Reset Your Gut

with Dr. Ashley Turner

Digestive issues seem to be the norm these days—from food intolerances to gut dysbiosis to SIBO. All we really want to do is eat real food and absorb its nutrients. Enter Dr. Ashley Turner, a Board-Certified Doctor of Holistic Health and traditionally-trained naturopath.

Today, Ashley offers some simple suggestions for restoring our gut health and overall wellbeing. She explains the gut/brain connection and how a leaky gut can lead to mood shifts, allergies, anxiety, migraines, and autoimmune conditions. She reviews steps we can take to reset the gut, including a change of diet, following the GAPS diet or AIP (autoimmune protocol). And she suggests a number of ways we can minimize wear and tear on the body that compromises gut health and our mental health, as well.

Notes:

Highlights from the conversation include:

How her two-year-old daughter’s health issues set her on this journey
Ticking, stimming, sensory processing issues were a part of her condition
Why Ashley and her husband suspected PANDAS/PANS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with strep)
How characteristics of PANDAS and PANS include: OCD, sleep disturbances, poor academic behavior, and more
How 1 in 200 children is now diagnosed with PANDAS or PANS
The difference between the GAPS diet and the AIP diet
How an elimination diet takes a load off the system
Why a few days may not be long enough to really re-set the gut
What it looks like to do an anti-inflammatory reset
How a healthy gut works
How the gut cell junctures normally only allow nutrients in and block “foreign invaders”
How the gut’s defense is really just one cell-layer thick (the mucosal layer)
The role of the GALT (gut associated lymphoid tissue) next to that mucosal layer
How GALT is a group of immune cells that also help protect from pathogens or toxins
Lifestyle choices that negatively impact our tight gut lining: chronic stress, an inflammatory diet, lack of restorative sleep, environmental toxins
How autoimmune conditions (like Hashimoto’s) can develop from this porous gut lining
The definition of “leaky gut”
The connection between the gut and the brain (the gut/brain axis)
How anxiety and depression may be symptoms of gut issues
How an AIP diet (auto immune protocol) is for anyone pursuing health and wellness
The need to reduce the allostatic load (the impact of stressors on the body)