Healing Gut Inflammation

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Hey, it's JJ Virgin. And welcome to this week's episode of the JJ Virgin lifestyle show.

And this week, well, it's all about the gut.

Bout the gut. Bout the gut. Yes, this week we are gonna be talk about how transforming your gut can transform your life. And we've got the amazing gut expert herself, Krista Auricchio, a clinical and holistic nutritionist and founder of TheWholeJourney.com one of my pals from San Diego where she appears weekly on San Diego Fox 5 talking about how to use food as medicine. She's also the co host of a nationally syndicated health talk show called the Randy and Krista show, news that makes you healthier. Now, Krista has been in the business for 10 years, helping people heal by identifying the root cause of health issues. In lieu of addressing individual symptoms, she helps thousands improve their gut health with her gut Thrive with Five program. And you are going to be shocked and amazed and awed by what I'm going to be sharing with you today. And there are things that you can put into immediate practice and there are things, by the way, you haven't heard before. She's going to be bold, controversial, and again, she can show you how to change your life by changing your gut, of course, too. We'll be taking a listener question, so stay tuned for that. So what's the first step to healing the gut?

I think the first step you are intimately familiar with is we have to stop putting fuel on the fire. So we have to remove the foods that we're sensitive to. And so when we're starting to heal the gut, we're removing basically anything that causes inflammation. That's those foods we're sensitive to like gluten and soy and corn, dairy, some people to eggs. But another thing, jj, is that of course we have to eliminate sugar. And we eliminate that really in every form. And we eliminate fermented foods as well because we really want to start getting oxygen flowing throughout the GI tract. So it's kind of if you think in the first step to healing the gut, you have to take a vacuum cleaner to intestinal tract and get rid of inflammation that you're adding and then get rid of old inflammation. So we use three different kinds of enzymes, proteolytic and hydrolytic enzymes, as well as digestive enzymes. And we also use enzymes that clean up old molecules of gluten and dairy that are causing inflammation, even though maybe you haven't eaten those foods in weeks. And so that's kind of the combination is we get. We stop adding to the inflammatory cascade, and then we remove what's and start to really clean up the blood and use the full power of enzymes working together.

Now, I know what my listeners are thinking. I just know I can read their minds. And they're going, but wait a minute, Krista. Fermented foods, I thought they were good for the gut.

I know this is such a controversial topic, jj. And so, you know, I always say, I was raised in pizza, pasta, and antibiotics, and I came to this field with the worst case of candida that you've ever seen. And so, having studied the beginning of this gut idea of healing the gut came from that and really realizing that we need oxygen in our digestive system. And where we get into trouble is when fermentation, we have too much, and it snuffs out the oxygen. So fermented foods are super healthy foods when they're added in at the right time. I always say, you can't plant flowers in a junkyard. We have to do our cleaning before we start to add in those foods that are supportive to us.

That is great. And I love that you're bringing up controversial subjects, because that's what it's all about. You're bold. And now the next step, you do something different, too, because you have a different approach to purging pathogens. How do you do it?

Yeah, so we have to get rid of the bad guys, but this is all about healing the gut from a genetic perspective. So when we look, we're not just talking about, you know, protozoa or parasites or yeast or fungus. We're looking at the microbiome, which is the collective genetic material of all the organisms within our gut. We're looking at this as a community, right? And we want to create 85% good guys and only 15% bad guys to challenge the immune system and to end up keeping us strong. So we look to do a pathogen purge, where we are knocking down, in a very gentle way, all manner of pathogens and not just focusing on one. And so when you can do that in a gentle way, not taking, let's say, the traditional Western approach of killing, kill, kill with guns blazing, where you bring in the heavy hitting antibiotics. You know, if we relate this to a war, like that's really what's happening is whenever you go in during a war and you drop those bombs, the land gets damaged. That's the equivalent of creating more leaky gut or intestinal permeability and innocent people get killed. That means you're killing off the good guys when you're trying to kill off the bad guys as well. We want to stop that approach and a lot in the naturopathic community we can do with botanicals. Too high of doses of botanicals for too long has the same effect.

All right, so I love that. No, scorched earth is what I took away from that.

Yeah, no scorched earth. But I just want to say the last thing about this is. So what we do is we. You have to use many different botanicals in a low dose. So instead of attacking, you interrupt the way that all these organisms communicate. So you take away their cell phones. If they can't talk anymore, they can't proliferate anymore. Then we create an inhale inhospitable environment with step one of slashing inflammation and they leave on their own. That's what's so different about purging pathogens in this philosophy.

That is fantastic. And now that you've created this new microbiome place, then what happens?

