that s just an important thing to remember is that gluten, there are a lot of people sensitive to that. And it says one in seven, and that s with an a

Transcription

1 Hey, everyone. Dr. Axe here. Again, so excited that you guys are taking part in the Healing Leaky Gut program here. You know, leaky gut is a condition that affects so many people, and really over 80% of people today have some form of leaky gut. I m constantly getting questions about what diet is best for leaky gut. Obviously I ve laid out a very specific diet for you as part of this program, and customized fiveplus different diets as part of this program to help you overcome leaky gut. But I do want to talk about the other diets out there that have been effective in treatment in different areas and different types of leaky gut. And, so, I just want to spend some time going over about 10 or 11 of those different types of diets. And some of the diets I m going to cover are going to include going a gluten-free diet, Paleo diet, autoimmune diet, GAPS diet, elimination diet, a FODMAPs diet, elemental diet, intermittent fasting, TCM which stands for Traditional Chinese Medicine diet, a traditional diet that was started by Weston A. Price, and then my leaky gut diet for the five gut types. And so those are the different diets I m going to go through, and really talk about how they can be used in treating specific conditions. Some of these diets are better for a condition like SIBO. That s small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Some are better for IBS. Some are better for food allergies or food sensitivity reactions. And so I ll go over sort of the benefits and the negatives of some of these different diets. So, let s start off with a gluten-free diet. Now, the gluten-free diet is probably the most popular overall of all of these diets, probably next to Paleo. And a gluten-free diet is something that really is sweeping the nation. You look at the number of foods today, different things that say gluten-free. I will say, if you have leaky gut, gluten is not the only issue. So, that s sort of the big problem, I would say, right off the bat with a gluten-free diet, is that you can go gluten free and still be eating animal crackers with lots of sugar, and hydrogenated oils, and other foods that aren t necessarily good for you either, that can still cause intestinal inflammation and cause leaky gut. So, again, going gluten-free is great. Now, about 1.5 million people suffer from sensitivity to gluten, according to research that s out of the University of Maryland, and there are a large number of people that suffer with celiac disease, okay? So, a lot of people, which, I think it s about 1 in 130 people or so have celiac disease. But one in seven people have a gluten sensitivity. And so gluten intolerance is 30 times more prevalent than celiac disease. And, so, 1

2 that s just an important thing to remember is that gluten, there are a lot of people sensitive to that. And it says one in seven, and that s with an actually outward reaction that s probably just an IGG reaction, or maybe just an IGG. So the truth of the matter is one in seven is lowballing. The amount of people with gluten sensitivity is probably much closer to one in three people, I would say. About 33% of Americans, probably, or more it might even be 50% are somewhat sensitive to gluten. And, so, again, you can see that number is very high. The biggest gluten-containing foods that you want to stay away from are typically wheat is by far number one. But wheat and barley, and then number three is rye. Now, rye doesn t have near as much gluten as wheat does, and actually, people tend to do better, especially with sprouted rye, but that is on the list as well. And, so, again, gluten-free is a popular diet. So the positive of gluten-free is for some people, they go gluten-free, they re going to notice a tremendous difference in their overall digestive tract. And gluten is a sticky protein that s found in wheat products today, okay? So it s a very sticky protein. And, the issue is, though, is that gluten is very hard to digest, and we know grains can be inflammatory. But what s happened today with a lot of our grains from wheat, for instance, have been hybridized, so now it contains at least double the amount of gluten compared to an ancient wheat bread, like an einkorn wheat, okay? And so we know that it s much, much higher in gluten, our traditional wheat today, which is in almost every, every product out there. But again, going gluten-free is great for some people, and this is one of the foods that I really want you to look at. If you are consuming gluten, really listen to your body. See if it changes your bowel movements, or your skin, or if you have a reaction like your nose running. Any of those things. Or you get tired. Like, get fatigued afterwards. Those are all warning signs that you are gluten intolerant. And so you really want to watch for that. Now, I want to mention, some people actually do okay with gluten. And, once you overcome leaky gut, you get your digestive system much healthier, then some people can consume gluten. But listen, nobody does good with gluten unless the grain is sprouted. So some of you might do okay with something like ancient grain or sprouted grain bread in the future, and you might do okay with that. And people going through this program, if you have more of a toxic gut, where more of your issues related to fats, maybe more it s related to toxicity. You might actually do okay 2

