The Gut-Brain Connection: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health

Taylor Knese, a board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in gut health, shares her personal journey and expertise in functional medicine. Discover the importance of gut health and how it impacts overall well-being. 

Key takeaways include:

1. Importance of Hydration: Learn how staying hydrated can improve gut function and overall health.
2. Magnesium Supplementation: Explore the benefits of magnesium for muscle cramping, sleep, mood, and bowel movements.
3. Choosing Quality Supplements: Understand the significance of selecting high-quality supplements and the impact of storage conditions.
4. Mediterranean Diet: Discover the benefits of the Mediterranean diet for a balanced and diverse approach to nutrition.
5. Whole Foods Diet: Embrace the power of a whole foods diet for nourishing your gut and promoting a healthy microbiome.

 Are you ready to take control of your gut health and experience the benefits of a balanced microbiome? Start implementing these tips today and watch as your digestive health and overall well-being improve. Don't let gut issues hold you back from living your best life.

Transcript

Taylor: 0:00

I had all of these new chronic conditions. I felt terrible every single day. And then to boot, no one could help me. No one could tell me why this was happening. No one could tell me what to do about it. All they kept doing is here, try this medication and nothing was working.

John: 0:26

Hi, I'm John.

Erin: 0:28

And I'm Aaron. You're listening to connect and power the podcast that proves age is no barrier to growth and enlightenment.

John: 0:36

Tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into bite sized, enjoyable episodes that will leave you feeling informed, entertained, and ready to conquer the world.

Erin: 0:49

We'd like to welcome our guest today, Taylor Taylor is a board certified nurse practitioner who decided after her own health struggles to help other women rewrite their health story with the power of functional medicine. Taylor specializes in gut healing. She performs in-depth testing and creates targeted healing protocols. She truly believes that a healthy gut is the single most important health asset a person can have. Her goal is to teach women how to heal themselves so they can share their wisdom and their strength with others. let's warmly welcome our guest, Taylor Knies. Thank you, Taylor, for being here today.

John: 1:30

Welcome.

Taylor: 1:31

Thank you guys so much. for having me. I'm very excited to be here.

Erin: 1:34

This is a topic that's often talked about in our home because there are a bunch of different allergies we're, we're excited everybody has a story and just curious about your story and what led you down the field of gut study, right?

Taylor: 1:47

Yeah, the fascinating field of the gut. Yeah. absolutely. so I am a board certified nurse practitioner by training and through my own health journey. That's what led me to functional medicine. I want to tell you, a little bit about that because I feel like whenever you understand someone's story, you can really learn about a lot, a lot about their why. Why they, why they do what they do and why they want to do it so well. so about 6 years ago, whenever I had my daughter, well, really, she's 7 now, but, about 60 years ago, shortly after having her, I had. Developed a lot of really, really chronic symptoms that, weren't really well explained by the conventional care models. So I was experiencing lots of abnormal bowel movements. I had a lot of joint pain. I had really bad plaque psoriasis on my scalp and I had never experienced psoriasis my entire life. So this was very new for me. I had developed new onset asthma, which is very odd. You don't usually develop asthma as an adult. I was not sleeping well, and quite frankly, I was very depressed and very anxious, and it was a really, really rough time for me. I specifically remember one moment, that was just like that breaking point for me, and I was In the shower. And I remember I was trying to wash my hair. Something that is just so simple, but I had so many scabs on my scalp from my plaque psoriasis that I could not even put my hands through my hair or touch it with shampoo. And it almost brings me to tears still.'cause I just remember this moment and I just sat down and I cried. I couldn't even wash my hair here I was. Didn't feel, years later that I actually saved myself. So it was really just a compilation of different things in my life, like nutrition and lifestyle and working with a therapist and like working on my mindset and also, moving past some past traumas that I was actually able to find some relief, but I wasn't all the way better. And then it wasn't until I stumbled upon gut health and started understanding, like, how important that is and that it could be causing my symptoms and then started doing all the things to improve my gut health. That was the missing piece for me for everything. So I could do all of these nutrition, these lifestyle things, all of the therapy in the world. And while it was improving things, it wasn't completely solving them. It wasn't until I found that missing piece got help. And now, what I hope to do is to be that person that I really needed way back when. I really needed someone to reach out their hand and say, Hey sis, I know what's wrong with you and I can help you. And so now that I have managed to make it to the other side and improve my symptoms in such a way, that's been so beautiful for me and for my family. I want to just share that with everyone and, there's a lot of noise out there in the health and wellness space. And what a, a great position I am in to have had this conventional medicine background to then be an authority in this space, someone who has that experience in conventional medicine to say, I know that you have been seeing provider after provider because I used to be that provider. I used to refer people all over the place, but let me tell you, there's a better way. And then I can actually walk people through the steps that I went through to improve my health and include that gut healing journey for them and really turn things around. So I know that that was a long winded answer. But to condense my story, it was many years in the making. But I'm happy to say that now that I'm on the other side, it feels really good.

Erin: 5:30

just to have that willpower too, right? You just had a brand new baby. Your hormones all are all

Taylor: 5:36

All over.

Erin: 5:37

then to have that, to be going, Okay, I need to do something. No one's doing anything. That's some strength, right?

John: 5:45

And, and I love your story because some of the most powerful businesses, start become and become really, really successful because somebody has experienced. What you're going through. It's just not just didn't go to college and learn all this and how to help and get this degree. You've actually experienced it. So it's really neat how your passion has created this, this set of skills and you're going to be able to help so many people. So I want to open this up by asking a few questions. Like, what are some of the most common gut issues that are faced by all of us out there?

Taylor: 6:25

Yeah. I think whenever we talk about gut issues, you think about your very typical ones, right? You think about like diarrhea, you think about constipation and sure most of us experience that now and again, and some of us more than others, but what you don't think about is the common symptoms. That don't seem like they're from the gut and usually those are like skin rashes, acne. It could be fatigue, chronic fatigue, joint pain, brain fog. the list goes on and on. And I know that we're going to get into this and like the mechanisms like behind this and why that happens. But, that dysfunction can look different for everyone. It can look very classic or it can, it can look like mood disorders or some of the other symptoms that I mentioned. So the most common ones I see. I would say are the diarrhea, constipation, food sensitivities are another very common one that I see. And then a lot of mood changes and brain fog. Those are very, very common in a lot of my clients.

