How to Boost Your Gut Health with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz [Episode #677]

This week’s topic is: How to Boost Your Gut Health with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

I am so excited to have my very special guest, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, who is an award winning gastroenterologist, internationally recognized gut health expert and the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Indie Bound-bestselling author of Fiber Fueled and The Fiber Fueled Cookbook. Listen in as Dr. B shares what the GROWTH acronym is when healing your gut, how to introduce foods for optimal gut health, prebiotic foods and what they do, why there’s bloating and gassiness when eating a plant-based diet, and so much more!

[BULLETS]

• Turbocharging your health with The Fiber Fueled Cookbook…
• The GROWTH acronym and how to heal your gut…
• When the root of constipation is emotional, mental health issues…
• Introducing foods and training your body…
• Prebiotic foods: what they are and what they do…
• Why there’s bloating and gassiness when eating a plant-based diet…
• Dr. B shares what the markers are when repairing the gut…

[FEATURED GUESTS]

About Dr. Will Bulsiewicz 

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (“Dr. B”) is an award winning gastroenterologist, internationally recognized gut health expert and the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Indie Bound-bestselling author of Fiber Fueled and The Fiber Fueled Cookbook. With a passion for plants and helping people, he sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of ZOE, has authored more than twenty articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, has given more than forty presentations at national meetings, presented to Congress and the USDA, and has taught over 10,000 students how to heal and optimize their gut health.

I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!

There are lots of ways to share your responses or questions about the podcast:

• Comment below
• Connect on Twitter: @_kimberlysnyder
• Follow the conversation on my Instagram
• Comment on my Facebook Page
• Ask a question: mysolluna.com/askkimberly

Be sure to Subscribe to the Podcast and follow me on Soundcloud, so you never miss an episode!

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE

You may be really intrigued by podcasts, but you may just know how to listen or subscribe. It’s very easy, I promise! To listen to more than one episode, and to have it all in a handier way, on your phone or tablet, it’s way better to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Want to know what to expect from other episodes of the “Feel Good Podcast with Kimberly Snyder”? My passion is to inspire and empower you to be your most authentic and beautiful self. We offer interviews with top experts, my personal philosophies and experiences, as well as answers to community-based questions around topics such as health, beauty, nutrition, yoga, spirituality and personal growth.

The intention of the Feel Good Podcast is to well…help you really Feel Good in your body, mind and spirit! Feeling Good means feeling peaceful, energized, whole, uniquely beautiful, confident and joyful, right in the midst of your perfectly imperfect life. This podcast is as informative and full of practical tips and take-aways as it is inspirational. I am here to support you in being your very best! I have so much love and gratitude for you. Thank you for tuning in and being part of the community :).

LEAVE A REVIEW ON ITUNES

Listeners really respect the views of other listeners, so your response helps people find good material they are interested in! If you enjoyed the podcast, please tell your friends and give us a rating or review. Many thanks in advance.

[RESOURCES]

• SBO Probiotics
• Detoxy
• Digestive Enzymes  
• Feel Good Starter Kit
• FREE Gift: 7-Day Meditation Series (DIGITAL COURSE)
• YOU ARE MORE
• Beauty Detox Solutions
• Beauty Detox Foods
• Beauty Detox Power
• Radical Beauty
• Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life
• Be a part of the community Join the Feel Good Circle
• Four Cornerstone FREE Guide: Text the word GUIDE to +1-855-741-0602
• Additional resources in transcript

[❤️ FAN OF THE WEEK]

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz’s Interview

• Will’s Website
• Will’s Book

Other Podcasts you may enjoy!:

• Healthy Digestion and Elimination Tips and Tools
• Restoring Your Gut Health with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
• The #1 Key for Gut Health!
• The Benefit of Detoxing for Immunity and Overall Health

​Powered and Distributed by: PodcastOne

Feel Good Digestive Enzymes: Use code: welcome15 for 15% off

Transcript:

Note: The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate. This is due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.

Kimberly: 00:00 Hi Beauty. And welcome back to our Monday interview podcast. I’m super excited for our very special guest today, who is a repeat guest, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz also known as Dr. B, who is an award-winning gastroenterologist, and he is the internationally recognized gut health expert. The New York times bestselling author of fiber fueled. And now he has a new book out called the fiber fueled cookbook. He is plant based. He and I share a lot of the same philosophies. He is a wonderful, wonderful teacher and amazing being that is spreading so much wisdom that can really help us move forward in our health, energy, and vitality. So I am so excited to bring him onto our show today and bring him back onto the show.

Fan of the Week

Kimberly: 01:02 Before we get into our actual interview, I want to give a quick shout out to our fan of the week, which comes from GreenwichCT. That is their name, which is actually a place nearby where I grew up. I also grew up in Connecticut and here she writes my favorite podcast. I believe that life is school for our souls. We are here to learn and grow. Kimberly Snyder is a wonderful teacher in my life and has taught me so much about food body, most wellbeing and spiritual growth. I am so grateful for the feel good podcast, GreenwichCT. I am so grateful for you. If you can see me right now, my hands are on my heart. I’m really just taking that in. That means so much to me, just that we are here to support each other and, and share with each other. And through this medium of the podcast, you know, it’s, it’s a way it’s a channel for that to happen. It really does mean so much to me.

Please leave a review on iTunes

Kimberly: 01:51 So thank you my love for being part of our community. Thank you for submitting your review. It truly means the world. And so I thank you so much for just you <laugh> for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And for your chance, my love listening to this to be shouted out as the fan of the week, please just take a moment or two out of your day and leave us a review on iTunes. It could be one sentence. It is a powerful way to exchange energy and to support the podcast, especially if you you’ve gotten anything out of it, which I really hope you have. And just to have other, other beautiful souls like yourself, find the show. Please also share the show. You know, we’re here again just to share with each other. So if you can think of anyone that would benefit, it could be a sister, a friend, a coworker, whatever.

