Reset Your Gut and Flourish From Within for Lifelong Health with Anu Simh.

I just want to start by saying the microbes or these bacteria have always been with us. There's never been a time when they've not been inside us, on us, part of us. This is something that you inherit from your mom and it's like a family heirloom that you pass on to future generations. And I think of them as forever guests. They're inside us forever. And the more you take care of them and you feed them the foods that they like and want, they reward you by producing some incredible compounds called short chain fatty acids, butyrate especially, that are so beneficial to us. So they do many, many, many things for us, producing these compounds, vitamins, neurotransmitters, keeping our immune system sharp because 70% of the immune system is in the gut.

Welcome to the Healthification Podcast. I'm vegan health coach Kate Galley. Join me exploring the wisdom of passionate and compassionate athletes, activists, authors, doctors and entrepreneurs. Together our mission is to provide actionable inspiration to create a happier, kinder world for all. For step by step guidance adopting a healthy plant based lifestyle, check out the Plant positive journal@strongbodygreenplanet.com journal.

If you've been.

Struggling with unexpected weight gain, bloating or fatigue, this episode is packed with insights to help you reclaim your health starting from the inside out. Today we explore gut health and break down the gut's role in whole body wellness and how it could be the missing link to stubborn weight, brain fog and chronic health struggles. Anu Sim is a Board certified Functional Health Coach, ayurvedic Counsellor and founder of nine Arms of Wellness. After feeling frustrated I by the lack of answers or support she received for her own gut issues, anew took matters.

Into her own hands.

She now specializes in helping busy women lose weight and maintain their results. By focusing on the gut microbiome, Anu has guided hundreds of clients in overcoming chronic conditions not through restrictive dieting, but by restoring balance in the guts. Anu's forthcoming book Flourish from Feed you'd Gut for Lifelong Health reveals how gut health influences everything from metabolism to mental clarity. Reveals how gut health influences everything from metabolism to mental clarity. Offering practical science backed strategies alongside over 50 plant based recipes.

Anu Sim, welcome to the Healthification Podcast.

Thank you so much Kate. I am so delighted and such a pleasure to be here.

I am delighted as well and excited to talk about gut health which is both incredibly fascinating and also can be a little overwhelming. So I know you're going to help us with that. I actually want to quote you to start anew and to take you back in time you've shared. As I entered perimenopause, my body started changing in ways I couldn't understand. Gut issues took over. I was bloated after every meal, swinging between constipation and normaly. Fatigue became constant, and my moods were all over the place. Even though I had always skinny, I started gaining weight, and no doctor seemed to have an answer. That sounds incredibly frustrating. I know a lot of people are relating right now. Can you take us back there and explain, I guess, just how you were feeling and the steps you eventually took?

Yeah, Kate. I mean, I remember that like it was yesterday. It's been over a decade, but the pain, the feeling misunderstood. Not having answers, that feels like it was yesterday. It came on very suddenly. It just wasn't like a gradual, oh, I'm just feeling the pain. All of a sudden, I just felt like my gut isn't what it used to be. And at the time, I didn't know. I didn't know what was happening. And so I went like most of us do, we go from doctor to doctor, searching for answers. And I did. I went that route. You know, I went to so many doctors and specialists. Some laughed, some said, eat more protein. And some said, cut down on veggies. It's the fiber. So I was really flummoxed. And I still recall the day when I approached a new doctor in San Diego, and I had put in all my hopes because he was brand new to San Diego. I thought, well, maybe he has some answers for me. And I went in, explained my symptoms, and he actually started laughing. He said, anu, what you're saying and what you're describing is something we residents go through all the time. A bit of flatulence, a bit of discomfort. Gosh, welcome to my world. I just felt utterly hopeless. And I remember walking back to my car. It was August, almost like 90 degrees, and I didn't care. I sat there bawling my heart out, like, what do I do next? And just at that moment, sitting there, I just finally had some clarity. I heard my grandfather, who was a physicist and a Renaissance man, you know, he always, always thought about food as medicine. And he said, you have the answers. Go find them. I just remember just feeling for the first time, like, what am I doing? I'm giving my power to someone else. You know, I should be doing this. I should be learning more about my body. And we're talking, Kate, about a time when we didn't have, you know, all this information readily available on the Internet or chatgpt or something like that. So I went to the library in San Diego, UCSD sat there for hours really trying to figure out, okay, what is going on with me. And during that time is when I discovered the microbiome and I fell in love with the gut microbiome. And the very first book I read was from the Sonnenbergs. They had just come out with all of this incredible research about how our health is connected to the microbiome. And that just blew me away. And at that moment, I realized that I had stepped so far away from how I used to eat as a child, and all in the name of convenience. I had kind of bought into this whole American dream. Hard work, constantly on the go, and I'd completely forgotten to take care of myself.