Erin: 7:26

and it gets confusing too, right? Cause you're like, is it your hormones? Is it cause you're aging that you're doing this? to relate it to your gut, it's oh my gosh, that's not the first thing I think of.

Taylor: 7:36

Yeah. And let me tell you something beautiful. if your gut health is not. Working properly, your hormones aren't going to either. It really is just like this basis of so many other actions and processes that happen in the body, like without having a healthy gut, you can't really have. Anything else working or functioning properly?

Erin: 7:57

and the lack of sleep, when you said that, I'm like, I am tired. And sometimes I'm like, if I work out, I'm tired. I'm like, why am I tired? If I'm eating healthy, if I'm working out, why am I still tired? So maybe I have a gut issue I just don't know about, you know?

Taylor: 8:10

Yeah. and it could be that you're, you do have some, and we can, again, we can go deep into this, it could be that you have an issue with stomach acid and you're not breaking down your food correctly. I always like to tell clients, it's not just. What you're eating. It's are we digesting and absorbing what we're eating? We can be eating all the right things, but if our gut isn't working properly and we're not digesting the foods, we're not synthesizing the vitamins that we're supposed to be, then it's not, it's not going to then give you energy, right? You're not going to be able to recover like you should.

John: 8:43

And I have to, you know, I know we have a lot of questions and a lot to go through today, but one of the things that I think changes too, that a lot of people aren't aware of is as we age, our ability to digest our ability to process certain foods or fiber or whatever. Really changes and slows down, right? And then the way that a lot of the foods being modified anymore is starting to create. Allergens that maybe we didn't have when we were younger because our bodies were becoming more and more sensitive as we age where, you know, when you're young, you're almost bulletproof. You can eat anything, drink all night, stay up, whatever, right? Don't sleep. But yeah, but as we get older, our bodies aren't as forgiving. Our bodies say, no, you've eaten way too much of this or. This isn't agreeing with your body and we really truly have to listen to it. We have to listen to what our body's telling us because if we don't, then it is going to create so much adversity in our lives from being able to focus, being able to sleep, everything, you know, so I'm sorry I threw that in there. I know that was a little off. Oh no, don't ever be sorry. I mean our conversations will go. Cause then, I mean you just kind of, we start talking about this and I was like,

Erin: 9:58

wait, what about this? And wait, let's go back to our gut and how do I know and when do I go to the gut specialist and how do I get to a gut specialist? And, and so a list of questions are coming.

Taylor: 10:08

Yeah, but you're, you're so right, though, you're, you're spot on is like, as we age, things do change. But I think that a lot of that comes from the life that we've lived, the foods that we have consumed, the toxins we've been exposed to, that sets you up for different conditions. And, A different path, right? So we all start with, these very resilient guts. We have the microbiome that we're born with, whether we're born vaginally or value C section, you're set up with a different microbiome. And then we all have experiences as a child. We're exposed to different bacteria through dirt or brothers and sisters or school. we're all exposed to different things. But generally speaking, we're born with a gut that's resilient. And then over time, depending on, like you mentioned, like all the different types of toxins that are in our food or chemicals, like those cause a lot of inflammation, which then leads to, breakdown of the gut lining and the mucosal barrier, we're all on different medications and that can lead to further dysfunction of the gut, so there's an artificial sweeteners. the list just goes on and on about. it really has to do what path did you take throughout your life? And that's what then sets you up for these different digestive issues or problems and even depression or anxiety as you age, later on in life. yeah, you're spot on with that.

Erin: 11:32

where does somebody start? So if I'm listening to this, I'm like, yeah, I have some of those symptoms too. My doctors have just brushed it off. Where do I really start? Do I call my primary care doctor? Do I just change habits? What's, what would you recommend?

Taylor: 11:49

Yeah. I think that's an excellent question to ask too, because in conventional medicine, Although there are a lot of new studies coming out and there's a lot of, great universities doing a lot of great research on gut health. It's not necessarily well recognized in the conventional community. it can be a little bit difficult whenever you recognize and, that you have got dysfunction or an imbalance and and your guide and. You can't really talk to anyone about it, right? Not not the traditional practitioners. So you do have the option of working with a functional practitioner and, or and or got health coach. There's a lot of us out there, who are willing and ready to help. But I do think that it's also important to keep your primary on board with any kind of changes that you're making, especially with our aging population. Because the last thing that you want to do is take a population that already has polypharmacy. They're already on so many different medications for different conditions and maybe not everybody, but the majority of the aging population. And then add a bunch of supplements willy nilly. Hoping that they're going to improve the symptoms. And so I think, especially in our aging population, it's super important to again, work alongside your primary, make sure they're involved and then work along alongside someone like a functional practitioner or a gut health coach who can help you move the needle. And improve the symptoms without then increasing your risk for bad outcomes.

John: 13:20

Yeah, that makes sense. You know, I, I've always advised people to it's sometimes helpful if you keep a log right of what you're eating throughout the day and then how you feel because a lot of information can come from that. And then when we meet with somebody like you or somebody else in the health care, our primary physician or somebody else, it's like, you know, This is kind of a record of what I've done the last three months and they can say well We noticed that on the days that you're saying you don't feel good You're having an extra cup of coffee or you're having too much gluten those days, you know So maybe we need to do a test for a gluten allergy or whatever Is that is that correct or that is that a good suggestion or?

