digestion.
It plays a role in carbohydrate digestion. So chewing releases. saliva, which has enzymes to break down carbohydrates, but it also breaks food into small pieces. So if you have food that you're not chewing very well going into your digestive system in larger pieces, it's going to be fermented. It can create [00:44:00] gas and that can lead to bloating or farting or more.
a gaseous state. And then over time, if you're eating rushed with not chewing your food, like that imbalance from the fermentation of bacteria can create like a dysbiotic state in your gut, which is maybe when more bad bacteria start overpopulating the good bacteria. Yeah. Chewing plays a really big role in how the food's being digested and observed, but also like it comes down to surface area too.
Like you can extract more nutrients when there's more surface area. So you want to chew more, right?[00:45:00]
I really love that question. I don't think people think about that or ask that enough. So two things I would say with it is one is like brain joy into cooking. So if you love music or you love a podcast, put that on while you're cooking so that it's not, Oh, this is like this activity that I have to do, right?
Make it fun. Dance around the kitchen. And then the other thing that I think is so powerful that usually I work with clients on in terms of mindset work, but is the gratitude of eating, you know, there's the gratitude of like life, which can help amaze it. But then when you're eating specifically, like taking the time before your meal [00:46:00] and giving gratitude for the food that's on your table, whether it be mother earth and the plants or the animal that you're eating.
And I think that building that habit and that process. allows you to connect to the food more and have a greater appreciation for it and for yourself that I just cooked this really delicious meal. Like I did this and being proud of that and I think the more you do that the more you can begin to like the process as well.
Yes.[00:47:00]
That's a great point. Yeah.
Yeah. Light a candle. And you know, if you really don't like it too, I always say make extra and then freeze it so that the nights you don't want to cook you have homemade good prepared food that you can pull out of the freezer. So it's no matter what you make an extra portion or like multiple extra portions, freeze them.
Sad day, yeah. I[00:48:00]
think the best place to begin is by making one meal a day at home because one thing that we learned in nutrition school that I think is so valuable is take people have resistance to cutting things out. So as soon as you're like, don't have this, don't have that, people are like, Oh, right. Whereas let's start on building the good habits first and then the rest will come.
So you. Start by making one meal a day in a couple weeks. Maybe that goes to two meals a day and then three meals a day. And the more that you do it, the more comfortable it becomes, right? I just had a client recently who was just like, I was so overwhelmed and nervous at the start because I didn't know how to cook this way.
And now it's easy and it's second nature. And that was like, That was really good to hear because I think it just takes time to [00:49:00] overcome that fear and you just need to be patient with yourself that it will come and that you don't have to eat perfectly healthy tomorrow, you know, give it some time and summer.
You know, we're in summer now is a great season to try some good local produce. It's so flavorful. If you're used to eating processed food with a lot of fake flavors that, you know, we're designed to hijack your senses, essentially real food. It may be going to not taste so great at the start because it's, it doesn't have that.
flavoring, but summer is the season to make that transition because food is local and it's in season and it's very flavorful. So start by going to your local farmer's market and, you know, looking up a recipe of something you like. If there's some, a meal that you love, look up like healthy version of that.
And that way you're, you know, not giving it up, you're still making it, but just in a bit of a healthier way.[00:50:00]
I would just like to say that, you know, it's your journey and to listen to your body. You know what's best for you. Don't try and let things or you read or people kind of swayed you into different diets that, you know, you need to try. That's going to work. Just listen to your body and, you know, You know, you'll also know if you feel like you need extra support, reach out, because that's, you know, leaving things.
If you're having a lot of symptoms appearing regular and leaving, things can turn into worse issues. So you would like to address them sooner than later, because it's going to be easier and less work for you than to not. And like you said, to just kind of get started with the process. And yeah, I think that's it.[00:51:00]
Yeah, if you want to check out, uh, my website, it's www. spreadyourhealth. ca, and I offer three programs. One is a little bit more specific for SIBO. So if you're someone who has IBS and deal with a lot of symptoms, that one might be more for you. Otherwise, I have the succession package, which is what you kind of went through, where we do an initial intake.
I help under, help you understand, like, the next. Key things we need to focus on through our time together and we kind of just work through different goals as we go through. So it's a very customized approach to improving your nutrition and meeting your health goals along the way. And I actually just came up with a new program that involves gut microbiome testing.
So it's a initial consult. with a test as well as a like a follow up and I [00:52:00] put together kind of a plan of nutritional lifestyle and supplement recommendations for you going forward and so I really love this test because it really allows you to understand what's going on. It creates a really like clear snapshot of What are your bacterial levels?
What do we need to work on? What do you not need to work on? Which I think for some people who like having results or want to know this is my issue, the testing can really help narrow that down instead of a little bit more kind of guessing through the, the process that like we went through. It's a little bit more trial and error with what do you, what feels right for you or not.
And yeah, that's it. I, you can follow me on Instagram. It's spoke. your. health and I'd always be happy to chat. So if you have any specific nutrition questions. Feel free to reach out. I also have a form on my website. When you book a discovery call through my website, you can add Modern Psychedelics to the, to the notes and I'll provide 15 percent off for your listeners.[00:53:00]
You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