Firstly, your grandfather sounds like an amazing man. And secondly, I know you're vegan now. I'm curious to know exactly how you were eating back then.

I was raised vegetarian, being Hindu, so culturally we were always vegetarian. But the vegetarian diet that I followed as a child, coming from a Brahmin family, we really had some incredible sources of fiber and things like that. You know, lots of a variety of veggies. I wasn't doing that. I was like, completely had bought into the, you know, fast food, French fries, that sort of eating. So my food was like a standard American diet minus the meat. And I didn't know that it had affected me as much because I was just on the go, just, just going to work, and, you know, that's not really paying attention to what I was eating. And that was a huge awakening for me, you know, that food really matters.

And obviously a major focus of your work now is the gut microbiome. You fell in love. I imagine you are still in love. For our listeners who are used to hearing the words but are not that clear, can you just give us a little bit of an overview of what you're talking about when you speak to the gut microbio?

In very simple words, the gut microbiome. I just want to start by saying the microbes or these bacteria have always been with us. There's never been a time when they've not been inside us, on us, part of us. This is something that you inherit from your mom, and it's like a family heirloom that you pass on to future generations. And I think of them as forever guests. They're inside us forever. And the more you take care of them and you feed them the foods that they like and want, they reward you by producing some incredible compounds called short chain fatty acids, butyrate especially, that are so beneficial to us. So they do many, many, many things for us, producing these compounds, vitamins, neurotransmitters, keeping our immune system sharp. Because 70% of the immune system is in the gut. And these microbes, or the microbiome, it's like a training ground for them. They help the immune system understand who is friend, who is foe. So without that, we would really have such a hard time with our immune system. So there are so many things. And of course, we can't forget the gut brain axis. Again, it's the gut sending all these incredible messages to the brain through the vagus nerve. So I don't think there's any, anything that they're not adapted to Me, everyday research is showing us that the gut microbiome is involved in so many of our, of the operations and organ systems in ways that are just so incredibly fascinating for me.

I love it. Let's touch on how our modern lifestyle so diet, yet not just food, also stress, sleep, other components negatively impact our microbiome and contribute to weight gain and other health issues. There's a lot there. Start wherever you want.

Yeah. So. Well, I would like to start actually with the mouth. The mouth is the gateway to your gut health. And we often forget this, right, because we're so. We're struggling, we're rushing, we're shoveling our food, you know, we're just not chewing. So there's definitely a connection between the mouth and the gut microbiome. So when we chew food, you know, and we produce saliva, there's. We're producing something, an immune molecule called secretory iga. And that really helps keep our oral tolerance sharp. So oral tolerance is what really helps us realize our immune system, realize who is a friend, who's a foe. So the less we chew, the less we have that connection. So what happens is when that oral tolerance decreases, our systemic inflammation increases. And so the systemic inflammation, meaning we are creating more harmful bacteria in the mouth that eventually go into the gut and causes problems and havoc and that can cause metabolic issues, including weight gain. And this is something, Kate, that maybe this is a question I can ask you as well. In my practice, I've noticed is that clients come to me really excited about switching to a vegan diet because they've seen this incredible documentary on Netflix and they're so inspired and they start changing their diet. But what usually happens to them is they are on a standard western diet, you know, which is all of these processed foods. And these processed foods cause an imbalance both in the mouth and the gut because they are high in sugar and that causes the production of certain bacteria like streptococcus mutants. That again, that affects the oral tolerance. So that doesn't change. All they do is give up the meat and they just change all of those processed foods into a vegan version. And at first everything is fine. It's the honeymoon phase. Things are going great. But a month, month and a into the experiment, they run into problems. They're feeling tired, that could be lack of protein, but they start having sensitivities to certain foods. And finally when they come to me and say, I think the vegan diet's not working for me, do you have that happen to you? I mean, do you have people?