3 with a sprouted grain bread here and there, and things like that, and do okay with that. But again, it just really depends on the person. And so again, I think everybody should be giving up gluten for part of this program. But some of you can probably add it back in if it s a sprouted version of gluten or a gluten bread, probably like a sourdough or a sprouted grain bread, you can probably do that a little bit in the future for some of you. Some of the most common gluten-free foods that can be beneficial are a sprouted brown rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa, and then flour replacements, such as almond flour and coconut flour, also even sometimes chickpea flour and spelt flour are used, and can be gluten-free alternatives. And some oats are gluten-free, and some aren t. But, again, I think for most people who go through this program, you re best off giving up all gluten and really grains for a time period, and if you are going to consume grains, or if you re one of the gut types that does okay with, let s say, quinoa or sweet potatoes or something like that, then that s obviously okay. But again, gluten-free positives is that you re getting gluten out of the diet. Negatives is that again, the gluten-free diet today can include foods that are still inflammatory. Definitely is not comprehensive for a condition like leaky gut. The next diet probably, along with gluten-free, is the most popular diet that so many people are following today, whether they have leaky gut or not, is the Paleo diet. And the big benefit of the Paleo diet is it removes grains, which are typically inflammatory including gluten from someone s diet. So, that s a huge positive. Also, the Paleo diet is beneficial because it focuses on eating a lot of meat, along with vegetables and fruits, which are typically much easier to digest. The issue that some people with leaky gut will run into on the Paleo diet is that they sometimes will over-consume animal products, and it can be large amounts of meat every meal. Which, especially if you ve got liver or gallbladder or bile issues, can cause some problems there. Also, one of the issues with Paleo is that, you might be consuming a lot of raw foods, and even certain nuts and seeds, and not everybody does well with those things. So again, Paleo diet, huge benefits in that it s grain-free. Big benefits in that it s a lot of fruit, or some fruits and vegetables, and a larger amount of meat, which are typically good for people with leaky gut and easy to digest. So some people follow a Paleo diet, and they will see some good results. But again, with Paleo diet, for other certain aspects... let s say somebody has SIBO or other 3

4 issues. Some people on Paleo consume a lot of fat. Again, that can be a problem for people. Or, they might also do a lot of nuts and seeds. And doing a lot of nuts and seeds, for some people with leaky gut, especially if somebody has maybe more autoimmune-like issues, that s going to create a very sensitive... or have food sensitivities, that s going to be an issue, as well. So, again, the Paleo diet, for some people, can work very, very well with leaky gut, and for others, it s not going to work as well. But again, the Paleo diet, there are definite benefits for weight loss and burning body fat, definite benefits for reducing inflammation, which is crucial for healing the body. So definitely some benefits there. The next diet that is used for leaky gut oftentimes is the autoimmune disease diet. And there are several versions of the autoimmune disease diet. There s a Paleo autoimmune, there s a general autoimmune. And the autoimmune diet really looks to remove things that create an immune reaction. And that can be... and this diet is one of the most restrictive diets out there in ways. And, so, where the autoimmune diet may say you re not going to do any grains or gluten, but also will say no nuts and seeds, and no beans. Also, it removes a family of foods called nightshades, and nightshades, many people can have... I shouldn t say many, but a certain population can have a reaction to nightshades. Nightshades include typically the skin of certain plants, like eggplant. Tomatoes are on that list, as well. And you can look up nightshade food lists. But, again, staying away from foods that are in the nightshade family are something else that they would do. Now, I want to mention this about autoimmune, or even jump back to Paleo. The Paleo diet also says no... it depends. Some Paleo says dairy, some says no dairy. And so it really depends there, as well. But the autoimmune disease diet would also typically probably, say no dairy. But they would say something like sweet potatoes are okay, and certain starches. And, so, again, the autoimmune disease diet is going to really focus on vegetables, fruits, things like sweet potatoes would be in that mix, and probably some organic meat. And then that might be it. That really might be the entire diet together. So you can see it s very restrictive. But for somebody, especially if you have severe sensitivities, following more of an autoimmune protocol can definitely be beneficial. One of the things the autoimmune diet doesn t do, though, is look at some of the key things that are found in something like the TCM diet, which is traditional Chinese 4