Get Your Copy Of YOU ARE MORE

Kimberly: 02:41 Please pass the show along to them, and also be sure to please subscribe to the show and that way you don’t miss out on any of these interviews or any of the Q&A podcasts on Thursdays, and you stay in this flow of consistent, positive, inspiration, and energy. And my last little announcement here before we get into our interview with Dr. B is a reminder that the new book baby has birthed into the world. She is called You Are More More Than You Think You Are – Practical Enlightenment For Everyday Life. And this book is first of all, you know, no pun intended, but very easily digestible. The chapters are short and to the point and delivering the teachings and the practices and, and the mindset of how to create the life that you want. So you could literally go through and read a chapter a night and reflect on it or hear.

Kimberly: 03:35 And there, it’s not the sort of book that you’re like, oh my God, this is so long. I don’t know how I’ll ever get through this. It’s absorbable, it’s practical and it will help you create more abundance, vitality, creativity in your life. That is my intention, and that is what these teachings and practices have done for my life. So it’s available now, wherever books are sold and I cannot wait for you to also benefit from teachings and please keep in touch with me as you do. So, because I’d love to hear about your story. And I’d love to hear how I can support you further. So all of that being said, let’s get into our interview today with a wonderful Dr. Will or Dr. B.

Interview with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

Kimberly: 00:02 This is an amazing moment, Dr. V because I remember interviewing you for your first book. It was on zoom. It was at the beginning of the pandemic. And here we are a couple years later and we’re a lot we’re in person in my home, and I have felt so connected to you from that first interview. So look at how life just evolves in transitions.

Dr. B: 00:23 Oh my gosh. This is amazing. No, I feel so good to be here with you today. Um, it’s just almost surreal to be honest with you. And I felt that connection too. Like the first time we recorded together, I was like, this, this person feels like there’s like this warmth, like she’s my sister.

Kimberly: 00:40 Yes. And

Dr. B: 00:41 So it was really cool.

Kimberly: 00:43 I had to share another funny moment. Um, I follow you on Instagram and there was a post, um, a particular post where you were, um, I, you were doing like a really funny post with your guy friend. And it was like, do you remember what I’m talking about? Like, you guys were striking a pose. You were just being really silly. Oh, that

Dr. B: 01:00 Was me. That was me and Dan Churchill.

Kimberly: 01:01 Okay. And I just remember looking at it and saying, I love this guy. He doesn’t take himself so seriously. He could have fun and he can be real. And that’s, you know, I think that’s the another moment where I just said, oh, Dr. B you’re it <laugh>

Dr. B: 01:17 Life is too short. I mean, honestly, we, we should be having fun. Right. We should be like striking funny poses with our guy friends or with our friends. <laugh> um, so like, if we’re not, then what, what are we, I mean, it just, I feel like that’s a, that’s a, for very bland life to not be engaging in those sort of just like fun activities. Like to me, it’s like, yo, get out and dance, like have a great

Kimberly: 01:40 Time. Yeah, exactly. Why, why is it light? Always have to seem so serious. Why do we care so much? <laugh> we look like that we can’t be silly sometimes. Right.

Dr. B: 01:50 I think those, those moments of levity are very important to finding joy in life. Right. I mean, it’s like, it could be very, um, easy to get drawn into focusing on all these very serious things that exist on the planet. Right. And then that just kind of stresses you out and it drags you down and that’s not adding to your life. It’s not really bringing value to your life. And frankly, you don’t really have control over many of these things that are happening out there. Yeah. So why not? Like have fun and enjoy the things that you do have control over?

Kimberly: 02:20 That’s it right here right now. So speaking of what, when we spoke last time, fiber fueled was on the horizon. I hadn’t heard of you yet. I hadn’t, you know, I was just getting the book and it was, you know, from that time to now, there’s just been this incredible movement around fiber fueled around your message. And you’ve like, you know, quadrupled 10, 10 X, your unity or social following the book became a New York times bestseller. Congrats. So, I mean, what do you think it, it was because we’ve, you know, we’ve been talking about fiber in a general sense and plant-based has been around, there’s been other plant-based nutrition books and you know, what do you, what do you think it was that sort of caught this fire?

Why Fiber Fueled has caught this fire of interest when we’ve been talking about fiber for years

Dr. B: 03:05 Gosh, I, um, I don’t totally know, to be honest with you. I, I do, I do think that it’s in some ways, right place, right time. Like, I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time where, um, the plant-based movement was starting to build up steam. The gut health, uh, movement was starting to build up steam. And I’m the guy who kind of plugged through these two together and said, said,

Kimberly: 03:27 Whoa,

Dr. B: 03:28 Look at the power that exists between these two things. You can be plant-based, you can have your gut health and they actually go together. Right. So like, I think that was part of it. Um, but I also, I also feel like part of it is that, so I like, my wife is an avid reader. Are you an avid reader? Yes. Okay. Beautiful. I love that. So I am

Kimberly: 03:49 Not reader writer. Yeah.

Dr. B: 03:50 I am not. And my, so my wife is the person who like reads books. Like literally she’s reading, you know, a couple books a week. Um, when my wife and a, I were on our second date, she asked me, what’s your favorite book of all time? And I was so embarrassed because I wanted to say Stephen King, it <laugh>, which is really bad. Right. Like I’m embarrassed to admit that. So I don’t even remember what I said, but I do remember I was very read in the face in that moment. So I think that with me, when I came into this book, look, this was a pure passion project. Mm-hmm <affirmative> right. This was not meant to be a brand exercise. This was not meant to be, uh, like I never thought of myself as an author.

Kimberly: 04:32 Right.

Dr. B: 04:33 I view myself as a medical doctor, but I wanted to write a book that was fun.

Kimberly: 04:39 Yes.

Dr. B: 04:39 And that would get people excited. Yes. And so I wanted to write a book that I would wanna read

Kimberly: 04:46 Yes. A accessible.

Dr. B: 04:47 Yeah. So I think that, that may be part of it is that because I came into this, not really like taking this too, too seriously, despite my, uh, agreement with my publisher, I just kind of felt compelled to like, let’s have fun with this. Let’s make this something that anyone would wanna read. And, um, and I think that’s part of why it has really resonated with people.

