Lisa's Gut Healing Protocol

Why is your Gut Health so Important?

Digestion is how your body absorbs all the nutrients from the food you eat and the process of eliminating excess waste. Acid reflux, gassiness, belching, indigestion are all signs of a digestive system that needs more support. Digestive upset is more than a minor inconvenience. It is a sign that your body is having difficulty assimilating your food. This can lead to illness and nutritional deficiencies.

Digestion is the ground work for all health. You need to be able to fully break down your food into usable nutrients that are readily absorbed by the intestines and taken up into the blood stream for use in cells. Your food becomes the energy that your cells produce. This energy is used to fuel your body, mind and repair all of your cells and organs.  The remaining food matter sweeps the colon and carries waste outside of the body. If any step is malfunctioning disease can occur.

All disease begins in the gut; therefore all health begins in the gut as well. A healthy gut equals a healthy body, and a healthy gut equals a healthy mind.

If you have anxiety, depression, poor concentration or any mental or emotional symptoms, you need to work on your gut.

If you have skin problems, rashes, hives, eczema, psoriasis, dry cracking skin, you need to work on your gut.

If you have food or environmental allergies, or sensitivities, you need to work on your gut.

If you have been diagnosed with any disease, you need to work on your gut.

If you have auto immune disease, you really need to work on your gut.

If you have hormone imbalances, you need to work on your gut.

If you have low energy, chronic fatigue or chronic pain, you need to work on your gut.

All illness begins in the gut. That’s why this protocol is so important. Homeopathic medicines can assist your healing and improve your health faster, but those must be prescribed on an individual basis and are not included in this protocol. For your personalized recommendations please make an appointment with Lisa Paul. This protocol will focus on nutritional, supplements, some herbs and lifestyle supports to promote healing. You will be able to take a quiz to allow you to personalize the level of support you need through this protocol.

How was my gut damaged in the first place?

Damage to your digestion, gut microbiome and intestinal lining can happen a multitude of ways. So many of these things are common in our everyday lives that we don’t even realize the damage it is doing to our overall health.

• Not drinking enough fluids/ water can lead to constipation or slower bowels as fluid is needed to move matter through the intestines. When matter doesn’t move well, it ferments, causing gas build up, bloating and yeast and unhealthy bacteria overgrow.

• Pain medications like tylenol, ibuprofen and other medications damage the intestinal wall. This causes poor nutrient absorption, and can cause inflammation or allergies as food particles can get through to areas that they are not meant to.

• Not eating enough fibre, fruit and vegetables damages digestion as a variety of fibres are needed to feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Without those healthy fibres, the most beneficial bacteria will die off and be replaced with poorer strains or yeast overgrowth.

• Food additives, chemicals, artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners can all damage the intestinal lining. Pesticides and insecticides damage all of digestion. Chemical in our air, in our cleaning products and our personal care products can damage the mucousa of our nose, mouth and digestive tract.

• Stress decreases our body’s ability to digest our food. Food is not broken down as well then it ferments in the gut causing discomfort and poor bacteria and yeast overgrowth. Not only is this uncomfortable, it also reduces the amount of feel good chemicals that are made in the gut, making it harder for your to unwind and feel happy.

All of these reasons and much more are why I created the Gut Healing Protocol. When you are ready to work on the biggest factor that will impact your overall health, this is the right step for you!

 What to expect during this protocol:

This Protocol is designed so you can personalize it to your specific needs. First you will complete a quiz to determine how much support you need through this protocol. Based on these results you will complete 3 to 5 different stages of the protocol and are able to add additional supports as recommended to promote your body’s healing capabilities.

There are dietary restrictions during this protocol. Certain foods are restricted or eliminated because they tend to be inflammatory, mucous forming or irritating to the digestive system or whole body. These restrictions are temporary, designed to allow your body time to heal, to do that repair work that is too difficult to do when your body is constantly exposed to these inflammatory foods. The goal is always to be able to eat in an unrestricted manner.

All supplements and herbs recommended are for general use. Some supplements may not be right for you. If you take prescription medication you may want to talk to your pharmacist or make an appointment with Lisa to determine which supplements will be best for you.

There are dietary and non- dietary lifestyle supports at the end of the booklet that can be used throughout the protocol. There are links to purchase discounted supplements in each stage if you prefer to use the “easy button.”

Above all, I hope this program helps you connect to your body and your food. I hope you listen to your symptoms as messages and not punishments. I hope you fall in love with good food and eating in a way that supports your body. I hope you heal.

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Lisa’s Gut Healing Protocol is now available!

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The information provided here is for educational purposes only. For treatment please seek a qualified healthcare provider.

Copyright Lisa Paul The Natural Path 2024

Why I don't do Allergy Testing

Food allergy tests actually show food sensitivities, and not life threatening allergies.

The following blog addressing non-life threating food allergies or food sensitivities. Any food /substance that causes an anaphylactic reaction should be strictly eliminated and proper precautions taken.

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I frequently get questions about food allergy testing by people looking for answers to why they feel awful all the time. Yes, it likely has something to do with what you are eating, however paying for a comprehensive food allergy test may not give you the answers you are looking for. Let me explain.

People are most likely to go get tested because they feel awful on many levels and honestly that’s probably the worst time to get tested. When you feel awful all over its most likely because your are full of inflammation. Then your allergy tests come back showing that you are allergic to so many common foods, more than you ever imagined, and it feels like an impossible task to eliminate all them. This can be very discouraging and disheartening. Often trying to eliminate a great many foods all at once is very stressful and that can be detrimental to your health.