5 medicine, where they re really getting into certain foods that also really nourish specific organs. And, so, that s an aspect I like that s not involved in the autoimmune disease diet. A few other nightshade foods. I mentioned tomatoes and eggplant. Also, potatoes. Regular potatoes are in that mix. Goji berries. Any type of peppers, even bell peppers are in there, and cayenne pepper. So all of those are included in there, as well. So, again, there s a number of foods you really need to be careful with if you re on the autoimmune disease diet. The next diet is the GAPS diet, and the GAPS diet is one of my favorite diets. And, I think if somebody asks me, in terms of mainstream diet, aside from the diet that I teach, that is very beneficial for leaky gut, my first diet I would say is the GAPS diet. And GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It was a diet created by Dr. Natasha Campbell, a doctor out of the UK, a medical doctor. And, basically, it really focuses on consuming a diet that s very easy to digest. So, if you look at, okay, what s the easiest thing for your body to digest, that would be the GAPS diet. And the GAPS diet actually has six stages to it, and it basically starts off where Stage #1 is really just consuming bone broth soup, and that s really it. And, so, bone broth, it could be chicken or beef bone broth that you re making in the crock pot or a slow cooker. And, then throwing in certain vegetables, typically very easy to digest vegetables, like carrots, would be in there, collard greens, cauliflower. And then some form of meat. Again, beef or chicken. But that s really what this is going to consist of. Also, squashes. But, it s going to be a big bone broth soup, and you re really going to do that every single meal as part of Stage 1 of the GAPS diet. Stage 2 of the GAPS diet, you ll add in easy to digest fats, such as raw egg yolks, ghee, coconut oil, and avocado, okay? So, those healthy fats you d add in Stage 2, see how your body responds to those. And, I often get asked, on the GAPS diet, how long are the stages? Well, the stages really depend, and the stage might be anywhere from three days, or as long as a few months. I typically say, hey, stay on each stage for two weeks and see how you do with that. Or one month, and see how you do. But again, typically it s two weeks. So Stage 2 is you re adding in those healthy fats. Stage 3 of the GAPS diet, you re adding in some things that are maybe a little higher in certain types of fiber. You re going to add in nut butters that are raw and sprouted. You re going to add in maybe coconut flour and almond flour. Now, when you re 5

6 adding in coconut and almond flour, you re not overdoing it. You re adding in a maximum of 1/4 cup for a serving. So, it really is a smaller amount. But, you are able to add in some almond and coconut flour. You re able to add in fermented vegetables at that time, like sauerkraut. Also, fermented yogurt. And, it s not just any yogurt, but 24-hour fermented goat s milk yogurt or kefir you can add in during this stage, as well. Also, cooked asparagus, cabbage, celery, and dried herbs. Or, I m sorry, fresh herbs, you can add in Stage 3. Stage 4 of the GAPS diet, you can add in some veggie juice such as, like, a carrot/ cucumber juice, grilled and roasted meats, dried herbs, and extra-virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil. Those are added in in Stage 4. Stage 5 is fruits. Homemade applesauce, pear sauce, cucumbers that are peeled, mangoes, tomatoes, vegetable juices. Those things are all added in in Stage 5. And Stage 6 really opens it up. You can do fruits that are raw. So, before it was just cooked fruits. Now you can do raw fruits. And in the GAPS diet, overall the GAPS diet, it does eliminate, for the most part, all grains. You can do basically all vegetables, all fruits, wild-caught fish, and any type of meat, nuts, and even beans. Beans are allowed. Certain kinds of legumes. Now, not all legumes, but some of them are allowed, such as navy beans and lima beans that are soaked, are allowed on this diet. And, then lots of different types of fat. And, then dairy that s raw and fermented, as well as all spices. But you sort of get the point. It s a diet that s still somewhat restrictive, but there are plenty of foods you can eat. And, so, again, the GAPS diet, one of the biggest benefits is really its emphasis on bone broth. And when you re consuming bone broth, it is so nourishing to the gut. It s got the amino acids, proline and glycine, as well as glutamine, to help repair and restore the small intestine. And so again, as you can see, it can be a very beneficial, if not the most beneficial, diet. And if you want to learn more about a full GAPS food list, you can do a Google search for GAPS diet. And that can also expand into recipes that you re looking at in the GAPS diet. In terms of negatives of GAPS diet, I don t really have any. The biggest negative would be that unlike the diet that I teach with the leaky gut diet, or the five gut types, you re not necessarily getting all the foods that really nourish those specific organs. 6