Taylor: 14:07

I think it's a great suggestion. The problem, the only problem is, is that in conventional medicine, there's not always the time that's needed to be able to discuss these things with your primary. And coming as someone who used to be a primary care provider, and for the elderly, I had more time than a lot of other providers do get and a lot of times we only have 20 minutes with our patients and so it can make it very difficult to have the time to go through lists and to help them discern what maybe could be contributing to their symptoms. And so I think that's why a lot of the times and conventional medicine people get brushed off. It's simply because not just because conventional medicine practitioners don't have the training sometimes, but they don't have the time. And so I think in these instances, it would be prudent or maybe a good idea for, someone to maybe ask for a referral to a nutritionist, someone that can spend a little bit more time with them, really diving into their diet, looking at their macronutrients, their micronutrients, and then even tying some correlations for them. okay, like you mentioned, okay, every single time I get, Okay. I eat gluten, I get terrible brain fog, I get terrible digestive symptoms and you can mention that to your primary and they can do testing for celiac, which you can develop later later in life. And a lot of people do, through a cascade of events that can happen. Remember what I was talking about with the different paths that each person takes, but. Your primary is not going to be able to sit down and say, Hey, Lucy, you're sensitive to gluten. we're going to do some tests to see if you have celiac, but let's sit down and let's talk about what are some gluten alternatives. What are some things that we can have you implement now that will start helping you move the needle and feel better. And a lot of times in primary care, they don't have. And so a lot of times what you end up with is go gluten free for six weeks, see if it improves your symptoms. If it does, then great, stay gluten free. Now that's good advice to an extent, but when you have a population that That is newer to gluten free foods. Are they choosing the right gluten free foods, right? Are we choosing things that are going to nourish our body and not cause more inflammation just because something is marketed as gluten free doesn't mean that it's good for you. And so I think that there's like that, that disconnect, That happens. And that's where someone like a nutritionist, if you were looking to get things covered under insurance, or again, like a health coach can really come into play and make. A huge difference for you.

Erin: 16:42

I, I, yeah, I'm learning a lot. I just keep talking. Don't stop.

John: 16:49

It is, it is such a, It is, such an interesting thing cause I know firsthand, right? That, the challenges of having issues with, with all kinds of different. You know, and it is, it is frustrating because like Aaron can eat whatever she wants and have no issues whatsoever. But, you know, I'm subjected to the same tasty food and I have to avoid it or I'm going to pay, you know, so, and I, I wasn't aware of that, but. I never had issues with gluten when I was young, but now I do never had issues with corn when I was young. And Aaron brought something up just recently that maybe she learned from somebody. I don't know who she learned it from, but she said, you know, sometimes when you. Quit eating something like for instance, I was having all these allergic reactions from gluten. I quit eating them and then once in a while, I'd reintroduce them into my diet and I had a far worse effect than I ever had before and it was like, that's because you quit eating them. So now your body's used to not having them in there and when you reintroduce them, it's going to make you pay. Is that true too with

Taylor: 18:02

I would love to talk about food sensitivities for a second. So let's take five steps backward really quick for our listeners. For anyone who is struggling with food sensitivities, I want to talk about the mechanism behind this, because I think that this is a really common problem with the majority of the population and especially with our elderly folks, right? What happens whenever you develop a food sensitivity is there has to be leaky gut, right? So there, there has to be that mechanism at play. And so for anyone who doesn't understand what leaky gut is, it's when our intestinal membrane, which usually transfers nutrients and blood through the capillaries, through that intestinal membrane, it becomes too permeable, like permeability in itself is normal. We expect that anatomically. That's what we want because we want it to be able to perform the processes that that it's supposed to. But what happens in leaky gut is it becomes too permeable and then food particles. Poop particles too, and toxins can leak back out into the bloodstream. And so then what ends up happening is our body creates a response, an immune response to that food, because food is not supposed to go back into the bloodstream. And so the next time you eat that food, you then experience strong symptoms to that food. going with what you said, it's possible that maybe you were no longer desensitized or the immune system had time to build up more, more antibodies against that food. And then the next time you ate it, you get this very strong response. And so I think whenever we start noticing symptoms to a certain food, and then we cut it out, it's that immunity starting, or it's the antibodies starting to build up to that food. And so the next time we eat it, we get this very strong systemic reaction, and it's not anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is something completely different. It goes through a different cascade. But whenever we talk about sensitivities, you can actually end up with cramping. You can end up with a lot of gas. You can end up with diarrhea. Sometimes it can be hives if you're having a histamine reaction to a food. It's really all encompassing. It could even be brain fog, but as we go into that food sensitivity talk, I felt like it was important for people to understand, like, why do we get food sensitivities, right? And then that leads you to, how do we get rid of them? And you can, I'm here to tell you, I used to be allergic to nearly every single fruit and vegetable. I would get terrible stomach cramping. That would just take me out for hours. Felt nauseous, felt like I needed to throw up, go to the bathroom, do the whole nine yards, but my body wouldn't do any of it. And it was through healing my gut and actually fixing that intestinal membrane, helping the gut lining heal that actually then resolved the food sensitivity, because then that food particle isn't going back out. You might still have that Antibody reaction if your gut becomes leaky again, because it's happened before, but if you can heal and seal the gut, which is what I do with clients, then those food sensitivities go away.

John: 21:09

it sounds like you need to heal and seal. I like that. I do. I am so glad we are talking to Taylor today because I'm all about

Erin: 21:18

that. And What's the process somebody goes through when they were to say meet with you? What are the testing? Cause to me, like I had a new little procedure done today. I'm like, I'm really nervous. And she's Oh my gosh, this is like no big deal. This is what happens. And so do we come, is it blood tests? Is it saliva tests? Are you going to stick something up my rear end and figure something out? I don't, a little scope or

Taylor: 21:45

It's a, it's a, it's a stool test. and again, for your listeners, like it is, it's similar to something like a blood occult test. So whenever you take your fit test in every single year to test for blood in the colon, and you have to put your, your stool on the card, and in my case for my clients, what I do is I have them, I send them a kit in the mail and then they actually, collect their own stool sample, put it into a jar with Some liquid that's already in there. They just follow the instructions and then they shake it up really good, send it back. And then I actually get like a full report on everything going on within their microbiome. So it's pretty cool. And I don't know, should we touch on the microbiome and

John: 22:27

oh yeah, yeah, for sure. By the way, you're getting one of those from me. I'm going to request a kit. I got to

Erin: 22:32

I was waiting for you to be like, Ooh, that's right up my alley. a

Taylor: 22:36

I need this.

John: 22:37

Sounds like a really crappy job.

