If you find your digestion’s feeling bit off, maybe with bloating, nausea or aches and pains, you could do a lot worse than to make sure you have plenty of herbs and spices at hand in your kitchen cupboards.

There are literally hundreds of herbs and spices to help with day to day tricky gut situations.

Some herbs will support your body in producing bile – a digestive substance produced by the gall bladder which helps you digest fatty foods.

Also, many of these herbs and spices will soothe the gut wall and ensure your gut is functioning correctly to get any pesky excess gas out of your system.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

However they do their job, you can be assured that the following herbs and spices will support healthy digestion, allowing the gut to function as it’s supposed to.

And apart from all that they taste amazing too!

Here are four of my favourites –

Chamomile

My favourite herb of all time and so handy – I have a box of chamomile tea in the kitchen all the time as I use it for sleeping and relaxation.

A lesser known benefit of chamomile is as a great treatment in case of any stomach aches or bloating – it works so well – sometimes I just have three small cups of chamomile tea, one after the other, and it nails most minor digestive complaints.

It’s also been proven in animal studies to be anti inflammatory and reduce diarrhoea, and also to inhibit the development of stomach ulcers – amazing!

Cumin

Cumin is great for indigestion and actually revs your digestive processes up by increasing the activity of digestive enzymes.
Again, cumin will increase the production of bile so it’d be a great idea to include some of this if you tend to feel uncomfortable after eating fatty foods.

People with IBS have even reported improved symptoms after taking cumin as a supplement.

You might have noticed that a lot of these spices are traditionally served alongside notorious foods which commonly aggravate digestion, such as beans and lentils – think chilli and dhal.  

There is a reason for this, they do actually help your gut to break down these harder to digest foods. 

So there you go, four essential herbs and spices to have in your cupboard to support your digestion day to day – enjoy them as teas or in cooking!

When foods are referred to as ‘organic’ it means they have been produced without the assistance of any artificial pesticides, fertilisers, antibiotics, hormones or chemicals. And that they’re not genetically modified. As far as pre-packaged foods are concerned they must not contain any artificial additives at all, in order to be labeled organic. The ingredients that they are made from must also be organic. But is organic food really better for you?

As well as being better for your health, organically grown crops are much better for the environment as they use natural fertilisers like manure to nourish the plants. Because of this, organic farming methods tend to improve soil quality rather than deplete it.

How else is organic food beneficial to health?

Studies consistently show that organic produce in general contains much higher levels of antioxidants, as well as micronutrients such as vitamin C, zinc and iron.

In fact, antioxidant levels can be as much as 69% higher in these foods.

There was one study which discovered organically grown berries and corn contained 58% more antioxidants and as much as 52% more vitamin C.

So this is well worth bearing in mind.  You could be looking at eating the equivalent of 1-2 extra portions of fruit and veg, if you choose organic options!

How can this happen?

Organic plants don’t rely on artificial pesticides for protection. Instead, they produce more of their own protective compounds – antioxidants. All this goodness then gets passed onto us.

Although some studies show that organic food isn’t necessarily better than non-organic, and that there’s no benefit to eating organic at all, these studies tend to look at how harmful one pesticide or chemical is, in isolation. The thing which hasn’t been fully studied is the cumulative effect of all the chemical fertilisers, antibiotics and so on.  They’ll usually show up as safe in trials – but that’s when they only test one in isolation.  If you’re eating several different foods in a meal – by and large you will be – who knows what the effect of all the pesticides mixed together will be.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

How about organic dairy?

One food group I’d definitely recommend buying organic is milk and dairy (if you tolerate it)

Not only do organic dairy products and meats contain higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, they’re also higher in micronutrients such as vitamin E and iron.

A diet rich in omega-3 fats is associated with a huge array of health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health and less inflammation.

Watch out for ‘organic’ processed food

Pre-packaged, processed food and fizzy drinks are not ideal, whether they’re labelled ‘organic’ or otherwise. These foods tend to be very high in sugar. Organic sugar is still sugar and has the same effect on the body as any other type of sugar. They’re also likely to be high in trans-fats and salt.