7 So, for instance, if you have a certain emotional issue. Let s say you ve got low stomach acid. You may not be getting certain foods that really nourish the stomach. Or if you ve got a lot of gallbladder issues, there s not as much of an emphasis on that. But, if somebody asks me the diet that my diet that I teach most resembles, it would probably be a combination of the GAPS diet and the traditional Chinese medicine diet, a combo of those two. Let s move onto the next diet. The elimination diet. And the elimination diet is basically very effective for food allergies. So, if your biggest issue is a food sensitivity or a food allergy, the elimination diet is great. It basically looks at about the nine most common things that people are allergic to, and they remove those from the diet. And those include gluten, dairy products specifically, casein and lactose soy products, refined sugar, peanuts, corn, alcohol, eggs in some cases, and then packaged and refined foods. And, it really takes those nine foods and removes them from somebody s diet. It may also include on this list shellfish, as well as nuts and seeds. So, not just peanuts, but certain tree nuts, such as almonds. And, so, it can remove those. So, the elimination diet is also where you re using a food journal, and you re removing those nine foods. And then over time, you re adding one back in at a time, and really paying attention to your body for the next three days, seeing how you respond, and removing those. Another test that you should consider doing if you have food sensitivities or allergies and are on an elimination diet is what s called an IGG antibody test, and it s really looking at food sensitivities or intolerances. And it s, I believe, even better than an IGE test, which is looking at food allergies, which is something you can also test for. But, you definitely also want to be looking for these other things that can cause food allergies. So again, doing an elimination diet, along with IGG testing, can be greatly beneficial. And the way that I would put it is, it s kind of finding your kryptonite. What is your kryptonite. And it s different for everybody. I know for myself, when I ve done food allergy testing, I m okay with goat s milk, but cow s milk, for me, is my kryptonite. If I do cow s milk, severe reactions. I don t do well with that. If I do certain other foods. I m trying to think of a few of the others I had on my test. Eggs, actually. So those were my big ones. Really, the only two that showed up high, those two. And then yeast, things that are yeast products. And so those three things are things that I completely stay away from. Those are my kryptonite. But 7

8 they may not be your kryptonite. You might do great with all types of eggs. The egg yolk, the egg white, thrive off of it. It s a really healing and nourishing food for you. So the great thing with the elimination diet is you re listening to your body, seeing what you re allergic to. You can also do testing, as well. And really removing foods that are specific and custom to you that you may have an immune reaction to. So again, it can be greatly, greatly beneficial. A few other foods to avoid that many people have allergies to, especially kids, can be citrus fruits are on there, as well as even types of alcohol and caffeine. Some people don t respond too well at all. So again, that s elimination diet. The other issue with the elimination diet is that it does eliminate some of the big factors, but it doesn t necessarily recommend bone broth or you may be doing a lot of rice products, or something like that. But, that still can be a gluten crossreactivity. It may still be hard to digest those other grains, even if they re not glutenfree. So, it really just depends. But,elimination diet, and this is one of the aspects I do recommend as part of the diet that I teach as our leaky gut program is taking a journal, and when you add certain foods back in, see how your body responds. And getting an IGG test is always great. The next diet is called the FODMAPs diet, okay? And FODMAPs it s an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. And basically, these are specific sugars that are found in fructose, lactose, fructins, galactins and polyols. And basically, these are fermentable fibers, okay? And, if you have SIBO or IBS that s irritable bowel syndrome FODMAPs may cause problems for you. Now, not everybody with IBS. But, I think certain people with IBS, and definitely those with SIBO, can benefit from a FODMAPs diet. And according to Dr. Sue Shepherd, she says this, These are complex names for a collection of molecules found in food that can be poorly absorbed by some people. When the molecules are poorly absorbed in the small intestine of the digestive tract, these molecules then continue along their journey, along to the colon or large intestine, where they act as a food source for bacteria that live there normally. And the bacteria then digest and ferment with these FODMAPs, and can cause IBS. Also, if it gets bad enough, if IBS continues in this case, these bacteria can actually travel up into your small intestine and cause an 8