Okay, so. And this is why this is a five step strategy. And so many of us, we implement one or two of the steps or we don't put them in the right order so we don't get lasting gut healing. So now we've cleared out what doesn't belong. If you weeded your garden garden, it's time to plant new seeds. Okay, so we use, you have to use a really carefully crafted combination of probiotics, 13 different strains of probiotics, so that you can plant the seeds to keep the immune system really healthy. And if you do it in the right way, use the right combination of the strains of probiotics. This works off of your genetics because you're now informing your immune system to keep yourself healthy in the future. But then you're training your body to be able to make the strains of bacteria unique to where you originally came from, whether that was Asia, Africa, Europe, you now, let's say jj, you and I eat the same meal. When we're now approaching this from a genetic perspective, we're going to make totally different strains out of the bacteria, even though we ate the same meal. And this happens also with the water that you drink and the air that you breathe. And this is how we start to create the most self sustainable human. It's really a beautiful, a beautiful process to use the power of good bacteria in this way.

So let's talk bacteria for a moment because I can also sense that what people are probably thinking is, okay, well, I just went down to my local health food store and I bought a jar of acidophilus, or I bought some probiotics. And you said 11 different strains or 13 different strains, I don't remember. So how do you know what you need?

Well, basically everybody needs three of the major players. And so they need lactobacillus and there's three to five different strains of those. And the lactobacs, they shepherd out the bad bacteria. That's why people eat fermented foods. That's what they do. They're going to be like the soldiers shepherding out bad bacteria, but they're also going to take the malleable bad bacteria that are willing to kind of show their hand and show them to the immune system and say, here, this is what is in their genetic code. Remember that next time. So you can get them out quicker and the immune system can strategize. So you need the overarching lactobacillus and then you need bacillus strains of probiotics, because the bacillus, they're kind of, they stay, they colonize, they stay, they contribute to that lasting digestive health. They go in, you know, like the infrastructure, they're going in and healing and sealing the leaky gut. Super important. And then you need bacillus, probably one or two strains of bacillus. And I equate bacillus to like Navy Seals or Army Rangers, because they're not afraid of anything. They don't look to be comfortable. They're going to be on the front lines of your immune system getting out anything that comes in. They can survive harsh stomach acid. And so we want to make sure we have bacillus on our team when it comes to probiotics. If you get those three, then you know you're covering your bases.

That's fantastic. Now in the next step, you're working to balance stomach acid. And that is such a. I'd love.

You to really hit that because I.

Think for so many people, they think they're eating fine, but they're actually not digesting well. But you also have another term that I want you to walk us through, and that's something called terraforming. So let's start with stomach acid and let's also define what the heck that is.

Yeah, cool. Okay. So stomach acid is crucially important. Like you said, it's not what we eat, it's what we absorb. And especially, you know, every year over age 45, we produce less and less stomach acid. And that's just because we don't focus on optimizing it. And so you don't want to do all this work on your health and leave out that key piece. I see that a lot of practitioners do that. So we have to train the body to produce more of its own stomach acid in the right amounts. And so I do that using something called the HCL challenge, where you can use betaine, hcl, and pepsin. It's just, you know, get it all in one. And you test yourself. You take one HCL and see if you get a burn in 20 minutes. If you do, you're cool and you don't have low stomach acid. If you don't, then you take another one and you start to see, okay, how low in stomach acid am I? So I have people really build up their hcl, and I have them take some people go up to 10 or 12 HCL pills, and they take it before their biggest meal. That usually contains protein. And then when they do get that burn, that's when they start backing off the next meal. They go down one, and you go all the way down to none. And now you've trained, trained your body, you've tonified your stomach acid. Super important. Because that is like, good fences make good neighbors, right? We want to have that fence up. And so if you eat something on your food, there's a pathogen on that food, the stomach acid is going to kill it. Really important. And then, of course, brain fog is such a huge problem for people. Low stomach acid is a root cause of brain fog because you're not digesting your vitamin B12. So all is well in the world after this fourth step. And then that when you talk about terraforming, JJ, that kind of comes from Star Trek of creating a new terrain, right? And so what we want to do is we're overturning the entirety of the gut. And that takes, you know, Rome wasn't built or destroyed in a day, and neither was gut health. And that takes three to four months. And so as you're implementing these steps through the next three to four months is when the flowers bloom. You know, you've weeded, you've planted the seeds. Now add in the fermented foods and the fiber. Fermented foods are a way to Maintain your good bacteria without having to take so many probiotics. The fiber is a way to feed that good bacteria so that we have this self sustaining system where the flowers are growing and our immunity is getting better, our brain health is getting better, our digestion is getting better. So that's the idea of terraforming, is creating new and sustainable life inside the GI tract.