I love this conversation. A huge component of why I left personal training after almost two decades is barely any of my clients were vegan, let alone interested in the lifestyle. And that is why I'm now focusing on online vegan health coaching. And it is just a whole nother ball game being able to interact with people who genuinely want to adopt the lifestyle. And as we hinted at, I think when someone comes to blame the diet, it's because they haven't connected enough with their why the huge emotional intensity surrounding why they were looking to adopt this vegan lifestyle. Once you really connect with it, you seek out experts such as yourself to help you get through that struggle street phase where your gut microbiome is looking to adapt. So, you know, it hasn't been the biggest issue for me in years gone past simply because I haven't been lucky enough to work with a, a huge number of vegans. However, I mean, on that matter, I guess gut health can be overwhelming. There are so many variables and as we've hinted at the right actions, long term, eating those whole plant foods, they don't necessarily provide amazing results in the short term. What's your strategy so far as coaching clients to stay focused and positive and have hope that this food is going to work for them?

Well, I do have to say that I'm not sure about other areas of health, but from the perspective of the microbiome, all we need is one meal to get your microbes to change. 24 hours is what you need for your microbiome to start shifting. So research is showing us that there's this incredible research from Pittsburgh. They actually had women in South Africa, rural South Africa, swap diets with women in Pittsburgh just for one week. So the women in Pittsburgh were on a standard American diet. And of course the Rural South Africans were eating a plant forward diet with lots of roots and tubers and fiber rich and all of that. So they swapped diets. And very interestingly within that one week, the South African women were just showing more inflammatory markers and the women in Pittsburgh, their microbes were trending towards the fiber loving microbes and decrease in inflammation. Just that one study tells me that it's amazing how the microbiome adapts to diets so amazingly quickly. So I would say that diet is the biggest needle mover when it comes to your gut microbiome. Granted, you know, if you've never had fiber, if you've never eaten fiber rich foods, the adjustment period is going to be a little tricky. You know, you need to go slow and steady. Of course you need to pick and choose your fibers because it can be a little daunting for your gut because you don't have the microbes, you don't have the bacteria to digest them. But in time I see such a difference in my clients who just take a stance and they say I'm going to up my fiber, I'm going to increase the amount of plant sources that I take in every day. And I don't especially tell them to stop eating meat or that's just not my. As a coach, all I want to suggest to that is why not increase your fiber along with the protein that you choose? Because we do know that there's research that shows that if you have have just sources of animal protein and not supported with fiber, the microbes don't know any differently. You know the the protein is supposed to be digested in the higher parts, upper parts of your digestive system. But if you eat too much or if your protein is not getting digested and your stomach or your small intestine, they end up in the colon and your microbes will feast on it and they'll produce some short chain fatty acids. But along with that they produce some toxic metabolites because they are not adept at digesting the protein. They are plant loving, fiber loving bacteria. So the research that I've come across says if you're going to be eating animal protein, have it with fiber. Make your diet more plant centric. So that's usually the mantra that I choose to give my clients because like you said, it's not everyone who wants to choose the vegan lifestyle. That's more of a philosophical stance that we take. But for some people this is a better way to approach it.

So nutrition is the biggest lever we can pull. Obviously. However, there are other components can you speak maybe to the impact of sleep so far as the healthy functioning of our gut microbiome?

Yeah, I am so thrilled that sleep is finally getting its due. Like, even if one night of erratic sleep can have us eating up to 500 calories more the next day, and our minds are searching for those hedonic foods, you know, the high sugar, you know, that sort of foods that increase that dopamine response. The microbiome kind of follow suit. They kind of follow our diurnal circadian rhythm patterns, you know, so when they really clearly like having that time where they can eat and when they can rest and when we as humans sleep as well. So we know from research that the sick, they have their own circadian rhythm, which is just like ours. And when we respect that and we don't have erratic lifestyles, where we eat very late into the night or sleep kind of erratically, then the microbiome diversity increases. So if you don't respect that, we have more of an imbalance in the gut. So definitely there's research around sleep and.

Gut imbalance and then stress as well. I spoke to Dr. Chris Miller and she was talking about reversing her lupus, and her diet was so on point. And it just. It sounds so incredibly frustrating because the process for her was years. However, she was really stressed about the nutritional upgrades she was making and the progress she wasn't yet seeing. And she spoke so eloquently to the impact of stress on these sorts of conditions. Can you speak a little bit to stress?