9 issue, SIBO. That s Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. And so staying away from fermentable fibers and these foods for a period of time can help. So here s a list of those foods. Foods that contain fructose, specifically fruit, honey, high-fructose corn syrup. Lactose, such as dairy products. Fructants, which are found in wheat, garlic, onions, and inulin. Galactins, which are found in beans, legumes, lentils, soybeans. And polyols, which are found in sweeteners that are essentially sugar alcohols, but even certain fruits such as avocado, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, and plums. So, as you can see, it eliminates a lot of healthy foods. And this is not a long-term diet. This is just a diet I would recommend for people who have severe SIBO, or even severe IBS. You may try a diet like this. But overall, I think the diets that I already have laid out for you are going to work much more effective, especially for IBS, than a diet like a FODMAPs diet. But it s just food simply to be familiar with. A lot of people talk about FODMAPs in a diet except... and if you want to learn more about this diet, do a Google search. Just search FODMAPs, F-O-D-M-A-P-S, and it ll give you a complete food list of what s involved in the FODMAPs diet and what s not. And really, again, only if you have SIBO would I recommend even considering this FODMAPs diet. So for most people, it s really not even a diet to consider. The next diet, actually another diet for SIBO, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, is the elemental diet. And this is a diet where you re essentially giving your body a complete rest. And by the way, this of all the diets is the hardest diet to follow. It s where you re consuming possibly only coconut oil, honey, whey protein, and bone broth, and that s it. That s all you re consuming for a number of days. And so you re getting your fat from the coconut oil, you re getting your amino acids from the bone broth, and protein from something like a whey protein. And then honey is something very simple and fast to absorb. Now, sometimes on this diet, they don t recommend honey. They may recommend something like a tapioca starch or a tapioca sugar, which is glucose, which your body will immediately absorb. So basically, this is where, if you have SIBO, you basically want to digest things as fast as possible. And these foods that I just mentioned basically pass through your system, and your digestive system has to do almost no work whatsoever. So an elemental diet, you typically only do that a maximum of two 9

10 weeks. But it s where you make your own concoction at home. I ll tell you what s in it, coconut oil, a tablespoon of honey, a scoop of protein, just whey protein isolate, typically, along with bone broth. And you do that in a blender, you drink that three or four times a day. And, it s lower in calories. I mean, you re probably going to have maybe, 1500 calories a day. You ll probably lose a few pounds. You ll definitely lose a little bit of weight on this program. But it allows those bacteria to die in your system. So, the probiotics in your body, you won t be feeding them, so overall your entire probiotic system will be depleted. But, this is a diet that if somebody s going in for, let s say, a fecal transplant, and they want to get all of these new bacteria in their body, this is the diet they typically follow two weeks before going in for fecal transplant, because then all these new bacteria can take place. And right after fecal transplant, then they ll start consuming more probiotic-rich... well, more fiberrich foods, because soluble fiber is what actually will feed the probiotics. And so it s kind of like doing a probiotic or a gut maker, where you do the elemental diet for two weeks, and then people actually add in a lot of soluble fiber into their diet. Start feeding those bacteria in the gut. But again, it s a diet that I don t recommend, 99% of you listening shouldn t follow. Only if you re going to do fecal transplant at some point in your life would you even consider probably doing the elemental diet. But it can be beneficial for SIBO. So if you do have severe SIBO, you could try doing maybe an elemental shake once a day, or incorporating some form of an elemental diet into your diet. The next diet is, it s not necessarily a diet as much as it is a way of eating, and it s called intermittent fasting. And, I ll tell you, fasting is something that is so beneficial, because it allows your whole body and system to rest. And, I want to be clear about this, is that there really isn t necessarily a food that heals your body itself. You have foods that nourish your body and that your body can use as building blocks. But, really, if you get a cut on your hand, there s not a food that heals that cut. Similar thing, if you have leaky gut and damage to an area, your body will use a food to heal it. But, you can be eating a healthy food, and if you re still eating a bad food, it will never get better. So, part of it s resting the area, and fasting is the best way to completely let your body rest. Now, certain diets, in particular the diet that I teach and the GAPS diet, they do let your body rest in certain ways, okay? So, that s an important thing to remember, that 10