So now you're here, you've created this beautiful non leaky gut, great flora. Your microbiome is balanced. How do you keep it, Krista?

Yeah, that's the terraforming phase where we have to learn the art of dipping without diving. And it's called the 8020 balance. And so to maintain this level of healing, hopefully you've shifted your biochemistry dramatically. And now a little bit of sugar is going to taste like a whole lot of sugar. And so if you can keep that diet, you know, 80% really clean as you move forward, then you will continue that terraforming phase as long as you're adding in the really good foods and foods that continually build stomach acid like ginger and apple cider vinegar. And you start to use food as your medicine. You're using dietary antipathogenics like oregano and cilantro. And that's part of really maintaining a healthy balanced diet and continue to feed those flowers as they grow. And it's really amazing because we're in a world and I know you agree with me of rampant food sensitivities. And there's hardly a person I know that doesn't need this tune up. Just like there's no car that doesn't need an oil change. And this is just a map to live at such a higher level of life. And then you're not sensitive to so many foods you were sensitive to, you're not pigeonholed because you have now acquired the beautiful aspect of being human in that we are hardwired to adapt and survive. And you'll realize that your body can handle so much more than you think it can.

And food intolerance is really a way for your body to say, hey, something is wrong here. So I love that you brought that up. I'd love to hear one of your favorite success stories and show how transforming your gut can transform your life.

Life.

Yeah.

So.

Well, Hashimoto's disease, which is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, is almost like an epidemic at this point where 90% of thyroid issues in the US aren't hypothyroid, they're actually low. Thyroid connected to Hashimoto's this autoimmune disease. And most people, when they have one autoimmune disease, they have another one, whether they have alopecia or something else that comes with that. So this is. We've got success stories. I'm thinking right now of a woman in Australia, Hashimoto's, for over a decade that she knew of, she's losing her hair. She has poor gut health, no energy, constipation. What does that translate to in your daily life? And now after going through this process, Hashimoto's is in remission. Energy is amazing and it's literally inability to airlift yourself from a path of disease and discomfort to one of health and vibrancy. And so we've got a lot of people just like Amanda, who I'm thinking of in Australia who are able to really understand that. Wow, I thought I had to live with this and then I was just going to keep marching down and managing it throughout my life and feeling worse and worse and then they don't have to. And then, of course, physically, alopecia, in terms of an autoimmune disease, we had a guy named Tony come to us in his 30s with bald patches everywhere. And the doctors told him it might take three years to figure it out. And he goes through this program. Within eight weeks, his hair is 100% restored. And that really matters if you feel comfortable going out into the world or not based upon your appearance. And then you also know that you safeguarded yourself from autoimmunity in the future.

So many of these things like alopecia, you would never link back or rosacea or so many of these different things we're taught are just, oh, you're getting older, it's your genetics, it's normal. It's not normal. And that's what Krista is showing all over the place. And that's why I wanted to have you on the show because you are rocking it out there in the world and I so appreciate your work and your genius.

Thank you. And I appreciate you right back. I love talking about this and I appreciate the opportunity to share the philosophy.

Alrighty. And everybody, if you want to learn more, and I'm sure you do, all you need to do is go to gut. Thrive in five. That's the number five. Gutthrivein5.com thank you, Krista.

Thanks, JJ.

Krista, thank you so much for joining me today. This is awesome information, just as I knew it would be. And I want to remind everyone listening that you can visit thewholejourney.com and gutthrivewith5.com and by the way, that's the number five. Number five to get more of Krista's awesome information. Now after the break, I'm going to be answering the listener's questions like I always do. So be sure to stick with me.