On the plus side though, if you do occasionally choose to eat these foods you can be sure they don’t contain any chemicals or additives.

The answer to this question may surprise you! The unfortunate thing is that many of our favourite fruits and vegetables are only available for a short season. Usually during the height of summer. Strawberries and other berries spring to mind here (especially if you’ve got kids, as these seem to be the main types of fruits they enjoy). Of course we can get hold of fresh berries and other fruits all year round, but they’re never as flavourful as when they’re in season. When this happens don’t worry – just remember the freezer aisle!  Because believe it or not, when frozen or fresh fruit and veg have been studied in lab tests, they almost always turn out to be as nutritious as each other.

In fact sometimes frozen produce fares even better than fresh.  This seems strange but I’ll explain.

Studies have compared the nutrient content of frozen and fresh produce –

• Peas
• Broccoli
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Carrots
• Spinach

Their overall findings were that there was no difference in nutrient levels, including B-vitamins and folate content, which remained constant even after months spent in the freezer!

How can this be?

Often fresh produce is harvested before it’s fully ripe. This ensures it stays fresh for longer – it has a lengthy journey from being picked, packaged in a factory, transported to a supermarket, sometimes put in cold storage, spending several days on a supermarket shelf, before arriving at your fridge. There it can sometimes hang around for a few more days before you actually eat it. Unfortunately when you pick fruits and vegetables before they’re fully ripe they haven’t had a chance to fully develop all their nutritional goodness – vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Not to mention flavour.

On the other hand, frozen fruits and vegetables are picked when they’re perfectly ripe and rich in vitamins, minerals and flavour. At this point they’re frozen very quickly locking in all these fantastic gut-friendly nutrients.

So that means you can have all that goodness and flavour year round.

Eating a wide variety of different coloured fruits and vegetables, means you’re getting a whole array of nutrients. Including those vital polyphenols which you need for great gut health and keeping your friendly bacteria healthy and thriving.

Remember diet diversity is key for optimal gut health.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

So, what’s the best way to use frozen fruit and veg?

1. Look for the highest quality frozen fruit and veg you can find. If you can lay your hands on organic – added bonus! – as you know that berries and the more delicate fruits haven’t been overloaded with pesticides.  Berries are notorious for being sprayed a lot as they’re so likely to get eaten by bugs.

2. Organic frozen peas are always readily available. These are one of my favourite frozen vegetables to have on hand.

6. Frozen vegetables are great to add to soups, stews and curries or chillies.  Personally, I don’t find them fantastic to eat steamed or stir-fried, I find fresh much nicer to eat like this. There’s nothing wrong with them at all, but it’s all just down to individual preference ultimately.

7.  One of my favourite frozen food tips: If you buy fresh herbs and find you don’t get around to using them all at once, pop any leftovers in a freezer bag then you can just break bits off when you need them – handy!  And you can have a nice selection of delicious and medicinal herbs available in the freezer ready for when you need them.

A question often crops up in clinic, about how your gut health affects other parts of your body. This is very interesting as your gut health closely connects to just about every other system and function of your body, and a major complaint of nearly everyone I speak to is always feeling tired, fatigued or exhausted. If you’re always tired it can really impact your life negatively – with work, family and everything else so it’s absolutely worth getting to the root cause of it, and getting it sorted.

Here are a few reasons whey this may be happening –

1. Impaired absorption may be why you’re always tired

Firstly – if your gut isn’t functioning optimally you’re unlikely to be absorbing nutrients properly.  Your stomach just won’t be able to break down food, and allow your gut to absorb all those vitamins and minerals efficiently.  A lot of vital nutrients are going to end up passing straight through your digestive system.  If your gut function is compromised your stomach acid might be low, or you may be producing inadequate levels of enzymes from your pancreas, for example.  This will cause inadequate nutrient absorption.

2. If you’re always tired, then your microbiome – AKA gut bacteria – could be to blame.

Further along your digestive system your microorganisms are a huge influence on how effectively you digest and absorb your food. They’re also critical in how well you sleep, your mood and your hormone levels, to name a few. All these factors can influence your overall energy levels.

