I am asked daily, often multiple times, questions such as:

What do I do for this problem Paula?

What herb can I take to get rid of ________ (literally fill in the blank with any ill health symptom or full-blown disease label you see fit to use)?

As a culture, we have been socialized to:

1. go to a medical practitioner,
2. list our symptoms,
3. receive a prescription drug to alleviate the symptom(s), and
4. be done with the “problem.”

I have the conversation, daily, with people asking for health support that self-healing (natural health & healing) does not work that way. Healing the body, restoring wellness and vitality, is about nourishing the body back to health. Natural Healing is not just taking something to seemingly get rid of symptoms. It is about looking deeply to figure out what is causing the symptoms and making lifestyle medicine (daily habits of living) changes to aid in healing and prevention of future issues.

There are herbs that can be taken for lessening and alleviating symptoms in the short term BUT this is not a long-term or a healing solution. I will give an example in a moment. Herbs and natural medicine options for “in the moment symptom abatement” are great. When we can ease symptoms, in the moment, we can the work on discovering why the symptoms are happening with a clearer head.

The ultimate goal is for the underlying imbalance in the body to be figured out and then personalized solutions suggested. These personalized lifestyle medicine solutions are to work on actually healing the symptoms or disease process disturbing one’s well-being.

Example health crisis: Chronic Insomnia.

Herbs and other plant-based medicines (CBD oil, homeopathy, flower essences, essential oils, etc.) can be suggested to support getting to sleep and staying asleep. This is a symptoms care situation to then have time to evaluate what is going on in the person’s life that is disrupting their nightly healing sleep. Short-term triage here is helping the person to sleep NOW but then the work is carried out to find the root cause of the sleep issue, suggest lifestyle changes to self-heal the problem, and eventually the sleep aids are no longer needed.

Healing is an active process and a commitment. It is a gift you give to yourself and is not a process that someone or something else can do for you.

What does this all have to do with gut hacks? Gut quickies? Everyone likes a little instant gratification once in a while. I am suggesting quick gut hacks that can be done daily. These hacks, over time, actually contribute to the long-term nourishment back to health in the gut and the whole body. It is all connected: Wholistic / Holistic health.

Let’s Do This Gut Thing:

• Do NOT brush your teeth immediately in the AM. Instead, put the microbes that developed in your mouth overnight to good use. Swish your mouth with gut safe water (more on the water coming up) and then swallow it to support a healthy gut microbiome. You are sending those self-incubated microbes right down to your gut.
• Get your hands and feet into the dirt more. The soil has microbes, that humans used to have daily contact with, that support keeping the body’s microbiome balanced and healthy. We buy probiotic pills, and expensive I might add, that are soil-based organisms. I invite you to get out into the soil and stop fretting over being meticulously clean. A little dirt under the finger nails, on the feet, or left on that carrot you just pulled to eat is good biodiversity for your gut.
• Eat whole foods. If you have hung with me, for even a short time, in this world of self-healing and natural medicine, you know I recommend whole food eating. Whole foods feed the gut microbial population to be healthy, balanced, and diverse. With that advice I can segway to…
• Cut refined sugars and manufactured sweeteners out of the diet. Refined sugars (refined food in general) feed the unhealthy, not so wanted microbes to multiply. These are microbes that do not belong in the gut or need to be in very low population numbers. Microbes that do not belong can create something called dysbiosis. Dysbiosis, over time, can contribute to ill health symptoms and *disease diagnosis.
• Avoid chlorinated water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Chlorine is used to kill microbes in municipal water supplies. Chlorine in your gut will do the same thing: kill microbes. This can lead to dysbiosis, see above and below for more information. Chlorine free water is the gut safe water I was mentioning above for AM mouth swishing.

As a closing on this quicky, I will add a short list of the purposes of a healthy gut microbial population.

• Mood regulation. This is a fun topic to dive into around gut microbes, the gut lining, neurotransmitters, and the rich supply of nerve endings in the gut.
• Digestion and vitamin/nutrient production: this only makes sense that the microbes in the gut play a part in the process of digestion (this is the digestive tract) and in the body’s natural manufacturing of key nutrients (Vitamin K, several B vitamins, and short chain fatty acids).
• Gut microbes contribute to and build immune health.
• Down regulation of inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a key factor in multiple disease processes. See below.

These above health and vitality purposes are my tease to invite you to practice the gut healing, gut hack quickies. Take a moment to thank your gut for all of the amazing things happening in there that regulate your health in every moment and every way.

*chronic disease diagnosis possibilities: anxiety, depression, allergies, food sensitivities, autoimmune disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s, diabetes, forms of cancer, eczema and psoriasis, obesity, cardiovascular conditions, high blood pressure, kidney disease…

As always, I will remind you that all information is from my education, experience, and the wisdom gained from both my education and experience and not the Co-op’s information.

And, if you see editing mistakes, zap me an email and I will fix them. pyoumell@gmail.com