Taylor: 22:41

Yeah, it's pretty crappy sometimes. No, I'm just kidding. so the microbiome, I like to think of it. As like a bustling city, like lots of people living there. They're all performing different functions in life. It's really, really similar to that. Okay. but the microbiome itself, it's made up of different bacteria and we have some bacteria that live there. They thrive there. They perform important functions and then we have some bacteria that really shouldn't be there. But usually if we have a lot of good bacteria, it keeps it in check. So think about it like a big city and we've got the good neighborhood, bad neighborhood, but everything's in check. Like we've got a good police system where nothing too bad is happening whenever the microbiome is balanced. But what can happen sometimes is through diet and lifestyle and stress and a lot of those kind of common root causes I see, is you can end up with a really imbalanced microbiome. And that is usually what leads to a lot of the symptoms that we discussed at the beginning. A lot of the digestive symptoms, of course, but also a lot of the brain fog, depression, anxiety, skin rashes. It's all because of that imbalance, and we call that imbalance dysbiosis. Okay? a normal, healthy microbiome is, thriving, it's doing everything it should, and, let's go back to, like, when you're a baby, and you, Got this really healthy intestinal tract, and everything's as it should be. Let's say you had a breastfeeding mom, and you got all the good gut bacteria. that's, the ideal situation. But then you grow up, and you, you throw, cosmetics. You throw stress. You throw crap food. You throw a busy society. You throw bad sleep, overworking. You throw all this in, and that's where it gets imbalanced. Yeah.

John: 24:28

so interesting. So, you know, throughout my life and stuff, I have faced different gut issues and I'm always concerned about it because I'm like, Oh man, now I'm going to need to go to my primary care physician. to get a referral to go see a specialist. And, I'm going to have all these issues. So, yeah. In order to correct some of the issues with common gut problems, such as mine or maybe others. Can they be resolved somewhat easily, or is it a really complex, expensive process to go through to find out to get us back to where our gut biome is, is correct, and our lining is healthy Is it expensive to do that, or can you do it with some help like somebody like you and some guidance?

Taylor: 25:20

Yeah, I think it depends on the route that you go, and it also depends on the level of imbalance. So there's times where there's just a slight imbalance and you can achieve rebalancing those imbalances just by eating better, getting enough fiber and making sure that you're getting enough polyphenols, like colorful foods, like berries, like strawberries, blueberries, Exercising, sleeping well, all of these things contribute to rebalancing the microbiome, right? And then there are certain supplements that if they're approved by your primary, they don't interact with your medications, which most don't. Then you can go ahead and start those at home. however, if you have a very significant case, of dysbiosis, let's say, like I can just think of a couple of clients off the bat. So if we have a really, big overgrowth of like yeast or we have H. pylori, those might actually require supplements with supervision. And I wouldn't recommend doing that on your own because the question then becomes, when do you stop those? because just like medications like antibiotics, antimicrobials, even natural ones can also destroy good gut bacteria. So I think in those situations where you're really trying to get rid of overgrowths, it's important to be under the supervision of some kind of practitioner so that this way they can help guide you and help you determine what's the appropriate amount of time that we need to be on this, this supplement, even if you're going to go the natural route because everything has an endpoint. Where you should stop, right? Because if we stay on antimicrobials forever, which like, if you go down the Google rabbit hole, you'll probably find different antimicrobials like Manuka honey. Manuka honey is great. You can get it at Costco and it's great for getting rid of a lot of overgrowth and especially H. pylori. We can use that as a natural antimicrobial, but the problem becomes is whenever we overuse it. So I think that. It's like a two, two ways that you can think about it. It depends just on the level of dysbiosis that's going on in order to get that assessed. You do need to start with testing. And, if, if your symptoms of gut dysfunction aren't too severe. You can certainly start at home. And what I will say is if you can't afford to work with a functional practitioner, you cannot go wrong with improving your lifestyle, decreasing your stress, improving your nutrition, like getting enough fibrin or the polyphenols I talked about. it can be affordable, it just depends on that level of imbalance that is present and, and how severe are your symptoms, have you been struggling for seven years with severe digestive issues and they just keep getting worse and overall, your quality of life is terrible, it might be worth working with a functional practitioner, but if you have intermittent diarrhea or constipation, generally feel pretty good. Yeah, you could probably do some of this at home and for, a pretty affordable price.

John: 28:14

Great.

Erin: 28:15

Between cortisol as well as hydration, do those play major parts as well as far as gut health? Or it's just kind of like, these are on the side, just be aware, stay

John: 28:26

Well, hydration of course is important, I think.

Erin: 28:28

But I mean, overall, but for gut, just how much does it help when we do stay hydrated,

Taylor: 28:33

Yeah. So two separate questions. So let's start with hydration. Hydration is extremely important, not just for ourselves, like our in order for our body to perform necessary functions, we have to be hydrated, right? but specifically for gut function, hydration is extremely important because we need necessary hydration to then evacuate our bowels. And I find that this is actually a very common issue. And older populations is that they don't drink enough water. They just don't. I can't tell you how many people I've seen where we go over. They say I'm drinking enough water. And usually their husband or wife is next door going, no, you don't. You have four glasses and they're full of ice. And so a lot of times, I know we were going to talk about some of that, the more common kind of conditions I see in our older population. And 1 of them is constipation and, we can think about that as our, something very simple. Are we drinking enough water? Because water is necessary to move things through the bowels. and then to touch on the cortisol. Cortisol is our stress response, right? Cortisol is also inflammatory. But I don't want to paint this negative picture of cortisol altogether. I feel like in the health and wellness space, yes, cortisol is a huge problem for people, right? Because again, it's, it's very inflammatory. It's our stress hormone. But cortisol in and of itself is good. When we are in a stressful situation, we need cortisol to then step, stimulate our sympathetic nervous system. We need it to be stimulated. We need to be able to react to danger. So we think like stress hormones in and of themselves are meant to get us through stressful times. But the problem with cortisol is that our bodies don't understand the difference between running from a lion Or like writing a really stressful email. And so we can have these very chronic high levels of cortisol just happening in our body that then leads to systemic inflammation, which then it converts to inflammation in the gut. Yes, absolutely affects the gut, but on the other side of that is if we're living in a chronic state of stress, which is something that a lot of my clients deal with, and I have to work really hard to help them manage their stress better, because the fact of the matter is we live in a society where stress isn't going to go away. We just have to learn how to deal with it better, right? So that this way, our body is not constantly in the stressed out state, but. With digestion, we have to be in a relaxed state for that to work, right? So if we are constantly in a stressed out state, digestion is not going to work.

