If you picked up this book thinking you are one of the unlucky few afflicted with gut health issues, let me assure you that you are not alone. In fact, worldwide, 40 percent of people suffer from at least one digestive disease. In comparison, around 66 percent of people in the US struggle with one or more digestive diseases,[1] including gastroesophageal reflux disease, gallbladder disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, and others. More money is spent on digestive remedies than heart or mental health, too, at over $136 billion per year. So why, in our so-called progressive society, are digestive issues so prevalent, and how do you find relief?

As a clinician and researcher with twenty-four years of experience, I’m passionate about gut health. This is because it is at the root of most ailments, and because of this, achieving gut health is the quickest path to feeling vitality again. Because I’m also trained in functional medicine, I have learned many techniques to help get people on the path to feeling well. In my experience, patients feel better quickly and usually permanently using this functional medicine approach. When, in fact, they previously only found temporary or no relief after trying conventional interactions with their gastrointestinal doctor.

To be clear, traditional medicine does have its place, and I urge you to visit your provider if you’re having gut issues to get a complete diagnosis. Still, it is worth knowing that there is more to treating your gut issue than conventional medicine. What’s more, if you’re having gut trouble, but your doctor can’t find the problem using a scope, scan, or other tests, you may be told there is nothing wrong with you and given little or no advice on how to feel better. And if you do receive a diagnosis of, for example, Crohn’s disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), you may find that the medication for your specific gut disorder only masks the issue rather than treating the root cause.

Getting to the Root Cause

As you will discover in this book, the root cause of many gut issues is a lack of essential nutrients and building blocks for the gut. For example, a lack of sufficient nutrients causes gut cells to be inflamed, function poorly, cause pain and discomfort, or all of the above. Additionally, lacking the nutritional building blocks due to stressful situations or an imbalanced diet can disrupt your body’s ability to digest foods well. This can be a root cause of distress in your gut and throughout your whole body.

Genetics may play a partial role in these gut conditions, but your genes don’t tell the whole story. Genes may load the gun, so to speak, but diet and lifestyle pull the trigger on these diseases. There is an entire field dedicated to how food and nutrients control how our genes express themselves called epigenetics.[2] Epigenetics, in simple terms, is the effect of your food and your environment on how well your genes work. In other words, what you eat has a huge impact on whether your genes cause damage to your body or not. This is good news for all of us because we can make simple diet and lifestyle changes to reduce gut symptoms even due to daunting genetic conditions. And understanding that food significantly impacts your health’s destiny is much more potent than feeling helpless due to genes.

Yet, many medical doctors ignore the basic building blocks of the gut: food, herbs, healing compounds, and nutrients. This is largely because medical doctors aren’t taught these critical healing tools in their academic training. In my experience, my patients feel better so much more quickly from a nutritional approach than any other mode of treatment for digestive issues in most cases. I’ll be sharing some of their stories in this book. And I think you’ll find that if you are willing to try some targeted nutritional support supplements and improve your diet, you will create your own personalized gut fix and discover the healing solution you’ve been searching for.

Using This Book

Knowledge is power, so we’ll journey through the digestive tract and where and how issues might develop.

So, if you’re ready, let’s dive into the ultimate gut fix, knowledge, and finding the right nutritional balance.