Kimberly: 05:06 Yes. I also think your whole vibe, you know, this word accessible and just relatable too, because I think sometimes, you know, when we hear a lot of, you know, the, the medical terms and the things that are spouted out, we feel it can be a little bit scary or confusing. We, you don’t connect to it. So what I love about your writing and your whole philosophy is really just, you know, the real, like the day to day, how do we live? How do we improve our gut health? How do we create this lifestyle? And now you’re taking it a step further with your new book, fiber fueled cookbook, which is, you know, about turbocharging your health. It’s very practical. It’s day to day recipes and also great information as well.

Turbocharging your health with the Fiber Fueled Cookbook

Dr. B: 05:47 Yeah. I mean, I’m, I’m, so I’m getting the same sort of feeling in my gut about this book that I had

Kimberly: 05:52 With fiber fields. <laugh>

Dr. B: 05:54 So like, um, fiber fields came out in may of, uh, 20, 20, and the two months leading up to that, I was like, I have this message that I am dying to share with the world. And I can’t wait till I actually can able like, can actually put it out there and let them consume this. And I’m getting those same vibes right now with the fiber fields cookbook. Like, I feel like this is so powerful because there are some specific flaws in our healthcare system that I’m trying to address with this book. So it’s a cookbook, it’s got 125 recipes if you want delicious food have at it like,

Kimberly: 06:32 Oh yeah, food looks amazing. Yeah.

Dr. B: 06:35 Um, full color photography, um, by Ashley McLaughlin. And so, but for me, I’m not a cookbook guy. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So to me, I’m a medical doctor and I viewed this as an opportunity to create pathways for healing, for people. And if a person comes into my, into my clinic and they have food intolerances, I know how I want to heal their food intolerances. But the, the problem is like, I don’t have a way to do that because I’ve never been able to handle hand to person a packet of recipes.

Kimberly: 07:08 Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. B: 07:09 It has to be a food based approach to get to where you want to be. Yeah. And for people to say, oh, well, eat this. Not that, like, you just kind of shoot from the hip. And, and it’s like a quick little thing. You are only having a 15 minute conversation. You’re never gonna get people where they need to be. You actually need to like, hold their hand and walk them through the process. So what I’m excited about with the fiber heal cookbook is this afforded me the opportunity to create healing protocols. Yes. That people can implement quite simply. Like I’m gonna teach you the complexities of the science and yes, it is complicated at times, but let me make this super simple, eat these recipes for two weeks. Boom.

Kimberly: 07:48 Yeah.

Dr. B: 07:48 See how you feel. Do you feel better? Cool. Let’s use that information. That’s empowering. Mm-hmm

Kimberly: 07:54 <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> I wanna get, I wanna get into some of the, um, D details of this, but first I’m I’m sitting here. Well, uh, Dr. V <laugh> and I’m, I’m watching you, I’m watching this, you know, incredible, unique, creative human, and there’s something in your story. That reminds me a little bit when, when I started my first book, you know, six books ago, 10 years ago when I was like, oh, well now I’m this. And I’m talking about, you know, food. And I, I thought it was this right. And then it went along and now I’m like, oh, I wanna talk about spirituality and meditation and it’s extension of the lifestyle. So I, you know, for me, it was like the labels we put on ourselves, like, oh, I’m a nutritionist. No, but I’m a meditation teacher, all this versus now I kind of just sing underneath and I’m like, oh, I’m just, you know, I’m Kim. I have a message. Right? Yeah. So I think as you know, in the past, you’ve been seeing like, oh, you’re, you know, you’re a medical doctor, you have this training, you have this and this, but now it’s like, you’re someone with a message. You’re this incredibly, you know, unique, powerful person. It, it transcends labels. Right? You could be a doctor, you could be cookbook author. You could, you’re a father. You’re all these different things, but really you’re just, you’re you

Dr. B: 09:03 That’s 100% true. I love that. And, um, and I’m just this guy who, I think that at the end of the day, it’s about authenticity. Yeah. It’s about integrity. It’s humility. And going out there and applying, like using whatever. I have my education, my passion, my talents, your

Kimberly: 09:23 Humor,

Dr. B: 09:24 My humor, like pulling these things together. And, um, and not thinking of myself as above anyone else, but instead just doing the best that I can and trying to others, like using that to help others. And I have to tell you like Kimberly, the, I get these messages from people. I literally got one this morning of a person who had chronic fatigue syndrome for years. And every single medical doctor was saying to this person, there’s nothing wrong with you. Right. Right. And so, and then this person like hears me on a podcast, implements some of the ideas that I’ve put out there and has completely fixed her issues. Wow. And to a person who like, for me, when I was 16 years old, I made the decision. I want to be a doctor. Mm. I want to heal people. Right. Like this is the mission. If it was money, I would’ve been a banker. Right, Right. Yes. So this was, this is the mission. And the beauty of it is that here I am, and I’m in my forties, the mission has not changed. Yeah. It’s just the way that I’m doing it is perhaps different than what I anticipated. But I’m out here trying to help millions of people if I can’s what I want to do. And so it’s it’s, and it feels wonderful. And I have to pinch myself many times to realize that I have this unique opportunity that is beyond my own dreams.

Kimberly: 10:46 Yes. We talk about purpose a lot in our community. And also chapter three of the new of my new book, you are more than you think you are, is you are a warrior. And we talk about this idea of the warrior, being someone that can persevere, overcome obstacles and, and, and, you know, work for the better. Good. So that’s the part about being a warrior, I think is, you know, rarely do they fight for themselves. So the way we define purpose in our community is taking, discerning your individual gifts. And then pairing that with, how do I serve? How do I benefit the collective? Because otherwise, and you and I were talking about this before the podcast, otherwise we become self-obsessed right. And all the different ways our lives, me, me, me, what do people think of me? It’s the path of suffering comparison and just feeling small and limited and isolated. So it’s incredible. You had this through line with your, with your purpose, and now it’s just expanding in the ethnicities. Don’t, you know, you can’t plan for that. It’s just taken on its whole new life, but you being, you it’s, it’s, it’s coming through and it’s just growing all these ways you would never have thought of before.