Any time you experience a degree of stress, be it from an infection or emotional stress, your microbiome will undoubtedly take a hit. Your bacterial balance may change from consisting of mostly beneficial species, to having overgrowths of less desirable bacterial species, or yeasts such as candida. These may not only cause digestive disturbances, but also hugely impact your energy levels.

Studies have actually shown that not only do less desirable bacterial species tend to proliferate in those who experience a lot of fatigue, but they have less bacterial diversity too. This is why I’m absolutely not a fan of overly-restrictive diets to control digestive symptoms. Everyone needs a diverse microbiome to keep healthy and energetic, and a diverse diet is needed to increase bacterial diversity.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

3. Inflammation

The more pathogenic strains of bacteria produce substances that cause the intestinal lining and immune system to release inflammatory molecules to fight the threat of infection. This creates low-grade inflammation in the gut. If you imagine what happens when you catch a cold, you’re usually floored for a few days but then bounce back after about a week as the infection passes. With chronic inflammation the effect isn’t short and sharp, but goes on for months and even years with a vague feeling of prolonged tiredness in the background.

5. The HPA Axis – a big reason you’re always tired.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the part of your nervous system that deals with stress. As inflammatory substances, known as cytokines, begin to circulate in increasing numbers this causes stress in the body. The more your body is stressed, the more the stress hormone cortisol is released. If this goes on for too long, your adrenal glands may become compromised resulting in insomnia and exhaustion.

Needless to say, if you feel tired all the time this warrants investigation firstly from your GP. However if those tests don’t shed any light then do get in touch to discuss gut testing (especially if you’re experiencing gut related issues alongside). It could well provide the answers you’re looking for. 

Contrary to what it may feel like, acid reflux symptoms are not usually caused by too much acid in the stomach, and antacids may not be the best remedy.  Read on to find out what may actually be going on, and a few ways to begin to tackle the issue.

Here’s the problem: It seems that symptoms such as heartburn and acid reflux actually come about because of low stomach acid, AKA hypochlorrhidria. And what’s worse is that every time you take antacids, PPIs or H2 blockers you may actually be making the problem worse, and you may well enter a viscous cycle situation.

Now that’s not to say that medications such as antacids and PPIs don’t have a place, they are useful for effectively treating the occasional or temporary bout of heartburn or reflux. What I’m talking about here is chronic, ongoing, frequent use of these medications.

Low stomach acid

Prolonged hypochlorhydria – or low stomach acid – is associated with

• nutrient deficiencies,
• diabetes,
• chronic fatigue
• and a whole host of other disorders.

Before delving further into this, also be aware that antacids themselves tend to be associated with an array of side effects, including –

• Constipation
• Diarrhoea
• Nausea and vomiting
• Low appetite
• Headaches

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) actually stop the production of stomach acid and pepsin. Pepsin is the enzyme responsible for breaking down protein into easily digestible particles.  Needless to say, if your protein isn’t broken down effectively it can go on to cause a lot of problems further along your digestive tract – mainly a lot of bloating.

The bloating may cause extra pressure in your abdomen, including your stomach, and cause your lower oesophageal sphincter to open somewhat, allowing hydrochloric acid to seep into the oesophagus.

So what does cause these uncomfortable acid reflux symptoms?

Acid reflux comes about because of acid rising up through the oesophagus. This happens because the valve at the lower end of your oesophagus starts to leak, generally because of too much pressure on the stomach, allowing acid to creep up into the oesophagus. If your stomach acid isn’t in your stomach, but sloshing around up in your oesophagus, you may get uncomfortable problems.

There are six reasons acid reflux may happen –

1. Hiatal hernia – this is when the upper end of your stomach pushes through the diaphragm.
2. Eating meals which are too large – an over-full stomach adds pressure to the diaphragm allowing acid to seep upwards.
3. Eating too much of the ‘wrong’ food – this isn’t to say that everyone has the same ‘wrong’ foods, it’s just that some foods are more suited to some people than others. Or, what your body needed when you were younger, for example, may not be what it needs now. It could be that you may be consuming too much carbohydrate for your current needs, for example.
4. You may also have dysbiosis or
5. SIBO which could be increasing the levels of gas in your digestive system.
6. Food intolerances could be behind your symptoms.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Stomach acid is also a major first line of defence for your immune system

If you raise the pH of your stomach environment so it becomes more alkaline, it’s not particularly hostile to any unwelcome guests. We want it to be nice and acidic to protect us from invaders.

