In this video, Lucas Wilhelm Hedenbäck recounts his personal struggle with chronic gut issues—bloating, gas, low libido—despite rigorous training, premium nutrition, and an exhaustive regimen of digestive enzymes, probiotics, pre‑biotics, DAO, bitters, ashwagandha, L‑theanine, Tongkat Ali, antimicrobials, and countless other supplements. He explains why that approach failed: external supplementation teaches the body to down‑regulate its own processes, analogous to a muscle atrophying in a cast, ultimately worsening the underlying systems. Hedenbäck positions the gut microbiome as the "first domino" that triggers virtually every physiological pathway, and he argues that genetic differences cause the same root issue (e.g., leaky gut) to manifest as diverse symptoms (brain fog, joint pain, etc.). He outlines a three‑step framework he uses with every client: (1) eliminate all supplements to reveal a true baseline, (2) identify the root cause by tracing which microbial functions are down‑regulated, and (3) rebuild gut function naturally by broadening bacterial diversity and progressively re‑introducing foods, using a progressive‑overload mindset. Supplements, he says, can later serve as performance amplifiers once the underlying systems are restored. He illustrates the method with a client case (John) who resolved two decades of bloating and irregular bowel movements after abandoning supplement‑centric protocols. Finally, he promotes his coaching program and assessment call, offering a personalized roadmap based on this systematic framework.
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A few years ago, I thought I had found the answer. Supplements. I was bloated after eating, gassy, libido nowhere to be found whilst being in my early 20s. My recovery was destroyed, but I was still training hard, spending insane amounts of money on highest quality food that I could possibly get. Then of course the supplements. I tried digestive enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, DAO enzymes, bitters, ashwagandha, L-theanine, Tongkat Ali, antimicrobials, literally all of it. And none of it actually moved the needle more than just a tiny bit. Maybe it improved things a bit short-term, but then my problems always came back and it usually got worse than before. And in this video, I'm going to show you exactly why chasing the right pill was the wrong move entirely, and what actually fixed everything for me instead. And one of the biggest mistakes I made, and the one nearly everyone in the health space is being sold on right now, is believing that the fix comes in a pill form, right? But here's what nobody explains. When you supplement a process your body should be running on its own, you're not fixing it, you're teaching your body it doesn't need to run that process anymore. Think about what happens to a muscle in your body when you've broken something, when it's in a cast, you stop using it, and it atrophies. It gets weaker, not stronger. And the longer it goes without doing the work itself, the same thing happens internally every time you supplement instead of actually fixing why a process is broken in the first place. Your body reads the external supply and quietly downregulates its own. So the underlying system gets even worse, not better. And while your symptoms look like they might be improving short-term, it actually makes things worse. So here's exactly why this backfires and the 3 things I actually do with every client who comes to me already covered in supplements. You see, the first thing we have to understand here is that your microbiome is the first domino. Your gut bacteria is the first domino in almost every single function in your body. It sends the signals that triggers the processes and supply chains running underneath absolutely everything. But if the bacteria responsible for a specific process is downregulated, that process doesn't fire properly. So whatever that's your gut lining repairing itself, your natural recovery compounds, or your ability to break down histamine-rich foods without a reaction. And this is also where genetics comes in. Two people can have exactly the same root issue, say gut permeability. permeability or a leaky gut and end up with completely different symptoms. One person gets brain fog, another gets joint pain, but it's the same root. It's just different manifestations, which means chasing the symptom with a supplement was never going to actually get you to the actual cause. And this is exactly why supplementing your way through this doesn't just fail to fix it, it actively hides what's really going on, which makes it even harder to ever find the real issue. With almost every client who comes to me, the first thing we do is get them off everything. If you're taking 10 to 20 different pills There's no way to know what's actually working and no way to see what your real baseline issue even is. So we have to strip it away to finally see behind the curtain because the supplements are just masking all the actual symptoms. Then we need to find the actual root. And once the noise is gone, you can actually trace the real chain, which process is actually downregulated, why, and what's driving it. This is the difference between managing symptoms forever and actually fixing what's underneath them. And last step in this equation is to rebuild it naturally. Every one of these internal processes can be supported and progressively rebuild without supplementing it externally. The same way you would progressively rebuild strength. You don't go from 50-pound dumbbells to 100-pound dumbbells in one day to another. That's like asking to get an injury. And your microbiome works exactly the same. So the exact framework looks like this: you broaden your bacterial diversity, you slowly progress your exposure to more and more food, start with small amounts, and then exactly as with training, you progressive overload how much of that food you're consuming, you fix what's driving the downregulation, and these systems start working the way they're supposed to on their own. I walk every single client through exactly how to sequence this for their specific situation inside my coaching program. So if you want that level of detail, there's a link in the description. We have to understand though that supplements can still have a place after doing all of these things properly, but as an amplifier once everything underneath is already working, not as the fix itself. It's the same logic as with caffeine. If your system is already dialed in, a coffee should make you feel incredible. It should be a performance enhancer, but it shouldn't be the only reason you're able to function. And that's how it is for most people. They need it to function. And then over time, they need more and more and everything gets worse and worse without it. And most supplements work exactly the same. So just be very cautious about that. And I'll show you an example of this. John came to me after 20 years of naturopaths, functional medicine doctors, supplement protocols, detox protocols, literally everything, but nothing had touched his bloating, his abdominal pain, or his inconsistent bowel movements in 2 decades. Just a couple of months into actually fixing the root instead of managing it, it was resolved with zero supplements. And it's the same story as mine, just years further along. I tried it all, everything, and none of it worked until I actually stopped treating supplements as the fix. And it's not like I'm sitting here and selling you some magic. I don't have information from another planet that nobody else has access to. What I actually offer is a strategic, systematic framework built from what I've gone through myself and the patterns I've seen across hundreds of clients dealing with exactly this. What I offer is taking the thinking of your plate. I analyze, I create the protocols, and your only job is to execute. So if that is what you want instead of another bottle or a generic detox protocol, there's a link in the description to apply for an assessment call. On this call, we'll map out your current situation, understand what your root cause is, and give you a clear roadmap on how to fix it. Your microbiome being the first domino in almost every single function in your body is exactly the concept I break down in depth in this video. So if you want to see how this one thing cascades into everything else you're dealing with. Watch this one right here.