Dr. B: 11:49 Yeah, that’s crazy. I mean, I, I am a guy who, I’m a very type a, I’m a very goal oriented person. I have a five year plan. I always think that five year plan is what’s exactly going to happen. And, you know, five years ago it was around the time that I started my pot, my, um, Instagram account, like a health MD. And like, there were a lot of humble moments. There were a lot of posts, no one cared. Right. And, but it’s crazy. It’s crazy to imagine for me, like to be here with you and be having this conversation about my second book. And like, when they told me that I was a New York times best selling author, I was just like, what are you even talking about? This was never, my, this was not something I ever wanted to achieve. You

Kimberly: 12:36 Didn’t plan for this.

Dr. B: 12:37 No. Like, so how am I supposed to feel about this? Because it actually, in many ways was an invasion of my vision of myself.

Kimberly: 12:44 Yes. So how have you reconciled? You know, we have this image of our life, right? This, um, this E you know, the egoic, like the shell of our lives, what Wayne Dyer calls the less, the in 1%, but it’s, it’s like the appearance and it’s like, sort of the titles and like what we see, you know, from me too, like, oh, New York times, best selling author, all these different things, but underneath it, we’re human. We’re whole. So you’ve been on this huge transition over the past two years, your work has blown up. The book has blown up. Now your work has changed. Um, and you’ve decided to make some life shifts around that. How, how have you, um, you know, worked towards just being with yourself or self connecting. Do you have a meditation practice? Do you talk to your wife about it? I know you guys are very close. Do you journal, do you pray? Like how do you, um, connect to inner will?

We discuss how we self-connect through life’s transitions

Dr. B: 13:30 I think it’s a combination of those things. So I, I wouldn’t say that I have the, this, I honestly wish that I had a very defined, like, Hey, this is what I do for self-care. Mm. Right. I really wish that I did. Um, but my life has been flying by the seat of my pants. <laugh> for the last two years. Yeah. Right. I mean, it has been from five in the morning until 10 or 11 at night, every day. And it, every minute there is something that I’m doing, that’s purposeful, right. Like even when it’s family time, it’s like, this is my time for family. I have to protect this.

Kimberly: 14:03 Yes.

Dr. B: 14:04 Right. So, but what has worked for me has been, so first of all, I am blessed with huge support from my family. None of this would’ve been possible without the support of my, and that starts with my wife. Yes. So, you know, she stands behind me 100%. And as a man, putting yourself out there into the world where it requires the confidence to be able to put yourself out there and be different, knowing that you have this powerful woman behind you, like that supercharges me. Right. That turns me into so much more than I am by myself. Mm. And I love it. I look at all these things that have happened in my life and the most terrifying thing for me, the, by far, the most terrifying thing to me was, is when I pondered the possibility that what if I never met my wife.

Kimberly: 14:55 Okay. <laugh> well, it was meant to be, so, you know, it wasn’t meant to be that you would never meet her. Right.

Dr. B: 15:01 <laugh> so I’ll tell you a quick story. I’ll tell you a quick story about this. So I actually met my wife. I was in chapel hill, North Carolina. I was still doing my GI training. And, um, and I was trying to meet someone. Yeah. And I signed up for eHarmony and I actually put on there. I was like, I will not date anyone. That’s more than 30 minutes away from me. <laugh> so

Kimberly: 15:21 I don’t know, was this like 10 years ago? This

Dr. B: 15:23 Was, yeah. This was like 2012. And, um, so anyway, I end up getting connected to my wife in of 2012.

Kimberly: 15:34 Okay.

Dr. B: 15:35 And so eHarmony like brings you together. Like you can’t go and brows eHarmony, it’s not Facebook for dating, you know, and it’s certainly not Tinder.

Kimberly: 15:43 Um, I’ve never been on a dating app, so I don’t know the difference. Okay.

Dr. B: 15:47 So eHarmony, the difference here is that this is like, I think for a sort of group of P people that are a little more serious of looking for a real relationship. Okay. As opposed to dating. Right,

Kimberly: 15:56 Right.

Dr. B: 15:57 And, um, you like fill out a questionnaire, you say like, this is me, this is what I want. This is what I believe in. Right. Do I believe like how strong is my faith? Do I want a family? Like, things like this and they use this information to connect you with people that they believe you are similar to, or that you would make great partner for. Well, so anyway, I, um, literally was ready to quit eHarmony cuz I bought in January 1st, 2012, I bought a one year subscription <laugh> and

Kimberly: 16:24 Oh my God.

Dr. B: 16:25 So, and it’s like getting to the end of the one year subscription.

Kimberly: 16:28 Yes.

Dr. B: 16:29 And I literally was probably one of the last days that I was ever going check this app or this like website and then my wife pops in there and that like that one moment completely changed my life. And it’s so interesting because when people like there are young people, I’m sure many of the listeners here today who are frustrated in their quest to find love, to find in someone to find partnership. And, um, my message to them is that it could literally change in one moment, your whole life <laugh>.

Kimberly: 17:03 Well, you know, Dr. B, I love, I love that story and it’s just like, it was, it was the timing it was meant to come in. I mean, I, I have to feel, I mean, I believe in know higher intelligence, there’s a there’s interconnection. There’s, you know, there’s reasons that things happen. Um, I feel like when we’re, when we’re for, for me, my path was when I was ready when I was, I felt more whole, it was after that period when I lost my mom and then I came a single mom and I was living by myself for months. And then I, I just started to connect inside and meditate and look at my life and I felt more whole. And then, you know, some, I was out and about, I went to a random dinner party with actually someone who came on this podcast, this random person, I didn’t know that well invited me to this little party. And then boom, I met John. So you think all these, like if I didn’t go to that party, you know, all these <laugh> how, how differently life would be. But I think, I believe Dr. B, if not that incident, you know, the soulmates, I, I feel like God, like spirit finds a way to bring us together. This is

Dr. B: 18:04 So true. I feel like this is so true. And there have been these moments in time during my life, like predating that. Yeah. And also since then, Kimberly, where it’s like, I feel like, I mean, it’s proof to me that there is a higher power.

Kimberly: 18:19 Yes.

Dr. B: 18:19 It’s proof to me. And as if we need that proof, look around us, look at how beautiful this place is that we live in. Yeah. Right. Like why are there, if everything is survival of the fittest and everything is cutthroat, then why are their butterflies?

