1. Avoid drinking water with your meals.  It will dilute your gastric juices and interfere with the delicate communication of digestion. Instead, drink 16 oz of purified water 15 minutes before your meal to inspire acid production, and hence enzymes and bile production
2. Take proper time to eat your food and focus on eating ONLY. 1/3 of Americans eat their food in cars and MOST of us inhale our food! Try to schedule at least 15 minutes to relax so your body only needs to focus on digestion. And chew 25 times per bite. When we’re multi-tasking and over-stimulated watching TV, working in front of our computer or driving, our bodies systems get divided and conflicted, so we’re less focused on digestion…no wonder we’re so tired. Our body isn’t able to properly convert food to fuel if it’s got other jobs to do.
3. Don’t chew gum.  Gum tells the organs ‘prepare to digest’ and releases juices to do so.  When there’s nothing to digest, our brain registers ‘eat’ which most of the time, causes overeating.
4. Eat foods as FRESH and ALIVE as possible. The farther from the hook the fish or the farther the apple from the tree, the more energy our body must use to break down the food.  Not to mention, the Leaky Gut inspiring preservatives that must be added to extend it’s shelf life add insult to injury.
5. Try Intermittent Fasting 1-3 times per week.  What does that look like?  Eat no later than 8pm, go to bed at 10pm, wake up at 6am, drinks TONS of water with lemon if’s good for your type and eat your first meal at noon.  So, you’re fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8.  That gives your digestive track the time to ‘sweep’ up debris, similar to street sweepers you see on the freeway at 2am.  Can you imagine what our roads would look like without them?  Eating too often without a street sweeper break, is like accumulated waste on the roads.
6. Eat according to your Metabolic Type, AND even better avoid your Food Sensitivities.  If you’re not sure what they are, follow this link to find out how to discover your ‘type’ and what foods your body might be slowly reacting to.
7. Minimize carbohydrates, mainly processed, grains and sugars (YES, including fruit). Bad bacteria feed on carbohydrates and the result is gas. Eat more healthy fats and complete proteins, since those are least preferred by bad bugs and are least likely to cause hypochloridia (insufficient acid)
8. Exercise – not too much, not too little.  Too little, slows down our metabolism, causing back up and poor breakdown of food whereas too much exercise can be too much stress on the body, depleting energy from digestion processes.  30-45 min of High Intensity Interval training 3-4 times per week is about right (unless you have a progressed stage of adrenal fatigue, in which case, light yoga is in order until you heal them).
9. Minimize stress – from all angles.  Mental, emotional, physical. Are you suppressing fear and worry into your organs?  How do you digest your stress? If it’s in the form of extreme emotion, it tends to clog up our liver and accumulate toxins in the body, causing a cesspool of waste land (cancer). Get 7-9 hours of sleep, in bed by 10pm. The hours from 10 to midnight are worth double for adrenal health, which keeps our digestive track calm.
10. Supplement well – Enzymes and Probiotics are a good start, and depending on bacterial overgrowth, Hydrochloric Acid/Pepsin.  Eating more raw foods decreases the need for supplemental enzymes, since foods cooked under 118 degrees contain their own live enzymes, but when you do, be sure to wash them if they were commercially raised.  If they’re local, organic and you trust the farmer, dive right in. There are normally GOOD bacteria coated on them there produce.

Do I have low Stomach Acid? – Try this Easy Home Test

1. Mix 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in 4-6 ounces of cold water first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything.
2. Drink the baking soda solution.
3. Time how long it takes you to belch…up to five minutes.
4. If you didn't belch within five minutes, stop timing.

In theory, if your stomach is producing adequate amounts of stomach acid you’ll likely belch within two to three minutes. Early and repeated belching may be due to excessive stomach acid (but don’t confuse these burps with small little burps from swallowing air when drinking the solution). Any belching after 3 minutes indicates a low acid level.

Because the time frames can vary person-to-person, as well as how they drink the solution, this test is only a good indicator that you might want to do more testing to determine your stomach acid. Thanks to SCD Lifestyle for posting this on their site.

This test is not accurate enough to rule out low stomach acid. To rule out low stomach acid you will need to try the Heidelberg test or Betaine HCL challenge test, which I can help you with if you're convinced you need to improve your digestion, and hence, your vitality and quality of life!

Remember:  All paths trace back to digestion, so if you're struggling with hormonal imbalance, fatigue, auto immunity or any other disease under the sun today, your gut needs a makeover!  🙂

Home remedies to try:

1. 1 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar in 8 oz of water before a meal
2. 1-2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive oil with 1-2 tsp of lemon juice upon rising (a work out for your gall bladder)
3. Chew on several pieces of ginger before eating or during a meal

How do I know if I have bacterial overgrowth? 

1. MOST ALL DIGESTIVE CONDITIONS STEM FROM INSUFFICIENT HYDROCHLORIC ACID.  The image below shows why.  It's the master juice for all things digestion that primes the pump for every step along the way, so if this is off (low), everything is off (insufficient).  And when our stomach is too high ph (not acidic enough), bugs can thrive there and host a party.  Totally!….undigested proteins (food for them), moist, dark and high ph so they don't get zapped.  Uh oh!
2. There are many tests on the market today. But very few that seek out the right information.  READ HERE to explore the flora of your gut.
3. Bloating is the CLASSIC sign of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth…bacteria that migrates into the small intestine where is doesn't belong. I was diagnosed with this, which I have since healed.  It's a work in progress, as usual. I can help you test for this too.  We did a radio show on this.  READ MORE HERE and listen to the show!

How do I know if it's Yeast…or Parasites?

Like Wellness Mama, Katie mentions in her article on Problematic Parasites & Yeast Overgrowth:
“Studies have found that most people, especially those with chronic diseases and cancer, are host to at least one kind of parasite”

That article can be found HERE.

Another ARTICLE in Mind, Body, Green breaks it down to the basics:

10 Signs You May Have a Parasite

1. You have an explained constipation, diarrhea, gas, or other symptoms of IBS
2. You traveled internationally and remember getting traveler’s diarrhea while abroad
3. You have a history of food poisoning and your digestion has not been the same since.
4. You have trouble falling asleep, or you wake up multiple times during the night.
5. You get skin irritations or unexplained rashes, hives, rosacea or eczema.
6. You grind your teeth in your sleep.
7. You have pain or aching in your muscles or joints.
8. You experience fatigue, exhaustion, depression, or frequent feelings of apathy.
9. You never feel satisfied or full after your meals.
10. You've been diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia.

I struggled, BIG TIME with this to the point that I couldn't believe the root of all of my problems were being caused by 1 thing that was overlooked by hundreds of doctors throughout my whole lifetime, who never thought to test, or explore this.  I am passionate about gut health, and getting to the root cause, and this is WHY.  I don't presume that everyone's source is the same as mine, but it's definitely one that is overlooked in the medical community and sadly I do find to be the key element that is dragging my clients down and causing so many health symptoms.  Remove these and the problems normally are removed too!

If you're ready to feel amazing again, and you're tired of spinning your wheels or being told ‘it's all in your head', or having tests turn up ‘normal', welcome to the only place that will bring you back to life FOR GOOD.

HOW CAN DIANE HELP ME TO FEEL ALIVE AGAIN?  Read more HERE

To discuss YOUR goals and how to get to your ROOT cause of symptoms and disease:

SCHEDULE HERE TODAY