Yeah. Stress is something that affects us so much in so many different ways. And the biggest for me, what I've seen in my practice is it's the increase in cortisol, you know, and I really want to connect that cortisol to melatonin, which is your sleep hormone. Right. So when you're producing a lot of cortisol at night, your melatonin decreases. So sleep is affected, stress increases. Cortisol is also connected to the blood sugar hormone insulin. So that makes you hold on to fat. So it is very hard to look at stress and just think of it as, okay, it's going to just affect this one system. It affects every system. So your nervous system needs to be in rest and digest. And this is one of the reasons my philosophy, I call it the nine arms of wellness. I don't think there's one particular arm that does all of it. Like, for example, diet is, of course monumentally important, but so is hydration, sleep community.

I know that from your nine arms.

That'S one of the reasons I have group programs, because it's incredible. The support, support and this feeling of, you know, I've got you back. And I think, I can't remember who said this, but you are the five people you surround yourself with. And so I 100% believe that. So you surround yourself and the microbiome. Kate, it's very interesting. I read research that pointed to if someone in your family takes antibiotics and they test the gut microbiome of that person and, and the person, like, let's say a partner, the partner is affected by the antibiotic as well. I just found that super interesting, you know, and so it kind of shows that we're all community and how we eat, how we take care of ourselves is really, really important. From a stress perspective, I think breath, breath work I see as something that just changes and it's such an easy thing to do. We are our breath and it's so easy to use it anytime. And most of my clients are business women, you know, busy, busy, busy. So I give them few little tips throughout the day, like in between zoom calls. Why don't you practice like two minutes of breath, you know, like the bee breath, for example, you know, where you hum like a bee immediately depletes a stress, makes you calm, you're getting ready for your next meeting. So easy to do. It's always available to you, you. It's just a matter of using it. And even with exercise, like, let's say you're doing a squat, why not look at it as an opportunity to really be in rest and digest. Even though movement can be stressful, right? It could be you stress, but by breathing into that movement, you just relax throughout that time, you focus on exercise. So there are many ways one can use breath to kind of just de stress. Like, I've just been going crazy this morning. There are so many things on my plate. I've taken care of my mom, who was 92, and I thought, oh my gosh, I have to get ready for Kate. And this. And all I did was like 10 minutes of breath, you know, before I joined this call. And I feel very present. And I think that's what breath work does.

It's easy to discount, I guess, some of these habits because they seem so small and so simple, simple. And yet, as you've suggested, and I completely agree, they are so very impactful. I'm wondering if you can share some common signs of an imbalanced microbiome, because I feel like some of us, and this was probably where the Doctors were leading you back in the day, you know, some of us kind of almost just think, oh, well, I'm getting older. This is what I'm meant to put up with. This is just how it's going to be. I'm sorry. Stuck now. Game over. What are some common signs of an imbalanced microbiome?

That's a great question. And I think to understand what is an imbalanced microbiome, one needs to know what is a balanced microbiome?

Perfect.

And a balanced microbiome is a resilient microbiome. And a resilient microbiome is a microbiome that can adapt and come back to balance very quickly, let's say after a bout of antibiotics or maybe a travel gone wrong. Delhi Belly or a Montezuma revenge. You know, why do some people just recover very quickly? And why do others struggle? They take antibiotics for the diarrhea and then all health breaks loose. You know, they're just so. They could just keep struggling with diarrhea or tummy trouble for days on end, months on end after that one antibiotic dose. So this is the difference between a resilient microbiome and imbalanced microbiome. A resilient microbiome is one where you have species richness. You have lots of different species. You have many, many of them just for a comparison, like hunter and gatherer, modern hunter and gatherer tribes like the Hadza, they have over 1,500. We in contrast, have less than, I would say about 250, 260 species. And the kind of people who come to me who are in trouble, the maximum I've seen is like 145, and the least I've seen is like 20. So someone who has maybe 50 species, but they have to do all these functions for you, like producing these short chain fatty acids, producing these vitamins, taking care of your immune health. They have so many functions in the gut. And then you go on holiday and you get stuck with this parasite or something like that, and a lot of these microbes are wiped out. There's no one there to take on that work. So in a healthy microbiome, if something like this happens, there's a functional redundancy. There's someone else, some other microbes who say, hey, no worries, I'm going to take your job. That's what we want. We want species richness and we want evenness. We don't want one microbe to take over at the cost of other microbes. So that's like having 100 tomato plants and one zucchini plant in your garden and you don't want that. So those two really define what a resilient microbiome is. So when you have a resilient microbiome, then it's so much easier for gut health, immune health, all of the different functions to happen organically.