Erin: 31:16

Yeah, I was going to go back to hydration. What do you recommend? Is, I know we always hear like the eight glass, 16 ounces, is that still accurate today

Taylor: 31:26

I would say no.

Erin: 31:28

No? Okay.

Taylor: 31:29

Yeah, I would say no. and and this is like a controversial like subject too. and especially with our older population, whenever you have heart disease, or if you're struggling with high blood pressure, you have congestive heart failure, certainly talk with your primary care physician about what you're taking at home. Again, just like a caveat. This is not like medical advice. But, when we are eating a very highly processed diet, we have a lot of sodium in our diet. That sodium is not hydrating us. But if you start eating a very natural whole food diet, you then start to need to supplement with sodium. And in those cases, you can supplement with electrolytes to then help with cellular hydration. Because it's not just about Drinking like plain water all day. We also want to make sure that we're getting the necessary minerals in with that. So like adding just like a simple lemon and like a pinch of sea salt to your glass of water. It'll help nourish your adrenals actually, and which produce the cortisol. So if you're very stressed out, like even more so you should do this, but also it's going to help improve your hydration. So like. When we're trying to hydrate effectively, that is something easy that you can do is add just like a squeeze a lemon and pinch of sea salt.

John: 32:41

Sea salt. So it can't be any other salt.

Taylor: 32:43

ounces a day. I forgot to mention that. Yeah. So most of the time I recommend 90 ounces a day.

John: 32:49

So you did say sea salt. So there's a lot of people that are on this Himalayan salt or different salts, but it's

Taylor: 32:56

Yeah. Yeah. Let's get specific with that one. So Celtic sea salt is specifically what I'm talking about.

John: 33:02

Okay. Good to know. I didn't know that. What, what is that?

Taylor: 33:07

Celtic sea salt. It's from a specific part of the world. So it's just helpful for, it's a high quality salt that's helpful for hydration. Yeah. Yeah.

John: 33:15

Great. Okay. Taylor. So one of the questions that I know I have and a lot of other people are going to have is there's been this huge thing all over the news and books written about it and the correlation of your gut being your second brain. And, so I'd like you with your expertise just to touch on that a little bit to kind of explain that maybe help us connect some of those dots, if you would,

Taylor: 33:40

Yeah. Yeah. I love this question too, because this is one of those symptoms that I was talking about earlier, like the anxiety and the depression, this is something that I usually have to tie together for patients and for clients is to make that make sense for them. And so I think 1 important thing to understand is that nearly all of your feel good hormones are manufactured in the gut and those little. Microbes that I was talking about, those little bacteria, they have a lot to do with, producing the serotonin that's necessary to feel good. And then that serotonin then breaks down into melatonin, and then that's how we get to sleep. And so if you have this imbalance going on, you're not going to be producing the hormones that are necessary to feel good. So that's like 1 mechanism that's at play here is you have to have a balanced microbiome to have the hormone production to then feel good.

John: 34:36

That's so incredible because, because we don't think of that sometimes you just think, Oh, I have a stomach ache or gosh, I'm bloated or whatever. Right. But it affects truly so much of our lives in a huge way. You know, I've been

Taylor: 34:50

huge way.

Erin: 34:51

I've been hearing more about magnesium too, and the need to supplement that now is how do you

Taylor: 34:56

Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I am a huge advocate for magnesium and, because of our farming practices, our soil is extremely depleted of the minerals and magnesium. That we need. And so magnesium is usually one of the first supplements that I start with my clients. And that's because we can really use it for everything. It helps with muscle cramping. It helps with sleep, helps with mood, and it helps with bowel movements. So you really, really can't go wrong. Now finding a good quality magnesium supplement is important because a lot of what you can get over the counter is just going to be your basic magnesium malate or oxide. you really want to know why you're taking it. Okay, so something like glycinate is going to be great for sleep and for mood and then something like citrate just for anyone listening who is struggling with constipation. I know we touched on that. That's going to be great for for constipation. Magnesium in itself, though, usually ends up being one of those supplements that I recommend that people take long term because you're just not going to be able to get it from your fresh food like you used to be able to because it's no longer present in the soil at the levels that it once was.

Erin: 36:09

Magnesium. I've been hearing about that for a couple of years. So I was like, Hmm, I, I've been told at it just a little bit, and see how you feel. And you touched on even just your, your mood,

Taylor: 36:21

Yeah.

Erin: 36:21

it affects your mood.

John: 36:23

Sometimes Erin just shocks me with how much knowledge she's able to retain in this.

Erin: 36:29

let me see if I shock you with this one. because of my daughter and her celiacs, she had, one of her primary care doctors say it's also important on those bottles. a lot of filler in them, but there are specific codes to look for And I can't remember for me. I've been searching for this. I need to go back to her doctor. Maybe, you know, but there's three letter words that are on there. there's two or three different ones saying that it has been processed. It's gone. I, I. just can't remember. So

John: 36:55

they're almost like codes of how it's been

Erin: 36:58

Like they've gone through the whole FDA process. They've been like, they legit have what they say they have in it. And not some of the other ones they say they

Taylor: 37:06

Oh, you mean that it's third party tested.