Kimberly: 18:32 <laugh> true. And

Dr. B: 18:33 Why are their

Kimberly: 18:33 Flowers? Right, exactly. Like the love, the smiles, you know, the, the real connection

Dr. B: 18:40 A hundred percent. And so, and I, and I think that this is, you know, one of the things that I want to, um, to, to get across to people is so in my new book, the fiber fields cookbook, it’s, it’s, again, it’s more than a cookbook like this to me is a, um, it’s a toolkit for gut health. And one of the things that I introduce, one of the key ideas is something called the growth strategy. Mm G R O w T H. Now this is an acronym for how I go about healing. People’s food intolerances, and we can go through it. And even if you, but

The GROWTH acronym and how to heal your gut

Kimberly: 19:10 Explain a little bit about that acronym.

Dr. B: 19:13 Okay. So, so, well, growth, first of all, to me is a mindset. Yes. Right? Like this is not, life is not about perfection. Perfect. Literally does not exist.

Kimberly: 19:25 It’s true.

Dr. B: 19:25 The only perfection that exists is the higher power.

Kimberly: 19:28 Yes.

Dr. B: 19:30 We have a man perfection, like it’s a, it’s a figment of the human imagination. And then we strive towards this and we feel defeated if we don’t meet it yet, it does not exist. Yeah. Right. So to me, having a growth mindset means ignoring perfection, having a growth mindset means that we are trying to value progress.

Kimberly: 19:53 Yes.

Dr. B: 19:53 And so progress over perfection is one of my core philosophies. And I talked about that in my first book fiber field. And I’m back to double down on it here with the fiber field cookbook. So the growth in this case is my acronym for how you heal your gut. Hmm. And it’s a step by step approach. I want people to take, to empower themselves and to know exactly what is the path to take towards healing.

Kimberly: 20:20 Yes.

Dr. B: 20:21 And so each letter matters. So G R O w T H, let me walk you through G first starts with Genesis. What is the Genesis of our issue? What is the root cause? Mm. So now I was actually talking yesterday to Daniella Monet.

Kimberly: 20:37 Who’s also, yeah, we’ve been on the podcast, both of us back and forth,

Dr. B: 20:41 And she’s this incredible, like vibrant human being she’s full of life, full of energy. And she was talking about how she was a child actress and she was 14 years old and having very serious health issues. And she’s speaking very openly about this on the show and what people didn’t realize is there were these other things that were happening in her life. Right. But they manifested with severe constipation

Kimberly: 21:03 Mm-hmm

Dr. B: 21:03 <affirmative> so we can call this like just severe constipation, but then that would be ignoring all of the other things that are going on in your life. The first rule of, of wellness and health is understanding the root of the problem.

Kimberly: 21:18 Yes.

Dr. B: 21:19 Because how can you properly design a path forward without first understanding that part

Kimberly: 21:25 And Dr. B let’s pause there for a second. And what if we can point out and I can say, as someone who’s experienced a lot of constipation and issues, I can look back and say the root was my emotional, my stress, you know, just, I was holding there. So what do you say to patients that you can see the root is emotional, mental health issues.

When the root of constipation is emotional, mental health issues

Dr. B: 21:45 We, we, we can, we can become very, um, sort of like, uh, we can, we can pretend that it’s just mechanics, right? Like we can pretend that it’s mechanics, we can present pretend that digestion is just biochemistry. We can oversimplify things to just make it like, oh, that’s constipation. So let’s yeah. Give you something until you poop. Right. But then again, we are ignoring the root of the issue and root of the issue is the connection between the mind and the emotion Yes. And our body.

Kimberly: 22:13 Exactly.

Dr. B: 22:14 And it’s, so from, from my perspective, it’s important to number one, acknowledge that that’s empowering is to acknowledge the root of the issue. And then once you have acknowledged the root of the issue, now we know what we have to do. We have to create a plan to address this. So we have to turn our attention in that direction. Mm. And so many people, they would go to their medical doctor and look, I am a traditional medical doctor and, um, and I believe in my own education. Right. But I also feel that we could radically improve the healthcare system and make it so much better and so much powerful than it is if we weren’t. So, Hey, yes. If you have this problem, I’ll give you this pill. <laugh> right.

Kimberly: 22:56 It’s true. It’s and it’s, you know, the, the traditionally Western medicine hasn’t acknowledged the, you know, the emotional, mental health aspects of, of, of wellness and the, the impact that has on your microbiome, on your stress levels. Um, we, I had Dr. Frank Lipman on here recently. I don’t know if you’re familiar with him. And he said, the reason he got interested in holistic health was he’s from South Africa. And he was working in the clinics in the Bush with all these different people. And then he would see these traditional keyers like the African people come and do things that he couldn’t do. And he was like, oh, they’re working with herbs, they’re working with all these other things. And, um, you know, intention, you know, we could, you know, go down that rabbit hole of prayers and placebo fact and things like that. But he was, he, he could see, oh, like taking a wider approach was really necessary in order to give the care to the PE to the people that they needed.

Dr. B: 23:49 The first two words in my book, my new book are with humility. It’s literally the first two words. Yeah. And I think that what you’re describing is the humility that we need to have as healers to recognize that we don’t know everything. Yes. And that there is so much more going on so much more complexity to us as humans beyond just a diagnosis or a code. Like we need to go way beyond that. So I’ll tell you a quick story,

Kimberly: 24:14 Kimberly. Oh yeah. Sorry. And then we’ll go back to growth and didn’t take need to take a big, huge tangent, but yeah, no, no, go back to that.

Dr. B: 24:19 I love it. And so I’ll tell you a quick story. I had a patient recently who I have been working with for years, right. And this person has, um, ulcerative colitis. So she has this complex inflammatory disorder where when she’s not feeling well, it literally like turns her colon raw, not to be too graphic, but it turns her colon raw red ulcerated, inflamed. She has diarrhea around the clock to wake up in the middle of the night to go number two in the bathroom. Mm. Right. So, and she’s been suffering and you can imagine how that affects a person’s quality of life. You can imagine how they view themselves in terms of self-esteem and self confidence. You can imagine how they don’t want to go out in public, or they don’t want to go on dates, or they don’t want to have intimacy. Like, that’s a very scary idea, but people are living this way.