I don't know that I've heard the word resilient used before and I absolutely love it in relation to your gut health because it kind of leads me to believe that, you know, we don't have to be perfect. Life happens and our gut's got our back. Right? You know, it steps up, it trusts us. And I absolutely love that term. I'm wondering you shared a few simple changes so far as breath work and such, but I'm thinking of the individual who's not vegan and yet absolutely sees the value in a vegan or more plant based lifestyle. They are struggling with their gut health right now. What are just a handful of simple, not overwhelming type of changes that you would recommend to this individual.

So if this person were to come to me and say, anu, I want to be more plant centric because I see the value in it. I've heard all these incredible things, but I don't know if I can make the change because my gut is not quite dead. I understand why that feels like hate because I grew up with all of these foods and there was a time when I couldn't eat them because my oral tolerance had depleted so much. I didn't have the microbes to go do the work for me to digest these, these fiber components of, of the plants that I was eating. So I would say for someone like that, stop slow and again, small steps can lead to big results. So there's no need to have 30 plants in one week, you know, which is, which is what research is showing that it really helps start with small things like let's say if your oral tolerance is low, you're not, you have a lot of food sensitivities. Then maybe starting with like a smoothie, a smoothie that has some antioxidant rich blueberries and some good greens that are easy to digest, resistant starch that really keeps you full. Some moringa that help is like a superfood, mix it all and just make a smoothie and that's a good start. And then with time, as your oral tolerance improves, you can start chewing on a salad, chewing on certain foods that increase your secretary iga, but it takes time to build. In the meantime, there's Always some probiotics and supplements that can help your gut handle the intolerance.

Actually, that leads me to think there's a lot of misconception about probiotics and fermented foods. How do they actually work? And how would we incorporate them effectively into our diet?

Wow, this really bothers me a lot because probiotics have become this shiny new object syndrome. Like everyone has these just amazing marketing techniques and they kind of promote their probiotic. I just want the listener to understand that a probiotic by definition is like a strain or a bacteria that's giving you, the host, some kind of benefit. And not all probiotics really can do that. You know, there are some probiotics that by definition, you can only call a probiotic a probiotic if it is giving you some benefit. So that's the difference between probiotic and fermented foods. So fermented foods, on the other hand, are foods that we create, you know, with microbes to produce that fermentation. And not all of those microbes in the fermented food are probiotic because we don't know through research if these microbes have actually do have a benefit for you, for your immune system, for your brain, you know, for your gut. So we don't know that. So that's the difference. Can fermented foods help? Absolutely. But really kind of just have to make that difference very clear in your brain about when you're shopping for things. Let's say you're shopping for. You've heard that yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut are all really good for you. They're all different. You go buy. I don't know how it's in Australia, but here you can buy a yogurt and it could say simply probiotic cultures. That doesn't tell me anything. What does that mean, probiotic cultures? I want to know what strain is in the probiotic. Is it of value to me? Why the hell am I spending like eight bucks for a small tub of yogurt if it's not conferring some kind of benefit to me? So that's the first thing. You look at the label, see what the probiotic has. If it clearly says, oh, it has lactobacillus reuteri and has BB lactose 12, which is, by the way, great for constipation, things like that, you know, then you know that, okay, I have a chance that I could improve my gut health by taking this live microbes from this yogurt. Fermented foods, on the other hand, could have prebiotic fibers that could actually help grow your probiotics.

I guess that the dream is that, you know, we can purchase a food that like, basically is a quick fix, right when generally, I mean, and the marketing is amazing. It. It leads us to believe that dream. But these products are probably gonna be like the final 1%. The vast majority of the results that you're looking for is gonna come from the whole plant foods that you fuel your body with. Speaking deliciousness. Let's speak to your book, Flourish from Within. Coming out any second now. As this goes live, can you tell us a little bit about what I guess inspired you to go on the huge journey of creating and getting a book out into the world?

