Mushrooms for Your Gut

Q: What does bloating have in common with food intolerance, skin rashes, brain fog and the struggle to lose weight?

A: A party of misbehaving gut flora... an imbalance of bad to good microbes in your gut.

It’s called DYSBIOSIS.

And there are many causes. Let's take a look at the common ones:

---

• ​constant intake of chemicals via food, air, skin;
• steady diet of nutrient-devoid, refined or processed foods;
• a traumatic event;
• long periods of stress (emotional, mental, physical or spiritual);
• hyper-sanitizing our environment;
• regular drinking of chlorinated water;
• prescription drugs such as antibiotics, steroids, hormones, acid-blockers or NSAID pain relievers.

But we can HACK this, . Here’s what to do:

Step #1 In order to give your good gut bacteria the upper hand, strengthening digestion in your stomach is the top priority. This means slowing down at mealtimes, chewing well, not drinking with your meals and maybe taking a digestive enzyme if you are often feel bloated or sluggish after eating.

Step #2 To help grow and nourish a healthy microbiome, we must eat gut-supportive foods daily! Prebiotic foods like garlic, onion, asparagus, leeks, oats, lentils and artichokes, as well as probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi and pickles. Check out this resource I provide in my Guts to Heal Program.

NOTE: If you’re on a low FODMAPS diet, you may need profesional guidance on which prebiotic foods work best for you.

But this is JULY and we’re focusing WILD FOODS on meet our needs, so let’s look at a few:

Chickweed is very good for the lower digestive tract as it helps regulate the intestinal flora and colon bacteria, and absorbs toxins and speeds up bowel transit time.

Plantain is said to help diarrhea and lower inflammation of IBS (as does red clover). It is also a great leaf to chew and put on your skin to stop the itch of mosquito bites!

There are also many mushrooms that can aid gut health – but here are two worth mentioning:

Chaga, actually a fungus and not a mushroom, has gut benefits that include improving digestion, soothing ulcers and gastritis, fighting infections, stabilizing blood sugar and cholesterol, and aiding liver and brain function. Where to find it? Check out this link.

Tremella IS a mushroom. It also helps stabilize blood sugar and liver health, but it’s gut superpower is assisting with collagen development, thereby protecting the gastrointestinal lining (and your skin). It is also a good one for the GUT-BRAIN function as it’s said to help memory and repair brain and nerve tissue.

Have you tried any of these? What was your experience with them?