Dr. B: 25:05 Yeah. It sucks. So anyway, um, this person I had known for years and I’d been working with her and I had been pulling out all my tricks, you know, I was doing everything I could to try to help her out. And we just weren’t getting there. And then one day, very recently, she comes into my clinic and she says to me, Dr. B, you’re not gonna believe this. I am back to myself. Mm. I am all the way back. And I feel better than I have in years, since, before I was diagnosed with colitis, I said, really what? Tell me, like, I, I need to know what changed, what was it? And she says, you know, I was working this job where I hated going to work single day. Mm. It was a hostile environment. My boss would yell at me and would belittle me publicly in front of other people.

Kimberly: 25:57 Mm. It was like inflamed situation,

Dr. B: 26:00 Completely inflamed. Wow. I mean, I would go so far as to say traumatizing. Yeah. And, um, she finally had add the audacity to walk away from that and she found a new job and they treat her with respect. Like we should all human beings. Yeah. And, um, and all of a sudden these health issues that we had been like pulling out, again, pulling out all the stops nutrition and the right Medicaid and, or like, I’m doing everything I can, she’s not getting better, but then she changes her job.

Kimberly: 26:35 There you go.

Dr. B: 26:35 She changes her emotional state and it changes her life.

Kimberly: 26:38 Wow. Wow. The connection, right. That chronic stress that, Ugh, the imbalance to her nervous system, how does that, how could it possibly not affect the rest of your body and your digestion

Dr. B: 26:49 And how can we deny this? How can we, how can we pretend like this type of thing is not RA is not important or not relevant to the health of a human being.

Kimberly: 26:57 Right, right, right. Amazing. Okay. So G is the Genesis, right?

Dr. B: 27:02 So we have to start there. If we have to know, we have to know like the first step of, of

Kimberly: 27:06 Awareness,

Dr. B: 27:06 Knowing how to treat is first, the awareness of what are we treating. Right. So after that, when it comes to food intolerances, um, there’s an approach that I think is really critically important for people, which is R O w. Now these three letters, R O w are presented together, cuz they’re not really meant to be separate. They’re more like doing a dance together. They’re doing a waltz. So our restrict O observe w work it back in, mm. Now people know I’m against dietary restriction. I believe in a diet that is abundant.

Kimberly: 27:44 Yes. And, and wide range,

Dr. B: 27:46 Wide range as much variety as possible. Right. But in the process of healing, the gut, we have to first identify what are the foods that we are sensitive to. And in order to do that, that requires us to flip the switch and observe how we feel. So by restricting, by temporarily observing and then working it back in, we go on off on off. And when we make those observations, when we see how this makes a difference in the way that we feel, it empowers us with knowledge where we can say, you know what, this is the food that I’m sensitive to. And this is how much of it causes trouble for me. And when you know that, then you are, are so much more powerful in terms of your ability to move forward with your health and make it better. Mm

Kimberly: 28:30 Mm. Well, let’s pause there for a second. Dr. B I, I asked you the last time we spoke about food sensitivity tests, cuz it sounds like what you’re saying is, is, is observing and monitoring monitoring in your day to day life. What do you think about those tests? Which can be pricey for people? They can be confusing. I remember when I got different tests, different ones gave different results and then I would take them later and the things it said I was sensitive to, I wasn’t anymore. So can you talk a little bit about that? Because everybody everybody’s body is so different and dynamic

The truth about food sensitivity tests

Dr. B: 29:03 Everybody’s body is so different and dynamic. Every single a person’s gut has strengths and weaknesses. We all have a certain amount that we’re capable of doing and certain amounts that we’re not capable of doing. And that’s a that’s that’s true for every single one of us. You know, the problem with these food sensitivity tests is, does is the information so good that we can apply it with confidence to our life and get good results. There are blood tests, there are poop tests.

Kimberly: 29:28 It’s a Liva test, a million right. Hair tests. Yeah.

Dr. B: 29:31 The hair tests. So there there’s all these choices. Right? And the, the problem is that we have never demonstrated that these tests are actually accurate. Mm. Which creates a problem because you receive a test and it says, you are intolerant of this, this, this, and this. Yeah. Right. But then people who have food intolerances, they go, but hold on. When I eat that food, I feel fine. I don’t have an issue. Well, that’s a false positive. That test is a false positive, like a food, a food in intolerance is invariably manifest with symptoms.

Kimberly: 30:04 Is that true? So

Dr. B: 30:05 If you eat a food and you have no symptoms, then it’s impossible to call it a food intolerance cuz a food intolerance is manifest with symptoms. Got it. So you do this test and it says, you’re intolerant of this, this, this, and this. And um, you don’t have any of those symptoms and then inappropriately remove those foods from your diet. The number one, we talked about this during our first podcast together. But just to reiterate the number one predictor of a healthy gut microbiome is the diversity of plants in our diet. And so we want variety. Variety is so good for our gut microbiome and the, when we restrict variety, when we collapse that we actually are causing harm to our gut microbes. So we don’t want to go through a process where we inappropriately permanently restrict foods based upon a blood test that’s inaccurate or, or any sort of food in sensitivity test that’s inaccurate.

Kimberly: 30:58 Are they all inaccurate? Dr.

Dr. B: 31:00 B? Well, they’ve never been demonstrated to be accurate. That’ss the issue.

Kimberly: 31:03 Oh, so in your program, you’re not recommending people go out and spend all this money on tests you are saying observe in daily life.

Dr. B: 31:10 Right. Because if you do the test and it says you’re intolerant of this, but you don’t feel intolerant of that. Then you would be making a mistake to remove that food. But on the flip side, if you do a test and it says, you’re not intolerant of something, but you in fact are right. You you’re like, okay. It says that I’m not intolerant of dairy. But when I drink a glass of milk, I have diarrhea and feel horrible. <laugh> right. Like, so are we

Kimberly: 31:31 Supposed to, something’s going on here? Do you think everybody is sensitive to some foods?

Dr. B: 31:35 I think it depends. So I think that every single one of us in the, I, I, I look at the gut and think about the gut in the same way that I think of the, the human body in our, for exercise or for physical work.

Kimberly: 31:47 Yes.