Yeah, I mean, my clients kept saying, when are you going to write the book? And I didn't know what to write the book about. I knew it was something to do with the microbiome, but I wasn't sure how to approach it. Then I started hearing every client say, I wish I had a book that really broke down the science so me as a layperson can understand it, what to do, what kind of a diet to follow, and some practical recipes. So everything in one book. So I could just not have to just keep looking for information, different sources. So I really took that to heart, Kate, and I said, okay, maybe this is what I need to work on. So the first part of the book is really about the microbiome and the incredible role it plays in our health and our lifelong health. And the second part is a diet. I hate to call it a diet. It's just a way of life that really supports microbial diversity and building a resilient microbiome. And this is something note for everyone. I don't ever go into the protein or macro part in this diet. I really focus on feeding the microbiome. The protein that you choose is your choice. You know, as long as you're protecting your microbiome with fiber, with prebiotics, with these enhancers, with these functional foods that really go to bat for you, produce increased diversity and help you build that resilience system that we so need for good health. So that was my huge why I did the other section. And section three of the book is just easy recipes to follow. And I'm a big believer that convenience leads to consistency. So I tend to format a lot of recipes in the sense that I feel like if people have a formula, they can just change it quite a bit and get more diversity from the plant kingdom. Rather than looking at recipes and trying to figure Things out. Who has the time these days? Everyone's in a rush. But. But by following this format and remembering that, oh, I need my polyphenols, I need my flavonoids, I need my resistant starch, things like that, then it becomes like small steps daily and you start seeing a difference within a few months. So that was. That's what my book is about.

I love the formula for recipes because you're actually teaching people how to make it sustainable and how to be creative and come up with their own, own balanced recipes rather than always being relying on, you know, following someone else's recipe could be like asking you to pick a favorite child. However, can you share a favorite gut friendly recipe from the book? Just a general overview. Even the title of the recipe.

Yeah, I think my clients really love a new lunch. You know, it's a play on my name. It's basically it's like a formatted version because like I said, my clients are really super busy. So this is like starting like a base of greens. You will not imagine this. Like, there are so many people who do not do greens. So that was like the base. Start with the green that you can tolerate. Could be spinach, Swiss chard, anything that you want. Add some bitter greens for your liver health. Add some resistant starch so you feel satiated, so you feel full. Because remember, a lot of them are coming for weight loss as well. So this gives that incredible signal to your satiety hormones like, I'm full. I don't need more food superfoods, foods that are rich in fiber and fiber comes from the plant kingdom. So one thing that we know for sure now, that diversity from the plant kingdom really increases your microbial diversity. I focus a lot on that.

Okay, So I love a new lunch. It's similar to a Kate lunch, which always has either tofu or lentils as the protein. And again, changing the diversity of plants dependent on what's available and what needs to be used up. Sounds fantastic. In prepping for our conversation, I noticed a blog post where you speak to mastering weight fluctuations and you also speak to staying positive and motivated. I know what you help women with a lot is losing weight and maintaining that new weight. My curiosity here is for the women listening, my age and beyond. I'm 48, which is I guess the perimenopausal age. How normal is are weight fluctuations?

Well, I think it's very normal because there's a lot of changes that are happening hormonally and we know that. Right. Your estrogen starts tanking Your progesterone is all over the place. You're wondering what's happening, because you could have those hot flashes, nights you feel like that belly fat creeping up. And I want to connect that to your gut microbiome. Your gut microbiome has specific bacteria called the estrobolo. They are very adept at digesting, or I wouldn't say digesting, but really kind of metabolizing estrogen. And estrogen can be the good kind that we all need for bone health, for our skin health and our hormonal health. But it could also be the estrogen that comes from plastics, like xenoestrogens and things like that, or it could come from plants, phytoestrogens. So the enzymes in these, that these bacteria produce are very, very important. And as we progress into menopause, things change. Some studies show that a woman's gut microbiome starts resembling that of a man. You know, so it's, there's a lot of changes. So how do we come to that? How do we fix it? How do we help our gut during this very interesting stage? And I really don't want to. A lot of people think of it as like a, like a punishment or a disease. Like the Chinese, like in traditional Chinese medicine think of it as like the second spring. And what a wonderful way to look at it because we recruit all this wisdom. We are the woman that we meant to be, perhaps. And you know, we have so much to share, share. So I prefer to focus on that rather than, oh my gosh, my sex life sucks, you know, my vagina is dry. All the raw things that can be fixed with hormonal support, with the microbial support. So I'm going to focus on the gut microbiome. So if there are a few things that listeners can change in the perimenopause menopause stage is increasing fiber. I can repeat that three to four times because it is the most important thing that you can do for your microbiome. If you want that estrogen, if you want that balance, if you want that estrogen and other hormones not to be recirculating and causing havoc, have the fiber so your gut microbiome is happy and that it has the fuel that it needs to produce short chain fatty acids, especially butyrate, that does a slew of things for us.

