It Takes Guts Nutrition
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  • Home
    • About Me >
      • My Story
      • My Training
      • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Healing
    • Private Consults
    • Group Programs and Workshops >
      • 7-Day Gut Reboot!
      • SmartStart
      • Guts to Heal
    • Gift Certificates
    • Access to Supplements
  • Fermenting
    • Fermented Foodies!
    • Home Visits
  • Retreats
  • Resources
    • Guides
    • Beat the Bloat NOW
    • Delicious Broth Recipes!
    • Links
  • Contact

Gut-Supportive Smoothies for Valentines!

10/2/2020

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Nourish your gut and strengthen your immune system before the sugar laden holiday amps up another flu season. You'll be stronger if eat these a few times this week! Read more why <here>.
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Valentine’s Day Mocha Kefir Smoothie
  • 2 cups Milk Kefir or Coconut Milk Kefir
  • 1 Tbl cocoa powder
  • 1-2 tsp ground coffee beans (I use decaf)
  • 1-3 Tbl maple Syrup or honey (optional)

Blend together and enjoy. Best if you refrigerate and an hour to let the flavours really blend.
Kale Kimchi Smoothie
Savoury, prebiotic and probiotic ingredients to soothe and nourish your gut

  • 1/2 cup kimchi
  • 1 cup kale
  • 1 romaine lettuce leaf
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 3/4 cup water
  • Pepper to taste​  ​
Pineapple Kraut Smoothie
It’s a sweet delight, don’t judge the kraut 
until you try it!

  • 1 cup spinach, chopped
  • 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
  • 1/4 cup sauerkraut
  • 1/2 cup water or ice (optional)
  • 1 tbsp hemp or chia seeds
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Blueberry Kraut Smoothie
·       Juice of one grapefruit or one orange, poured through a strainer
·       1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries (or strawberries)
·       1/4 cup sauerkraut (do not rinse and include some of the juice)
·       4 soft dates
·       1 tsp chia, ground
·       1/4 cup water, if needed to adjust the consistency

ENJOY!! And don't forget to come back here and post your comments! I can't wait to hear how surprised you were by their deliciousness! :)
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Why I'm Changing My Name: A Personal Share

2/2/2020

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I wanted 2020 to be a year of clarity for me, but I didn't think something like this would happen, ​nor so quickly.
​Every once in a while, we reach a place in our life where we might feel as though we have finally “arrived”...

Arrived at some monumental understanding or insight.

Arrived at some sense of having survived or completed a challenge.

Arrived at an intersection where you must choose a new path.
​

And there are a great many MORE days where we struggle to get there, right?

It’s an illusion, of course, since every step on our journey is as important as the last - each one counts and each moves us along the path, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
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BUT… let’s face it. Some steps are little, and some are leaps.

A woman I danced with, many years ago, named her business Leaping Feats. The image has always stuck with me, as has her continued courage and determination to live her life calling to bring the benefits of dance to our youth.

So that is why I’m writing today. 

Because for me, today represents leaping a feat!

The catalyst was seven years of roller-coastering through illness, anger, despair and loss with highs of new awareness, understanding, forgiveness and faith.

The feat was a long struggle with myself: a long-held highly idealized version of who I wanted to be (control) against the reality of who I actually am (surrender).

And the leap is leaving behind all the thoughts, beliefs and behaviours that no longer serve my/the highest good, while bringing with me all the ones that do.
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And I’m landing that leap on new ground… dancing on new ground!

I’ve found myself without even knowing I was lost. And with that clarity came the realization that my name was not me. 

So I’m honouring what is for me a great leap, by changing my name.
Yes, you might think this is silly or weird. I did too, at first. However, I can assure you. I've never felt so certain of anything. And it fills me somehow with a power, a knowing, that I HAVE ARRIVED.

So. I am no longer Kathi or Katherine or Anne. I've pruned and gathered and wove something out of all that, like a couple old jackets torn apart and made into something new:​

Hi, my name is Katanne. 

​And I look forward to connecting with you on new ground :)

PS. It will take some time for all my business and personal “paperwork” to change, so thank you for your patience and support during this transition time. You will still be able to contact me normally via my regular email, website, and facebook contacts. Such is the beauty of the tech world! 
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When your gut instinct says... chocolate!!!