Dr. B: 31:48 Right. Which is that we have strengths and weaknesses. We have certain things that we can do with certain muscle groups, but not every muscle group is equally strong. Yeah. Right. And, but at the same time, like the body can be conditioned. It can be challenged. It can be adapted you what you’re doing from a physical perspective. If you run. Yeah. You’ll become a better runner. Yeah. If you lift weights, you will become stronger. Right. The same is true with our gut. Right. So our gut has strengths and weaknesses for some that may be legumes for some that may be dairy for some that may be whole grains. Yeah.

Kimberly: 32:21 Right. Or gluten

Dr. B: 32:22 Or gluten. Right. So, but these, these foods where have where we, where we may struggle with them, that is like the part that’s tough for you. But it also, we can, we can rise above that. We have the APA, the ability of the capacity to adapt, to evolve, to strengthen, to fortify by having the right approach. And that brings us to the next letter, which is T train your gut.

Kimberly: 32:45 Yes.

Dr. B: 32:45 Train your gut training. Your gut is the approach that we want to take to fortify and strengthen, um, our systems. We have to first know what we’re trying to address. So let’s pretend that like the issue is legumes, right? And you have a food intolerance or a sensitivity to, to legumes. So you want to turn your attention there and you’re gonna start low and go slow. So you’re gonna introduce legumes at a very low level. Mm. And then you’re gonna slowly over time ramp that up at a pace that’s individualized. Like there is no rule about how fast you have to do this, but what we want is we want to get your body adapted to it. So if you think about exercise, it’s January 1st, right. And you’ve just made this new year’s resolution, I’m going to the gym this year. And so you go into the gym. If you go too hard, you’re gonna hurt yourself.

Kimberly: 33:34 <laugh>

Dr. B: 33:35 Right. Right. If you go nice and light, you will not hurt yourself. And yes, you may be a little bit sore afterwards, but when you come back a couple days later, you’re stronger.

Kimberly: 33:47 Wow. Yes.

Dr. B: 33:49 And this is the way that it works with the gut. The gut is adaptable. The gut can be trained. The gut can be strengthened.

Kimberly: 33:56 Let me ask you a question, Dr. B, you were talking about introducing legumes, for instance, right. In the there’s conversation. You know, some of these books come out like the plant paradox, which is sort of like you read it, it’s sort of like paleo or, or keto underneath what he’s saying, but he’s saying, you know, lectins, he’s making these, um, he’s talking about compounds that can, that can, um, you know, disrupt our gut or digestion on a, on a broad scale. But you’re saying train yourself up to legumes because I think we can agree. That’s a really healthy food. There are other foods like dairy, or let’s say excess animal products, which, you know, once we could train ourselves, but then they’re actually, they can be disruptive to the, to the gut microbiome. So in your work, when we’re talking about training, how know, okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna take the time to, you know, train my body and this, because it’s really good. Are, are you, um, is it as, as broad as saying plant based, not plant based or how, how do we, how do we make that differentiation?

Introducing foods and training your body

Dr. B: 34:54 So I think that

Kimberly: 34:55 Is that clear. I’m just kinda, yeah, totally Mudd question, but yeah, yeah,

Dr. B: 34:58 No, it’s totally clear. So, and we can talk about the whole lectins and, and legumes type thing in a moment. But you know, first to answer your question, so I want to meet people where they are.

Kimberly: 35:08 Yes.

Dr. B: 35:09 The average American right now is 10% plant based. Mm. Right? The average American diet is 10% plants, 60% ultra processed foods and 30% animal products. That’s where they get their calories from <affirmative>. So I, in my, in writing these books, I’m not trying to tell vegans or anyone else that they’re right. I’m trying to help people who need my help. And I’m trying to connect to these people that are like me, the way that I was 10 years ago. Yes. Where I was like 5% plant based. Right. So I wanna meet these people where they are, and I want to create, create expectations that are actually achievable and not overwhelming. Yeah. So to say that the only path to health would be a hundred percent plant based would not be true.

Kimberly: 35:53 Yeah.

Prebiotic foods: what they are and what they do

Dr. B: 35:54 There are other approaches that are predominantly plants, but I am of the belief based upon all of the science that I’ve reviewed through the years, that these paths towards long term health, like optimizing, reducing inflammation and improving our metabolism and having longevity and like being in our eighties and dancing, right. To me, they’re all through a predominantly plant based diet that can be 70, 80, 90, or a hundred percent plants. And you get to choose as the individual, like for the people who are engaging with this, I don’t care where you fall on that spectrum. I am celebrating your wins along the way, every single step. Yeah. Right. And I am trying to lift you, you up and help you achieve progress, moving towards a more plant predominant diet. The value is in the plants. If we talk about gut health, if we talk about the gut microbiome, this is where the money is at. I want to introduce the word prebiotic. Prebiotic is a term that people need to have in their vocabulary because it’s becoming bigger and bigger. People need to stand what this means. It is food that nourishes the gut microbes. They live inside our colon. There’s 38 trillion of them. I mean, that is like, literally take our entire galaxy, incredible

Dr. B: 37:12 Take all the stars in our galaxy and condense it down and place that into your body a hundred times. And that is how many microbes live inside you right now. And they are as alive as you and I are.

Kimberly: 37:24 Wow.

Dr. B: 37:24 They have personalities.

Kimberly: 37:26 Is that true? <laugh> come on. They do. They have friends,

Dr. B: 37:29 They have personalities. They hang out, they have cliques, they have skills. Some are good at this. Some are good at that. Wow. And they have different dietary preferences. Right. But what we discover is that they, the healthy microbes prefer prebiotic foods. Prebiotic is food for the gut microbiome. And there are three main prebiotics that people need to know. The first is fiber. Mm. Fiber is fuel for the gut microbes. They consume it. They grow stronger as a result of that, they actually transform. It’s a beautiful thing. They work like magic. It’s like Harry Potter stuff where they like whip their wand. And then it stops being fiber. And it becomes like literally. So Kimberly, I started medical school in 2002. So I’ve been in the health space for 20 is this is the most anti-inflammatory stuff that I’ve ever come across. Fiber short chain, fatty acids that come from fiber.