Erin: 37:09

may be, that's what it is. They're a

Taylor: 37:11

yeah. Yeah. and you can look for usually it's like a circle with a slash through it. No filler. So you can look for ones like, there's lots of different codes they'll put on them. So it's hard to know. there's also one for gluten free, corn free, dairy free, there's different signs for all of those little like symbols on there, but. To touch on that, it's definitely very important. Anytime you're looking for a supplement is that you research the company that you're going through. And I think especially in our older population, I think that they're so guilty of this. And I see this in practice is they will order their supplements online from a place like Amazon, which, I don't want to bash on But here's the problem. What happens When someone orders a supplement and they then decide that they don't want it, they then send it back. How many hours outside did it sit on their porch? How many hours did it then sit in their humidified bathroom? How long was the transit back to the warehouse where it was then put back into a place where it was temperature controlled? So I think you have to be really careful buying your supplements online. One, you have to research the company, make sure that they have third party testing that guarantees what they say is in there is in there, right? We want to make sure that there's nothing additional in there. You want to look for things like heavy metals. And you want to look for things like what did they say is in there and did the third part, the, the, oh, my gosh, I can't say it. The third party test. Did it say that it's in there? And then the other thing is you want to make sure that you're buying from someone or a store or an online storefront that guarantees that they're storing their supplements in a correct temperature controlled facility. If you notice on the back of these supplements, most of them say store in a cool, dry place. And I'm telling you, if someone returned their magnesium to Amazon in the middle of summer in Texas, it probably was not stored in cool, dry weather.

John: 39:10

You know, these, these are all such interesting things that a lot of us don't think about, you know, a lot. And even though we're all trying. So hard to advocate for ourselves or the people that we love. This is such important awareness for people out there, you know, to start really thinking about these things because most of these things I haven't thought about. I have another one you might be surprised about. Here we go. liquid liquid form or solid form, which is better?

Taylor: 39:40

As, so anytime you can get liquid, it's going to be more readily absorbed, but capsules are not bad. So in the order of what I would do, I typically do capsules for ease of use. It's honestly the next best thing. what I wouldn't recommend is gummies. Yeah, lots of fillers, your body's not going to absorb them the same way as you would if you take something like a capsule powdered form, or a liquid and you can actually open most capsules and sprinkle them into a smoothie or in your food and then take them that way as well.

Erin: 40:14

That was one of my other questions because I know I've debated this, Sorry, mom, but the capsules, when you open them, I've been told they're there to protect you or time release. And so be very careful about not doing that. Is that true too? Or like you say, you can't pop them open. They're going to do the same thing.

Taylor: 40:30

it depends. So I just want to clarify for our listeners. Please do not open up your capsules for prescription medications and start sprinkling them on your food unless you check with your pharmacist 1st, because there are certain medications that do have a capsule for a reason. It does delay the release because they're made out of different. Compounds that delay the release or allow the release right away. But whenever it comes to certain supplements, the majority of them you can open, but it's always best to check with the manufacturer to make sure that you can do that. So for my clients who can't swallow pills, I typically reach out to the manufacturer. Even me knowing most of the ones that you can, I always double check. I always message the manufacturer and say, Hey. These are the ones I would like my, my patient or my client to start opening and putting on their food. Is this okay? Can they put this in their smoothie? Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing that? You always want to check because ultimately the manufacturer is the one who's going to have the information on the absorption that's going to happen if you're going to open it, right?

Erin: 41:32

Now with technology nowadays. is there any kind of tools or resources or just different things people can use to really keep up like these, whether it's tracking, whether it's searching, whether we're self diagnosing, I don't even really know, but I know technology is playing a lot in healthcare and how is that in gut health, a gut app That's what she needs.

John: 41:55

needs a gut app developed by

Taylor: 41:58

I, if there's anyone listening who develops apps, if you could reach out to me@modhealthgo.com No, I'm just kidding,

John: 42:04

Right?

Taylor: 42:04

no, I think that's such an excellent question. and I don't know of any really great apps that are specifically set up to improve. Your gut health through a tracking system, but what I do know is there's a lot of nutrition apps, right? You can log a lot of your foods. And so if you're working with a nutritionist, you can use like my fitness pal or something like that to start logging what you're eating and like you had mentioned, like bringing a list of foods into your provider and saying I noticed whenever I eat this, it causes this. actually there is an app that you can, I'm thinking of the name. Okay. Okay. I'm blanking on it. I can get it to you after the show, but there is an app that you can start logging the food you ate, the symptoms you got after, and that could be helpful for starting to discern which foods you should maybe avoid during your healing period. But what I don't want people to get mixed about is taking the food away. Even if you've had a food sensitivity test and you've had a blood test and it says you're sensitive to this, that and the other. Remember what I told you about the mechanism behind why that's happening. Taking away the food is not going to solve the problem. It might solve your symptoms, but it's not going to solve the problem. temporarily removing. Say it again. Yeah.

Erin: 43:24

that a quiz? Was that our leaky gut?

Taylor: 43:27

Yes! Yes.

Erin: 43:29

What, what, what, what?

Taylor: 43:31

The amount of knowledge you have.

Erin: 43:35

I know, I'm

Taylor: 43:36

I know.

John: 43:36

Yeah, it's crazy. Teacher's pet. So before, we've kept you so long, and I really appreciate everything, all the, all the knowledge that you've shared with our listeners, especially myself, because I've learned so much, but one of the things that, you know, I wanted you to just kind of touch a little bit, and you don't have to go really deep into this, but, A lot of times people are talking about different diets and fads and stuff. Is there any, anything that we should stay away from attempting to do? Like there are people that have gut issues and, and I'm just trying to educate people so that they go, gosh, maybe I should stay away from this. If I'm having gut issues like a high fat diet or a high protein diet, Are there any diets that people should stay away from? Or is there like the Mediterranean diet or something that maybe people should look at a little bit closer? That's a healthier way to treat their gut. What do you,

Erin: 44:35

what do you think? Wait, can I answer it for you? She's gonna say, I recommend, but consult your doctor. Okay, we can delete all of