2/2/2020

0 Comments

 
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If you love chocolate and have been waiting for someone to tell you that it is good for your gut…

Well, today is your lucky day!


I love good chocolate. On our family travels, we always make sure someone has brought this "Vitamin C" (which could also be Cuddles or Coffee depending on the time of day, lol)
Chocolate is a prebiotic and feeds our good bacteria. The bifidobacterium and lactobacillus bacteria in the gut love to gobble up chocolate as much as you do!

​
In return for the feast, the good bacteria turn the phytonutrients into anti-inflammatories that improve heart health. (So, its actually the bacteria not the chocolate that should get the credit!)

It’s the fermentation process in our gut that breaks down the phytonutrients into smaller metabolites so that they can be absorbed and utilized. They also act as antioxidants.

But, without the gut bacteria, the phytonutrients in the chocolate - known as catechins and epicatechins - are poorly absorbed. So eating fermented foods or taking probiotics regularly is key to enjoying the benefits.
So what's the best kind of chocolate to eat?

Dark chocolate and raw cocoa powder have the highest amounts of gut-healthy flavonols, so look for varieties with:
​​

1. At least 70% cocoa.
2. Low amounts of sugar (preferably from natural sources like honey) and no artificial sweeteners
3. Fat from cocoa butter or coconut oil—stay away from soybean oil, vegetable oils, and trans fats
4. Organic certification to avoid increasingly popular GMO chocolate
But what about craving chocolate?

Is this a craving for magnesium like so many people have speculated? Apparently not.

Because its your gut microbes that influence what you crave to eat.

​I bet you thought it was you!

Both good and bad bacteria manipulate the vagus nerve – the key connection between the brain and the gut - to increase your desire to eat certain foods.

When the gut is full of bad bacteria, we crave the junk foods that feed them.

Change your bacteria, change your cravings! Isn’t that something?!

Bacteria want you to eat foods that keep their numbers strong. By having you eat more of a given food, it keeps their numbers high.  (Eat less of it, they die off).

The gut bacteria can even manipulate you into feeling anxious and depressed, signaling you to eat a given food "to feel better".

There is still a lot of research to be done, including how our gut bacteria influence us to overeat and undereat.

In the meantime, the next time you crave chocolate, you do not have to feel guilty. Know that it is your good bacteria talking to you to give them a good meal. 


I LOVE to bring you good news like this. After ten years in this field, I know that the best way to resolve digestive problems is to feed and nourish your inner garden of helpful microbes… not to starve it… and this is more proof that there’s lots of great foods to eat to get you there!
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    Author

    Hi, I'm Katanne - Nutritionist and Gut Health Specialist. My talent and passion is helping busy people like you to finally enjoy food and life again!! By resolving painful and annoying digestive issues,  we then have energy and enthusiam for our life and being the best version of ourself!
    ​As a busy, do-too-much, everyone-else-comes-first type of person, I learned the hard way that this kind of stress compromises both gut and health. It took ten years to perfect a healing approach that is less about food and more about how we live with our stress.... stress that impacts our digestion, and stress that we often bring on ourselves. We all need efficient and effective solutions that we can integrate into our busy lives, so let me find you some simple solutions to bring enjoyment back to your eating and living!

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It Takes Guts Nutrition
Katanne Belisle RHN​
Gut Health Specialist
Whitehorse, YT, CAN

What Clients Are Saying

 "I was plagued by a myriad of digestive and inflammatory issues and after months of discomfort I was fortunate enough to meet Katanne.  Her insight, intuition, knowledge and caring attention has made it possible for me to heal and thrive with a new understanding of the food I eat.  I am now healthier, happier and have more energy than I have had in quite some time. "  ~ Steve T. 
"Katanne gives well balanced information versed in first hand experience and research. After seeing various health professionals over the years, doing my own research, trials and tribulations, I can (say) that this is the real deal, and that what she provides people is a holistic, realistic approach to healing oneself through food"  ~ Elizabeth G.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Theo Crazzolara, Stephen Pearson, shixart1985