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Welcome back. Now this is the part that I love. It's where I get to answer a listener's question. And today's question comes from Janet in Park City, Utah. And she says, I do so well during the day, but then I come home at night and I start making dinner and the wonderful, wonderful smells get the best of me. I just tend to graze the whole time I'm preparing dinner. You know, it starts out is grazing, but then just turns to flat out overeating during dinner. Ugh. I spend all day doing so well, but it seems like I can't make it all the way to the end. If I had a little something I could eat just before arriving home, it usually helps. Apples usually help. You know, they're far from my favorite food. I'd really like a chocolate bar. Well, who wouldn't help? All right, so I loved this question because I think I don't know. 99% of people listening can totally relate to this, Janice. So let me share a couple different ideas. Number one, I teach people to eat by the clock whether they're doing the virgin diet or the sugar impact diet. I like you to eat every four to six hours. So you get up in the morning, eat within an hour or so waking up. And ideally, I love to have you start the day with one of my shakes. And both my books, by the way, have shake recipes in them and we have them on the site. Loads of shake recipes so you'll never get bored of that. I love people starting the day with with the shake because it's going to give you the protein, fat and fiber that you need to help keep you full for hours. Then I'm having you eat every four to six hours. So remember, if you eat breakfast and you need to eat in two hours, you did not hit the breakfast out of the park. You probably had a high carb, high sugar diet breakfast that just slammed your blood sugar and now you're racing for something else. So if you're having breakfast around seven and lunch around noon, right? So there's four to six hours and you're not having dinner until around seven. If you don't have something in the afternoon, you're going to do a crash and burn and you're going to get home too hungry. And there's no way you're going to be able to wait till dinner. So I am betting that's what is happening is that you're having lunch, you're not having anything till you get home, and then all of a sudden food is all around you and of course you're grazing. Who wouldn't? So the problem is with that is if you start grazing while you're preparing, you have no clue how much you've eaten. And by the time you sit down to dinner, you've probably eaten twice as much as you need to eat in the first place. So here's the suggestion. Number one, you said you wanted a chocolate bar, okay? Now you're gonna love me because I have these two new bars out that are, oh my gosh, they're my addiction, okay? So I've got a bunch of different all in one bars, my JJ virgin bars, but I have two in particular that are gonna just crush it for you. If you want a chocolate bar, I have my chocolate mint all in. It's a protein bar and it's absolutely delicious. Protein, fat and fiber. So it would be a great thing to throw in around 4 or 5 o'. Clock. Have that. Then brush your teeth. And as you're preparing dinner, have some sparkling water with lime, have some tea, but do not start eating. No eating while you're standing. No eating while you're standing. What's great is this will take the edge off and I'll give you that little sweet treat that you're looking for. Now the other one I have, and this is fantastic because it's just loaded with fiber, is my dark chocolate fiber coconut fiber bar. I have that actually in dark chocolate and dark chocolate mint. These are so delicious. So any of these bars you could use in that late afternoon will take the edge off, it'll help you stay sane, it'll give you that little sweet tooth you want, taste you want without like losing your mind. Now what's great about these is they help you bridge the gap. But something else that could help you take the edge off is to have some of my fat burning lemonade. So what I want you to do with this is remember, now that you're preparing dinner, you are not eating as you're standing there, no food. You had that bar and now you're done. Brush your teeth. But now I want you to be drinking instead of eating. So you're going to take some spring water, like 16 ounces and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. And what's great about this is lemon juice can actually slow down your blood sugar response to a meal. And the sour taste can take your sweet tooth away. So what you're going to do is take some lemon juice, a couple tablespoons, if add a little glutamine powder. I love to add a little glutamine powder, like a teaspoon, three grams because it tricks your brain into thinking that you've eaten something. Help takes the cravings away. And then you can either throw in a tablespoon of chia seeds or scoop of my extra fiber because the fiber will help keep you fuller longer. But again, both my bars have fiber in them, too. 5 grams in the all in one. And I'm doing that by memory, though I might be a little off, might be higher. And 11 grams in the coconut fiber bar. Okay, so again, the water, a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, a teaspoon of glutamine powder, a tablespoon of chia seeds, or extra fiber if you need a little something sweet in there. Ideally, you're weaning your sweet tooth down, but you could use a little my virgin sprinkles, which are erythritol stevia and glycine. But I really want you to think sour because again, remember, the sour takes your sweet tooth away, which is so awesome. Alrighty. This is gonna be great because now you're calmed down, you're drinking water so often, we're not hungry, we are thirsty. So you've had water, you've had fiber. You are not going to go into dinner starving and hungry. Now you can eat a reasonable dinner and you can sit down and actually eat because you didn't already eat everything while you were standing up making dinner. Because remember again, if you're grazing, you have no idea how much you've eaten. And I'm going to bring up one more little idea. This is why you keep a food journal. Because if you write it all down, then you know what you did. So it will change your behavior dramatically if you just start writing, writing a food, keeping a food journal as well. Kaiser did a study and they found that people who kept a food journal lost twice the weight as people who didn't. Number one reason, but you know, key to success. And it's so easy to do. So if you'd like to submit a question, just go to jjvirgin.com ask and you can leave a voicemail for me and I cannot wait to hear from you. I love getting these questions. Okay, one more way. I'd love to hear from you. I'd hugely appreciate it if you could jump on Stitcher or iTunes and leave a review for me. It helps a bunch and be sure to subscribe and share the show with your friends. This is JJ Virgin signing off and reminding you that you are worth it. Dare to live a life that matters.

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