Therefore the risk of stomach bugs such as salmonella or listeria may increase. A very acidic environment is not only necessary to effectively digest food, but also to kill off any invaders.

So then what happens if you take antacids or PPIs?  Unfortunately you may be inadvertently adding to the problem.  Then your stomach will go all out trying to make more hydrochloric acid to increase the acidity of your stomach, and return it to it’s set point.

There are also supplements that can help you, but of course it depends on what is actually the underlying cause of your reflux or heartburn. 

High quality magnesium and digestive enzymes are a couple that may be recommended.

This post will discuss a common area of confusion, as there are a lot of different messages out there depending on who you speak to. What it boils down to is the whole saturated fat debate. We’ve been led to believe that saturated fat is so detrimental to health we must avoid it at all costs, but is this necessary? And when thinking about margarine vs. butter, which is healthier?

Just to be clear you absolutely need fat in your diet.  It’s the type of fat which can cause problems.

Margarine vs. Butter – The pros and cons of margarine

• Margarine is made from vegetable oil which undergoes hydrogenation or intensive processing to harden the texture.
• Although rich in polyunsaturated fats which are considered healthier for your heart, by the time they’ve been processed they’re less than ideal. After this processing they often become trans fats which we definitely want to avoid!
• Some margarines contain healthier oils such as olive oil, and some really aren’t too bad at all such as the vegan brands you can buy in health food shops. These can contain a nice variety of alternative fats such as coconut oil and shea butter.
• Margarine will almost always contain additives to make it tastier and spreadable.
• Standard margarines are very high in omega-6 fatty acids. We need to keep our omega-3 and 6 in the correct ratio to be healthy – but there is a problem! Found everywhere, Omega-6 is in so many foods we end up eating far too much of it.
  Omega-6 can also be very inflammatory. Excessive inflammation is at the root of most disease and illness states, so really, avoiding too much omega-6 is essential.

You can read more about inflammation here.

The bottom line on margarine:

If you’re avoiding dairy for dietary reasons or if you’re vegan, look for brands which are free from trans fats.  Better still use ‘healthier fat’ containing brands from your health food shop.

Margarine vs. Butter – The pros and cons of butter:

Minimally processed, butter is far superior on the nutrition front. Grass fed, organic and raw versions are, ideally, what you’re looking for.  Although demonised as being high in saturated fat, and therefore bad for heart health, this isn’t the whole story. The jury is still out on how much saturated fat we need in our diets, but the general consensus is it definitely needs to feature in our diets to some degree.

The nutrient profile of butter from grass-fed herds is very high. It contains some real plusses such as –

• Vitamin K2, this plays a key role in bone and heart health, and is also key in cancer prevention.
• Butter is also rich in several important fatty acids, including butyrate which you need for a healthy gut. You can read more about keeping your gut healthy here.
  Plenty of omega-3 fatty acids for brain and skin health.
• Conjugated linoleic acid which helps stop weight gain and helps build muscle.

The bottom line on butter –

• It’s rich in saturated fat which we undoubtedly need in our diets, but the jury is very much still out on how much exactly we need.
• As is usually the way with all things nutrition related – the poison’s in the dose – a small amount is likely beneficial for you, but too much may well be damaging.
• And how much butter do we really tend to eat?  It’s not something we usually consume at very high levels.
• When buying butter look for grass fed, organic and if you can get it, raw.  If you have a good local farmers market you may be able to pick up raw butter there.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Margarine vs. Butter – which is healthier?

My take on fats is that you want a nice variety in your diet – consume a mixture of healthy fats so you know you’re getting some of all the necessary fats you need in your diet.

Focus on –

All these can all be spread on toast like butter to make a delicious snack.

The key thing is to avoid eating only one kind of fat, they’re all beneficial and contain different types of fats which we need for a balanced diet.