Taylor: 44:51

it on there. so I think that yes, that's a good point too. I love this question though, because a lot of times whenever people come to me, they have tried lots of different diets and I'll tell you what I found. none of them work. there is no specific diet that is going to run in and save the day for most people. I think that. if you are trying to live a certain way, you're trying to live healthier. Something like the Mediterranean diet is not bad because it includes protein, fat, fiber, plants. It has all of the things, right? So I do think the Mediterranean diet, like if you're looking like, okay, I just, Taylor, just give me something I can just stick to, right? Go Mediterranean. Sure. I think that's a great idea. Lots of polyphenols, lots of fiber, lots of protein and fat. You can't go wrong, But, what I will say is that. I am not a fan of restriction, and so a lot of times with these diets, these fads that people will hop on, they're restrictive, they don't last long term, and they lead to more imbalance in the microbiome. We need diversity in our diet to have the diverse and strong community of microbes that's necessary for our body to function correctly. Whenever you go on something like the carnivore diet, or if you go plant based, like you, something like plant based is great because you're getting tons of fiber and polyphenols, but on the other hand, you do have to make sure you're getting enough fat and protein in that maybe be maybe easier to get with a vegetarian diet, but something like protein, you really do have to do it. And you have to know how to get your protein in with plant based foods. And I'm not talking about beyond meat or fake chicken nuggets. That's not how we get our protein in, you can lean on like protein supplements and things like that. But, whenever it comes to diets, I'll leave you with one thing. I think the most important piece of advice that I could give to anyone listening is to follow a whole foods diet. If you simply focus on eating. Whole foods, foods that do not need a nutrition label, foods that were either grown or they're animals. They came from animals or they were grown, right? And so if you focus on these foods, I guarantee your health will improve. It just will.

Erin: 47:12

I want to point this out to our listeners, because you are not the first person to say that we had Sherry Fernandes also say that. And so it's in my mind, I'm like, it's the whole foods. Yeah.

Taylor: 47:24

It's all about the whole

John: 47:26

Yes. Sherry. Sherry. I'll never forget what she said. And I love that. She said that she said, if God didn't make it, don't eat it.

Taylor: 47:34

Yeah, that's where I wanted to go with it. I wonder if I want to save it. If it came from planet Earth, then go for it. And I think a cool tip too, and she may have touched on this as well, is shopping the perimeters of the store. It's really easy. did you ever notice, like, when you walk in, sometimes the store doors, naturally lead you to the aisles? Beeline to the left or right, go towards the perimeter and just start stop shopping the perimeter of the store. That's where you can find a lot of those foods that are either fresh and can stay out on your counter or ones that need to be refrigerated. Stay away from things that need to be in your pantry. They're going to be less If you stay away from the things that go into your pantry, you're going to eat a diet. That's less processed. And that's what we're after. We're after that diversity we're after the fiber and we're after the freshness of the food that comes from the perimeter of the store. You don't get that in the center, no matter how many protein chips claim it.

John: 48:33

No matter cookies. Well, they need to move the Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream to the perimeter of the store then. Because I'm going to have

Taylor: 48:41

there, just not going to happen.

John: 48:43

But it's from a cow. Okay. Hey, what, what are those, what are those things? That add to your microbiome that you take probiotics. Do you recommend probiotics

Erin: 48:56

And before you answer that too, when you answer, is there a difference between, certain ones that are live, not live shelf stored, all that?

John: 49:06

She's like, Oh, these two ask a lot

Erin: 49:08

of questions. No, we have one more after this and that's it. I promise.

Taylor: 49:12

guys are fine. okay. So on the question of probiotics, should everyone be taking 1? Who should be taking 1? there are different strains and probiotics, right? And so taking something like, 1, A lactobacillus is typically what you're going to find over the counter. And there's different strains of lactobacillus. There's, KCI, rhinosis. the list goes on. But if you're someone who is struggling with an overgrowth inside of your microbiome. A probiotic could worsen your symptoms. however, in most cases, just generally speaking, I think that it's okay to take a generic over the counter probiotic. However, you can get a lot of these really good gut bacteria from fermented foods. So if you can find fermented foods inside, or like kefir, kefir yogurt is another one,

John: 50:12

Wine, wine.

Taylor: 50:15

Say it again.

John: 50:16

Wine's fermented.

Taylor: 50:17

No,

Erin: 50:18

she said food, not drink.

Taylor: 50:21

things like kimchi, sauerkraut, you can get onions that are fermented, carrots, jalapenos. the, it, because of the gut world, we've really expanded our access to a lot of these fermented foods. But if you want to just go for a good natural probiotic. Get you some fermented foods, kombucha, something else you can drink, but anytime we introduce a probiotic, I think it's important for people to remember that these bacteria are not colonizing, so they're not learning to live inside of your microbiome. They are simply fulfilling the process that needs to happen for the gut. And then they go away. They're not colonizing. There are some newer probiotics that are showing, some promise for colonizing. but in general, that's, that's not what's happening. So I think it's important for people to remember that, because I don't think that that's commonly understood. I think they think if they're taking it, then it's, it's replenishing. And really what it's doing is it's helping support while you're taking it. But as soon as you stop, that support stops as well.

John: 51:28

If somebody takes an antibiotic for a period of time though, doesn't their body become depleted of all the healthy microbiome? And so they need to supplement with some probiotics

Taylor: 51:41

Yeah,

John: 51:41

that?

Taylor: 51:42

yeah. this is a good question too. So while you're on antibiotics, like we mentioned, antibiotics, antimicrobials, they're not always specific. They have stronger effects on certain bacteria, but they're not specific. So they really kill everything in the gut. And so the probiotics are meant to support the gut while it's being depleted. And certain strains like lactobacillus have been shown to decrease, antibiotic associated diarrhea. but also, if you're taking a probiotic, it will prevent the overgrowth of other bad bacteria that can happen whenever your good bacteria are depleted. Does that make sense? It's kind of like a loaded answer, so I want to make sure that that makes sense without getting like too technical.

John: 52:30

Well, we could have you on multiple episodes because I think you're a wealth of knowledge. Yeah. It's

Erin: 52:36

It's fascinating. Oh, wait, but tell me more and tell me this.

John: 52:40

long night of discussions between me and this one

Erin: 52:42

but That's good though. That's what we want is that sparks conversation with us. for hoping it does for our listeners too,

Taylor: 52:48

I really hope it does too. Cause I think, I think gut health is something that's just missing, right? We all know it, but it's missing.

Erin: 52:56

and just to thank your guts here and it does this, but to know no really it is a vital part in your body. It does a lot

John: 53:04

and I think more and more people are going to be affected in the future than than have been in the past. And the reason being is because genetically modified foods and because our soils are becoming more and more depleted of all those different things and people are Are making less and less health healthy choices because they're in such a rush, right? So,

Erin: 53:25

I have one more question before I wrap up with my end of my question.

