The Naturopathic Co.
Working with your naturopath, you can determine the best approach for treating your symptoms, and ensure you cover the below four steps.
The Four R’s:
Remove
The first step is to remove the factors that negatively impact the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and may be contributing to your symptoms. These triggers may be varied, because there’s often not just one trigger, but can be a few. A great place to start is to run a stool test to determine the mix of bacteria, yeast, and/or parasites in the gut – this takes out all the guesswork. Triggers may not only be pathogens in the gut such as bacteria or yeast/candida, but may also be food sensitivities, medications, sugar/refined carbs, fried/fatty foods, stress, toxic elements and foods that your body finds difficult to digest.
Case study: For patient Amanda, we ran a blood test to determine food sensitives, which revealed surprising results, such as sensitivity to strawberries and broccoli! After she removed those triggers, her cramping was completely gone within 3 days!
Case study: For patient Brooke, we ran a stool test. She had a parasite and an array of nasty bacteria alongside it! They had been contributing to her stool fluctuations. Once we identified what was in her gut, we could see which treatment she needed to clear it out.
Replace
In this step, you and your naturopath can replace all those factors that may be missing or lacking such as insufficient stomach acid, insufficient digestive enzymes, insufficient beneficial bacteria, or nutrient deficiencies.
Case study: For patient Ben, he had a leaky gut, which made him susceptible to nutrient deficiencies. We ran a functional test to determine my deficiencies, and then replenished those nutrients. He had a lot more energy to take on his competitive sport. He also lowered inflammation and cleared up his psoriasis by treating his leaky gut.
Re-inoculate
Your naturopath will help you to re-inoculate your gut with good bacteria by using targeted prebiotics and probiotics in order to regain a healthy balance. Prebiotics help to feed and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. Introducing beneficial bacteria plays an important role as they produce anti inflammatory compounds, essential nutrients. It’s even better when we find out precisely which types of beneficial bacteria you’re low in so that we can choose a strain-specific probiotic.
There are many things you can do to improve the diversity of your gut microbiome. Eating a diverse mix of plant foods rich in fibre will encourage the growth of a diverse range of beneficial bacteria that feed off those foods!
Exercise is important. A recent study showed that regular exercise increased the production of beneficial short chain fatty acids by gut microbes. In sedentary individuals these benefits disappeared.
Taking supplements (and particularly those that have been shown to kill off unhealthy bacteria – there’s no need to guess, you can check this through a stool test).
Case study: Patient Simone wanted to run a functional test to check the type of bacteria in her gut. The test showed really low numbers of 2 very important strains of beneficial bacteria. We chose a probiotic that included those healthy strains, and her numbers boosted within 2 months. Simone included a range of prebiotic foods and resistant starch in her diet in order to feed healthy bacteria.
Repair
The fourth and final step in the process is to repair the lining of your gut. Your naturopath may suggest the use of nutraceutical agents to repair the gut lining. Your diet will also play a big role in this step. There are a number of supplements that can be used to help repair the intestinal tract lining including L-Glutamine, slippery elm, zinc, collagen, mastic gum/gum arabia/acacia, licorice, aloe vera, omega 3s.
Case study: Patient Zoe removed her triggers, cleaned up her diet, and incorporated some healing foods and supplements. Her leaky gut healed over time and her sore joints and eczema disappeared.
Gut health is EVERYTHING when it comes to health.
Great digestion + assimilation of nutrients + glowing skin, hair, nails + healthy immune response + lowers inflammation + better sleep + supports a healthy weight + boosts energy + supports a balanced mood + clears brain fog + more!
Optimise your gut >< Optimise your health
If you’re ready to start feeling great again, look no further than the gut! Find out what’s really on the inside, and modify your gut flora to be a more beneficial mix.
If you have digestive symptoms, don’t ignore them and hope they’ll go away. Make a time to talk to your naturopath, who can devise a tailored treatment plan to assist with your symptoms and help you be well again.
To treat digestive issues from the underlying cause, make time to see our South Yarra naturopath, Brisbane naturopath, Sydney Naturopath, Perth Naturopath, Hobart naturopath, or Adelaide Naturopath, or find out if we can help you by booking a FREE 20 minute Discovery Call online via zoom
We offer services in major cities across Australia
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Yvette is a qualified Melbourne-based Naturopath and Nutritionist, MINDD Practitioner, member of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, and Complementary Medicine Association. Yvette specialises in the treatment of digestive complaints, skin issues, mood disorders, hormonal concerns, fatigue, and also has a key interest in children’s digestive and neurological conditions. Click HERE to book your free discovery call Australia-wide.