Lisa’s approach is to look to the source of the inflammation and work on that, focusing on healing the body, empowering you with the information needed to take control of your health.

Food sensitivity symptoms:

• frequent headaches

• lethargy, fatigue, energy goes up and down quickly

• brain fog, trouble concentrating, poor memory,

• bloating, gassiness, indigestion, reflux, IBS

• soreness all over, achy joints and limbs

• skin problems, acne, eczema, psoriasis, dark circles under the eyes

• foul body odor or bad breath

• moodiness, irritability, anxiety, depression

• frequent colds, susceptible to viruses, frequent sinus congestion, tonsil stones

• difficulty sleeping

The problem with food allergy testing

Allergy testing measures the amount of inflammatory response your body is having to particular stimuli (foods). If the only thing you do is eliminate these foods you may feel better for a short time, but gradually you will start to feel worse again. And if you go get a follow up allergy test several months later, you’ll find that you are reacting to entirely different foods! Why is that? By eliminating the problem foods you decrease the inflammatory response for a short time. However you have done nothing to treat the source of the inflammation: your gut health, leaky gut causing over active immune histamine response. This is what causes the high levels of inflammation in your body leads to pain, brain fog, poor organ function, skin problems, poor sleep, etc. I prefer clients to work on the lowering the inflammation, addressing any causes, nutritional deficiencies, errors in diet and eliminating as many stressors as possible before doing allergy testing.

The solution

Dietary changes are a great place to start. Start by looking at what you eat daily and over a typical week. Keep a food diary if you need to be more aware of everything you are putting in the your mouth. Look carefully at foods you crave, or eat every single day, these can be inflammatory foods. When you eat a food you are sensitive to, not only does your body have an inflammatory response, it is often accompanied by a endorphin response. This gives you a bit of a “high” or energy boost or feel good sensation which drives the cravings.

If you are working with Lisa, she’ll likely guide you through some methods to increase drainage (fluid movement within the body) and provide organ support to lower inflammation.

The next step would be an elimination diet to stop feeding the inflammation. Start with your food cravings, then you can look at the most common inflammatory foods: dairy, gluten/wheat, eggs, soy and corn. When reintroducing foods after abstaining for the recommended time, do so slowly and watch for any reaction. A pulse test is a good tool to use during introduction. This involves taking your pulse before and after eating the food you are reintroducing and taking note of any difference. This is quite effective in identifying reactions, less so in those who who suffer with anxiety and palpitations.

While you are doing the elimination diet, you should be working to heal your gut and lower your over all inflammation in the body. This can involve gut healing foods, lifestyle modifications, supplements, homeopathic remedies or herbs. Lisa will be able to design a program that works best for you.

The histamine connection

A histamine response is a common inflammatory reaction. This can lead to common seasonal allergy reactions, nasal congestion, sneezing, headaches and even hives and other skin reactions including eczema. Histamines are a particular form of inflammation response, which can be caused by common environmental allergens, but more often can be cause by errors in diet and poor gut health. When I meet with someone who constantly relies on anti histamine allergy medications to feel better, I always look at their gut health.

Parasites- no one wants to talk about it or acknowledge that it may be an issue, but constant high levels of histamines in the body are often caused by parasites! FYI they don’t always show up on stool test because the sneaky buggers can be protected by biofilms that make it harder to detect and treat. Over the counter drugs don’t always work either, you need to treat the issue for at least 4 weeks, 8 weeks is better. This is why I recommend a Parasite cleanse once year for most people.

Candida over growth can also cause a spike in histamines and inflammation in the gut. The more inflammation there is in the gut, the more likely you are to react to certain foods and develop sensitivities. Cutting out added sugar can go a long way to decrease this, but often other supplements or homeopathic remedies are needed for established cases.

The stress Factor

Increased cortisol, a stress hormone response, can also increase histamine responses. When you are stressed, recovering from an acute illness, sleeping poorly or other forms of stress can increase histamines. This increase can create the appearance of new allergies or food sensitivities. In these cases addressing the source of the stress, as well as any increased nutritional needs, or organ/system support will help get you back on track.

my personal expereince

In 2004 I was training for a marathon (and dealing with additional stressors in my life) and I suddenly developed an allergy to sesame seeds. My reaction wasn’t anaphylactic, but my lips did swell hugely and I developed hives on my torso and ended up in Emerg twice! I’d never had a food allergy before then, just some seasonal allergies so it came as quite a surprise, as did the cost of Epi-pens! I used to eat sesame snaps often as a kid and couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden I was allergic. After the marathon was done I focused on supporting my body and started my work in Nutrition. I discovered that I was quite deficient in several B vitamins (very common in stressed individuals) and zinc, and with proper supplementation I was able to overcome my sesame seed allergy. I can now enjoy them as often as I like! No more Epi-pens for me.

Bottom Line

Unfortunately it isn’t always as easy as just avoiding foods that you may be sensitive to when it come to repairing your health. When it comes to food sensitivities, I always recommend working on your gut health, healing indigestion, cleaning out parasites or Candida if needed and lowering histamine levels. If you are still suffering from some lingering symptoms and discomforts after working to heal your gut and lower overall inflammation, then it may be useful to do a food allergy/sensitivity test. The number of allergies you’d test positive for will be much lower if any at all. It is helpful to do the work first, and if there are still some lingering symptoms of unknown origin then do the test and see if there is a food that is causing the problem.

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The information provided here is for educational purposes only. For treatment please seek a qualified healthcare provider.

Copyright Lisa Paul The Natural Path 2022