If You Could Only Give One Tip About Gut Health, What Would It Be and Why?

Hey, it's J.J. here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating, and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order. Hey, JJ here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair. Every style, every home that's W A Y f a I r.com this episode.

Is brought to you by Buffalo Trace Distillery. Powerful yet smooth. Contained but never tame. Proudly going their own way but never going alone. This is the spirit inside Buffalo Trace Bourbon Made at Buffalo Trace Distillery. The world world's most award winning distillery. Buffalo Trace is always perfectly untamed. Distilled, aged and bottled by Buffalo Trace distillery, Franklin County, Kentucky. 90 proof 45% alcohol by volume. Learn more at BuffaloTrace distillery.com Please drink responsibly.

If you could only give one tip about gut health, what would it be and why? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert and fitness hall of Fam. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions and now I'm sharing what I found with you.

Welcome to Ask the Health Expert.

Antlers Longevity from Instagram asks if you could only give one tip about gut health, what would it be and why? All right, this is a first here on the Ask the Health Expert podcast. I've got the father of one of our guests who's been on a couple times you all know and love Dr. Will Cole. Well now I've got Dr. Bill Cole. His dad is on today to be answering questions for you. So Dr. Bill Cole is a functional medicine expert and a health coach and he is the founder and creator of the key cellular nutrition and cellular health accelerator programs. And he there by the way, with a team of more than 30 dedicated health experts educate individuals on the steps needed to start improving their well being. His specialty release the 40 to 65.

Year old women market.

So I'm like, come on over to the show Dr. Bill. Also he has been a competitive bodybuilder, skilled hunter, avid golfer, but for the last 36 years his biggest passion is natural health and that's been his main focus. So I am super excited to have him with us today. Stay with us. We'll be right back to answer that question.

Hey, it's J.J. here. Now let's be honest. The holidays are basically a financial ambush. Travel, hosting, gifts, surprise holiday school, things. Suddenly you're wondering how December turned into a spending spree. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. What really grabbed my attention is how fast those little holiday expenses pile up. With Monarch, seeing everything in one place makes it a lot Harder to accidentally overspend. And honestly, I appreciate anything that keeps me from starting January with a money hangover. You'll love exploring the holiday spending category. Imagine how good it will feel to actually see what's happening before your credit card statement does that whole dramatic reveal thing. Monarch basically shows you exactly where the money is going in real time. And that level of clarity could change everything, right? Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with code Virgin.

Ray Ban Meta glasses come with open ear audio so you can listen to your favorite music without blocking out the world around you.

Hey, Meta, play Gorgeous.

Here's Gorgeous by Doja Cat. You can also ask Meta AI questions.

Hey, Meta, when's Doja Cat's next concert? Doja Cat is playing at the Los Angeles theater next Tuesday.

Sweet Ray Ban Meta glasses available at Ray Ban stores and other authorized retailers. I'd like to preface that if I could, before I get started, because I think it's important to understand that the health of the gut is largely determined by. By this microbial balance that we have inside the gut. We call it the microbiome, right? It's this balance between good bacteria and bad bacteria. And that balance is really uppermost in terms of the health of our gut. Now, as it relates to the answer, it's generally not going to be just one thing. I feel like I would be remiss if I'm not more complete in my answer here, but I can kind of boil it down to one thing. If we think of it this way, the number one thing that I would recommend is that people avoid chemicals that have been designed to kill living things. Let me explain. We all know what insecticides and pesticides are. We've heard of chlorine, right in our water. We know what antibiotics are antibacterial. So antibiotics in our food, these things have been designed to kill living things. It's not a bad thing. But unfortunately, when they get in our body, especially in excess, they kill living things. Well, that includes our microbial balance. And the number one offender that I would say, especially as we go along here, is something called glyphosate. That is the active ingredient in Roundup. And research has been showing that it's not only carcinogenic, but 4 seconds after it touches the lining of our gut, it begins breaking the lining of our gut down. And what's going to happen there at that point is you're going to wipe out your good bacteria. It's really endemic, really. Today we're using it not only to kill plants, but they're actually using it to desiccate, like wheat. They'll spray it a second time because it helps to dry up the wheat. And they've actually produced seeds now that the plant is considered to be Roundup ready, meaning they can douse the plant with an extra large amount of Roundup. So we're getting this in our food supply. Really think of it this way. Even if we're talking about eating meat, for instance, people are going to think, well, it's going to just be in plant food. But if you look at a cow, and a cow is eating corn that has been sprayed with Roundup, right? They might eat an acre of corn, and that's going to concentrate in their tissues. And then we come along and we eat the cow. And so we're getting this concentrated amount of something bad, like glyphosate. And like I said, four seconds after it touches the lining of the gut, it begins breaking that down. We create what's called a leaky gut. A leaky gut is where you have these microscopic holes that develop from chronically inflamed gut lining. Now, it allows undigested food, bacteria, virus toxins to escape into the bloodstream. It creates an immune response, because those things are not supposed to be there, there. So your immune system goes on attack. That creates chronic inflammation. It's a cycle that's just perpetuated almost every meal every day. If I could take a step back and also state that even one round of antibiotics, just one round, has been shown to decimate 30% of our good bacteria. And now we have people that have been taking antibiotics almost every year of their life. Right. And especially now, how much have we used antibacterial soap. That stuff gets into our skin and it kills our good bacteria. So I really would like to look at it from that standpoint of, like, we have to avoid these things. We have to give our gut a chance to thrive. But we can't do that when we're consuming these agents that are designed to kill what's in our gut. So that would be my number one suggestion as far as what we can do to ensure gut health with our clients. We recommend even just Googling something called the Dirty Dozen, which will give us specific foods that are the worst offenders. And if we could just even start there. But if somebody can afford to go organic, there is benefit there, no doubt. And if you can't afford to go organic, then certainly wash your fruits and vegetables as best you can.

This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert.

I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetojay.com.

Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.