11 you can still rest your system with certain diets. But, for a complete and absolute rest, intermittent fasting is great. And, especially if you struggle with, I would say, a diarrhea or IBS, or really any of these issues, per se, intermittent fasting can help. And, intermittent fasting is where rather than waking up and eating breakfast at 7 a.m., and then eating your last meal at 8 p.m., you re really crunching down that time. So, maybe you typically only have eight hours where you re not eating a day, 8 or 10 hours, and that s all the rest your body s getting. Instead you re going, and you re only maybe eating between eight hours a day, so your body s getting 16 hours between meals of complete and absolute rest. So, that might be where you have your first meal at noon and your last meal around 6:00. So, maybe eat three meals a day still, but you have your first meal at noon, your next meal at 3, and your next meal at 6 p.m. and that s really how you do it. And I ll say this is very effective. You can follow any of the diets I mentioned. You can follow the GAPS diet, you can follow the diet that I teach, the five gut types, or the leaky gut diet, and you can still do intermittent fasting with it. It could excel and speed up your healing. Now, certain people with blood sugar issues, somebody, let s say, with an adrenal or a thyroid condition, this is not the sort of diet you do want to follow. But somebody with, let s say, another issue, maybe like acid reflux, like somebody with gastric gut, intermittent fasting can be very effective. So, it really does depend on your gut type. But, again, somebody with adrenal or thyroid issues, somebody with a stressed gut, this is not the ideal diet. But somebody with maybe a gastric gut, intermittent fasting can definitely be beneficial in letting these organs and these systems rest completely. So, again, intermittent fasting. You may eat anywhere between, you know, 4-hour window, or maybe an 8- or 10-hour window a day. And, again, typically what I do is I just sort of... if I do intermittent fasting, my first meal s at noon, my second sort of smaller meal s at 3, and then another meal, I ll eat at around 6 p.m. at night. And so intermittent fasting, it s also very good for your hormones. If you re looking to increase HGH hormone, human growth hormone, and do certain things there, it can be very beneficial. So, again, intermittent fasting may be something you include in your diet, and it can actually speed the healing process even more. The next diet is the TCM diet, which stands for traditional Chinese medicine diet. And an aspect of the traditional Chinese medicine diet is called the five elements, or the 11

12 five elements diet. And this is a part of what my five gut types is based upon, is the five element diet. And five elements really are looking at specific foods that nourish specific organs. For instance, let s talk about toxic gut. If you have toxic gut, we know that certain emotions affect your liver and gallbladder. That s why my program, I really am recommending not just diet changes, but also emotional and lifestyle changes as you move forward. Again, we know that people with toxic gut have the emotions of anger and frustration. And so that s something else that, really, the Chinese medicine diet looks at. They also say if you have those toxic emotions, you ve got to fix those. But, then we know certain foods help with nourishing the liver and gallbladder. Foods that are sour, such as sauerkraut, yogurt, and kimchee, and kefir, are very nourishing. We know certain foods also that are sour, such as plums. If you re going to do a grain, rye is very good. We also know radishes and beets and artichokes. So, all of those foods really nourish the liver and the gallbladder. And, so, those are some things, some foods you may consider adding. And, again, obviously if you go through the toxic gut program, you ve seen that. But, traditional Chinese medicine is very accustomed to looking at sort of those five personality types that are connected to those five organ types, that are also connected to your five taste buds. So, listen, I just think this is amazing. But traditional Chinese medicine, when you look at that, what they re saying is that everything is... you look at the circle of life, or the connectivity of how everything s connected. So, when they look at toxic... let s say... I use the toxic gut type, but let s say the way they look at things is, you have a personality type, and let s say liver/gallbladder, okay? So, they re looking at liver/ gallbladder. The other unique thing about that, they believe liver/gallbladder, they call it the wood type. So, wood. And they say wood is connected to spring. So, they say the typical person that would have liver and gallbladder issues are maybe those people, or specifically anger and frustration issues, are people that are typically wiry. They re built like wood. So, imagine a root system, you see a very rooty tree. They may have more veins in their arms. They re more lean and wiry. And, they say those people tend to do better with a diet that s related to spring. It s going to be a diet, a lot of fresh foods. Let s say, imagine a salad with sprouts on it, and fresh 12