I completely agree so far as the menopause happens for us, not to us. And you know, while on one side of things you can't get away with some of the harsh things that you did to your body, in the past. Right. So like just pushing your body like a machine and being punishment with your exercise and restriction with your food, maybe that worked for us in our 20s and 30s. It's not effective as we get older. And yet equally beautifully, you know, we have less tolerance for some of the things that we probably shouldn't have had tolerance for anyway. From an emotional point of view, you know, we become so much stronger and more certain in ourselves in so many ways. And I think that's a much more powerful way to. To see it and to focus.

Absolutely, yeah.

For our listeners who are loving the sound of the work that you do, what is the best way to connect with you online? And of course, officially, when is Flourish from within available?

The Launch date is April 22nd. So excited. It's like, you know, having your baby out, you know.

Exactly.

So, yeah, I think a good way to reach me would be through Instagram or, you know, I'm not big on it, but I, I do, I do post and it's at. The handle is at Nine Arms of Wellness. And I do have a. If. If listeners are interested in their own microbial journey and your microbiome health and really wondering, you know, where am I, you know, as far as my microbiome health, am I taking care of my microbiome? I do have a quiz that's available and I can share the link, Kate. And it's just a quiz that you can take online and I give you results and then help you through with next steps.

Amazing. That's all going to be linked up in the show notes. And I think as much as I have a love hate relationship with social media as well, I think you may well find that to get that beautiful baby of yours out into the world, you're maybe going to be having to spend a little bit more time online just to. Just to get it into the hands of as many people who need it as humanly possible. I know I, I've loved our conversation today. I know we've just touched on a subject that, you know, we could speak to for hours and hours. So potentially we could arrange a, a return trip to the podcast. But I'm very grateful for the work that you do and obviously for our conversation today. Today as well.

Thank you so much, Kate. It was such a pleasure. And I do want to tell you I bought your journal and I'm completely in love with it. You know, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so inspiring. So I. Is it available in Australia or is it available in the States via Amazon.

Or it is available. Thank you so much. Firstly, I know you bought the PDF version and I'm sorry. Super grateful. I post to many countries, certainly America, New Zealand, Australia, Canada. So yeah, I I completely understand the work involved in getting a venture of the heart out into the world and then the realization that the work has only just begun with the creating of that baby.

You're so spot on. Yeah.

So thank you for the kind words. I absolutely appreciate it.

Thank you.

I went back and forth on editing out Anu's mention of animal protein in this conversation. Here's where I landed. Anu is vegan and this year I have made that a requirement for the podcast. I had one recent guest who was not and that was booking was made five months in advance. I want this podcast to be a safe space, a comfy lounge room of sorts for my vegan friends while still welcoming my non vegan friends with open arms. The reality is that although I no longer work with clients who still want to include animal products in their diet for the huge goal, I'm working towards a healthy, compassionate vegan world, we need individuals willing to do the work have the patience and skills to work with the non vegan majority. So I left the references to products of cruelty in. However I felt the need to share my reasoning in heart. I will never be relaxed or even okay with animal products mentioned in my lounge room. However, I am grateful for the professionals doing the work I do not do Again. Launch date is April 22nd for Flourish from Within and pre orders are available now. I have you all linked up in the show notes via strongbodygreenplanet.com that's it for this week in healthification. However, Dear podcast listener, have you checked out my plant positive journal yet? There is now also a fillable PDF version available for immediate download. So wherever you are in the world you can still get Plant positive with me. If you are plant based, curious or already vegan and need a healthier approach to the lifestyle. In this daily journal you will learn how to consistently prioritise food, exercise and other healthy habits that build on each other to have a compounding and lasting effect. It makes a great gift to you or for the loved one who is plant based, curious or who has been a valuable vegan ally to you. The journal follows a 12 month format, however it is not dated so it is perfect to use at any time of the year. To learn more, check out strongbodygreenplanet.com journal with love and gratitude Plant Friends.