John: 53:30

Okay. I'll listen. Sorry. One more question

Erin: 53:35

to a client or to the listener today. What are the three things that you would suggest to them to do right now after listening to this, whether it's increase their hydration, modify their foods, take the supplement? What? As I, as a listener, should I do right now?

Taylor: 53:55

I think that you focus on the things that are going to move the needle the most, And one of those things is going to be whole foods. So consuming whole foods, making sure that you're getting in a very diverse diet, lots of fiber, and I tell people to aim for around 40 to 50 grams of fiber each day, but you do have to increase slowly. Otherwise you'll get lots of gas and bloating. the second thing definitely hydrate well, and gosh, it's so hard to choose three,

Erin: 54:20

You can list five. It's just,

Taylor: 54:22

okay, let's do that five is better. Okay. The third thing I would recommend is making sure that you're getting enough sleep. Sleep is extremely important in our repair processes in our body. If we're not sleeping, we're not repairing. And so for struggling with our gut health, if we have inflammation, we need to make sure that we're, we have time to, Allow our bodies to repair themselves for. I would make sure you're getting enough movement in movement is also key and improving our gut health. Okay? and it's also super important for improving our bowel regulation without movement. We don't have good bowel regulation. and then the 5th thing I would say is get your stress under control and if you can't control the stress level, learn to control your stress. Learn better ways to deal with it. Don't rely on emotional eating. Don't rely on alcohol. all of these things are just going to worsen your symptoms. Start really leaning into healthier ways, like deep breathing, meditation, yoga, things that really start moving the needle for your stress control.

John: 55:28

Ooh, I love that. You know, it's, it's so funny that you brought this up because six months ago, my stomach was a wreck and I was really feeling pretty bad. And I've started a lot of these things you're talking about. I'm, I'm very good with my sleep. I'm hydrating a lot more. We go for nightly walks, even if it's raining or snowing, we're out there walking four miles in the evening, you know. And, I'm doing all these things, meditation and everything, and everything is kind of mellowed out and calm down, you know? So, it's just fun to hear her say, yeah, I feel like I'm doing something right, which is, is great. We men need

Taylor: 56:10

Ha,

John: 56:11

we men need

Taylor: 56:14

Good job, you're doing it.

John: 56:16

All right.

Erin: 56:18

My, my absolute favorite question to ask and John once in a while gets to ask it, but I'm pretty greedy with it. is what is on your adventure list? Where is someplace you would love to go, but some people have twisted on us and said things I have done. So it could be something that you've done too, that you think is pretty amazing that you want to share.

Taylor: 56:45

Yeah, I will go with like, where do I want to go? So I've done a lot of traveling over to Europe. I've done some traveling in the United States, and nearby, but I really, really, really want to make it to Peru. I really want to go to Machu Picchu. It's on my, Bucket list. It's something my husband also really, really wants to do. And I would love to do just like the hiking camping sort of situation in Peru and also experience Machu Picchu. So for me, I like, that whole, I'm really big about experiences whenever I travel. So I want to eat the local food. I want to do the local hikes. I want to go on the tours. Like I love that kind of stuff.

Erin: 57:25

That's it, That's been on my list for a long time too. Probably Like six, seven years at least. Both of ours.

John: 57:31

By the way, you were talking about fermented foods. We just got, we just came back from Iceland and, the, the,

Taylor: 57:39

you get shark

John: 57:40

Yeah. We ate the fermented shark. That did not make my stomach. That did not make my stomach feel better. I can

Taylor: 57:48

It's pretty bad.

John: 57:49

it was so nasty.

Taylor: 57:51

it, I had some interesting things. Did you have sheep's head?

John: 57:53

No. No, we didn't go sheep's.

Taylor: 57:55

I did. I had a smoked sheep's head. It was interesting and not great. I

John: 58:01

Yeah. Yeah. No, we won't, we won't be eating that. We did have a lot of lamb and salmon. A lot of lamb.

Taylor: 58:07

Oh, much lamb and salmon

John: 58:10

Aaron, Aaron, when she first is she first engaged her first lamb burger, it was so funny because I wish I would have recorded it because we were sitting right across the table from each other and she picks up this burger and she takes a big bite and she chews it up and swallows it and looks at me and says, you know what? This is pretty good. I don't even feel bad about it.

Erin: 58:34

No, I was feeling, I was feeling really bad. I really was. No, she wasn't. No, I was. She goes, I didn't feel bad. Oh my gosh. I did say that, but I was feeling bad. I was like, I don't feel really bad.

John: 58:51

I wish I

Taylor: 58:51

I love it

John: 58:52

it because it was so hilarious. yeah. Poor little lamb. Well,

Taylor: 58:57

Did you guys

John: 58:59

Oh, go ahead.

Taylor: 58:59

sorry, I was gonna ask, did you guys have puffin too?

John: 59:02

No. No horse, no puffin.

Taylor: 59:06

I had I had puffin. I felt terrible. Felt very Yeah, I, felt

John: 59:10

I'm glad I found that out after we just did this gut health podcast because if I would have found that out beforehand, it would have been, I don't, I

Taylor: 59:19

over.

John: 59:20

been focused enough to ask questions.

Taylor: 59:23

Just imagining the little

Erin: 59:25

Yeah, and They're so cute. Oh my gosh. Oh Oh my gosh. We appreciate your time and your patience and learning all this with us now that we're slowly adding video, all of our ups and our

Taylor: 59:37

Yeah, thank you guys. This was awesome.

John: 59:42

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect Empower. We want to express our gratitude to you for being part of our community, and we hope today's episode has provided you with valuable insights and inspiration to enhance your life and that of a loved one.

Erin: 59:56

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John: 1:00:18

resources. Our mission doesn't end at the conclusion of this episode. We invite you to take action now by sharing the knowledge you've gained today with someone who may benefit from it. Whether it's a family member, friend, or colleague, your influence can spark positive change.

Erin: 1:00:33

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John: 1:00:53

I'm John.

Erin: 1:00:54

I'm Erin. Until next Wednesday.