13 fruits and vegetables that are just harvested from a garden. So, springtime. Imagine springtime, farmer s market. That s a diet ideal for the liver/gallbladder. And it s also eating seasonally. You re eating a diet that supports your body moving into a different season. So, you eat, in Chinese medicine, based on seasons, as well. It s complex, but it s not. It s just a way, if you were naturally eating, not thinking about it, eating off the land, it s the way that you would naturally be eating during certain types of the year. So, again, the traditional Chinese medicine diet, looking at the five elements. A few other things that are, I think, pretty incredible there is it will also look at... let s go over a few others. And, I m going to start off with the fire element. The fire element is related to the heart and the small intestine, and in that diet, you re going to eat foods that really support, the fire in your body. And, so,that could be cayenne pepper, and it can be other foods that sort of increase heat. Garlic and onions. You know, those foods that really bring heat to the body, so on and so forth. So, again, I encourage you, if you want to learn more about Chinese medicine, there are great books out there, but one of my favorites is a book called Healing with Whole Foods. It s by Paul Pitchford. It really teaches you the basics of Chinese medicine and Asian traditional foods as some of the best foods to heal the body. So, again, Chinese medicine. And I think this diet is great for almost anybody with leaky gut except for if you have a more severe bowel issue, it does recommend a lot of grains, and for some people, you re not going to do as well with grains. So I would say grains are the one and a little more of a vegetarian basis for that diet. But still, traditional Chinese medicine diet is a diet I would study and look into. But it really is a big basis of the program that I ve taught. The next diet is the traditional diet by Weston A. Price. So, Weston A. Price foundation started this diet. And, it s eating like our ancestors. And, I think for the average person, if you re already healthy, this is a diet that s great for anybody. And it has a basis on bone broth, on a lot of fermented grains, like traditional sourdough bread is very much a traditional food that s part of the traditional diet, also known as the Weston A. Price diet. And, it s doing a lot of things like beef liver or chicken liver, these organ meats. But, again, the traditional diet. As I mentioned, sourdough bread, beef liver, big 13

14 slowcookers from, like, a Crockpot, and those types of things. Big, hearty soups. And also animal fats and meats. Lard. That s the one thing that I am probably not a fan of with the traditional diet or Weston A. Price diet, is them recommending certain types of lard, and cooking with those in larger amounts. That s the one area I don t recommend as part of their diet. And, also, they do recommend vegetables, but maybe not the proportion that I think they should be consumed in. But, overall, I recommend if you want to do some good research, check out Weston A. Price. So, that leaves the final diet, and the gut type diet. Obviously you re learning all about that, or my healing leaky gut diet. This is a diet, again, that really combines the Chinese medicine diet along with the GAPS diet. And then later on, in your maintenance phase, even aspects of the traditional diet, like a Weston A. Price. But again, GAPS diet and Chinese medicine diet are the diets that most influence the leaky gut diet and the five gut types diet that I ve created. Obviously, if you want to learn about those, hey, jump in and start reading. And listen, I recommend for the five gut types that you read all of the different plans. It s good to understand and educate yourself on all of those. So, guys, I hope that this information has been valuable in you understanding all of the different diets out there for treating leaky gut, and helping you better understand ways to heal your body. Hey, guys, thanks for being a part of the Healing Leaky Gut program. 14