Dr. B: 38:29 Wow. Um, these short chain, fatty acids are the reason that fiber is so healing. It’s not the fiber is just iner. It’s not the fiber feeds the gut microbes. It’s that when the gut microbes consume fiber, they release short chain, fatty acid, which are the postbiotics postbiotics postbiotics are actually the chemicals produced by these microbes that have healing effects. And so, so we need that fiber in our diet. If we go out in the street right now, ignoring the fact that we’re in LA and it’s, I would guess a healthier general population. But like, if we go out and we find a population that’s representing the average American 19 out of 20 people that we see are deficient in fiber right now.

Kimberly: 39:10 Wow.

Dr. B: 39:11 So this is, to me, our most pressing nutritional deficiency. Fiber is not hard to find

Kimberly: 39:18 It’s all plant foods.

Dr. B: 39:19 It’s in plants.

Kimberly: 39:20 Yes.

Dr. B: 39:20 Right? So the other two prebiotics real quick, one is resistant starches resistant starches. You will find, for example, in potatoes or in, um, sweet potatoes, starchy type foods, well, re starches are not technically fiber, but they behave exactly the same as fiber <affirmative>. And again, plants have a monopoly on resistant starches. Yep. And then the third are polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds. They’re what, give the color, the beauty to our foods. When we talk about eating the rainbow, yes. That’s effectively a way of us basically saying eat more varieties of polyphenols, these chemicals that you will find inside these plants. They actually are not digested by our normal digestive system. They get all the way down to the large intestine where these microbes live and then these microbes, they actually transform these polyphenols, just like they’re transforming the fiber. Wow. This is how they become prebiotic.

Dr. B: 40:16 This is how they support a healthy gut microbiome. And then we get these healing effects. I mean, we’re talking about stuff like resveratrol right now, right? So like people hear about resveratrol and it’s, anti-aging, it’s so wonderful, but resveratrol, yes, you will find it in red wine, but you also find it in red grapes and you will even find it in peanuts. There are many different plants that contain resveratrol and there are many different polyphenols. We think, we think at least 3000 polyphenols that you will find in plants. And so the point is this that you can consume animal products if you choose to, but there are no prebiotics in there,

Kimberly: 40:51 Right?

Dr. B: 40:51 If you want to feed your gut microbiome, if you want to empower this community of microbes that has these healing effects, route your entire body, affecting your digestion immune system, metabolism, hormones, your mood, your brain health, even the expression of your genetic code. If you want that, you have to fuel them with prebiotics and you get those from plants, a wide variety of plants.

Kimberly: 41:16 <laugh>

Dr. B: 41:17 My drop, this,

Kimberly: 41:17 This <laugh> I’m out. Okay. So I, I was just literally, and this doesn’t happen to me very often. I was just sitting here watching you just yes. Yes. You know, I, I just, this needs to be, you know, sort of broadcasted from, from good morning America from the top of every rooftop, because I feel that so often we’re we hear the other message, which is that so much easier to lose weight with keto. And then people saying, I start to eat fiber and I start to eat plant foods and I get so gassy and bloated, it’s taking away from my goals. Right. But then when you, when you talk about this healing effect, I know when I started eating more plant based, I did feel like everything was repairing. I feel like my skin got better. <laugh> I feel like, you know, everything just started to flow more. What, what would you say to that person? That’s, let’s say a hardcore keto person saying, well, you know, I need to eat all me. I need to eat fat and cut all this starches and stuff you’re talking about in order to cut weight to look good.

Dr. B: 42:17 Right. So, well, first of all, you can cut weight and look great on a plant-based diet. They’ve actually done direct head to head comparisons. So, um, there is, uh, a researcher at the NIH and he, he basically did, um, a study where he put people into a hospital for four weeks and they did two weeks of a completely plant based diet. And they did two weeks of a ketogenic diet. And he was measuring literally on a daily basis, all these different markers, including their body weight, including their body fat percentage. And it was interesting because if your, your goal was to lose as much weight as possible in three days, guess what? You lose more weight in three days on the ketogenic diet. But the problem is that it’s not actually fat. You’re losing water, weight, and muscle. All right. That’s what you’re actually losing on a ketogenic diet flip side.

Kimberly: 43:10 Have they proven that

Dr. B: 43:11 That’s what they showed in the study? Oh, wow. This was a randomized controlled, controlled trial in to what they’re actually seeing during this, these, these two weeks on the ketogenic diet flip side. When you do a plant-based diet, there was a slow burn where during those two weeks progressively more fat loss, significantly more fat loss on the plant-based diet. And so if you wanna lose fat eat plant, if you wanna lose water and muscle go keto,

Why there is bloating and gassiness when eating a plant-based diet

Kimberly: 43:39 Well, let’s talk about the bloating part for a minute. And then that’s something I’ve experienced, you know, a little bit of TMI here. I’ll just say family members that I brought into plant-based, we’ll say, oh, but you know, it’s this gray sounds great with Dr. B talking about all this stuff, but you know, I still, I still am gas. See, I’m still really bloated. I mean, those are the two questions I get asked about for, you know, a decade over the past decade, thousands and thousands of times Dr. B, you know, and we try to cut things sometimes. Like maybe it’s the dairy. Maybe it’s what you’re saying. Food intolerance is, um, gluten. So I’m sure that’s one part, but what else could it be? Do you think it’s just the body getting used to consuming more fiber as well.

Dr. B: 44:17 So when people have gas in bloating or like digestive symptoms, maybe it’s cramping after a meal, maybe it’s a change in bowel habits, diarrhea or constipation when people do this and it’s, and it’s coinciding with a dietary change towards a more plant predominant diet, your body is adapting to the new dietary approach that you’re taking. Right. It needs an opportunity to adapt it, your yeah.

Kimberly: 44:37 Your gut, the gut needs to heal, right?

Dr. B: 44:39 <laugh> yes. And this is indicative. So that’s exactly right. Kimberly, which is that you’re, this is indicative of a damaged gut, right? When you struggle with these foods, we basically are acknowledging that the has been injured and it needs to be healed. And the way that we heal it is through this approach. But we have to recognize that true healing sometimes involves some challenges

Kimberly: 45:02 And, and, and the healing process could be varying length. I imagine

Dr. B: 45:05 It could be a varying length, depending on the starting point that you have a person that’s ulcer sort of colitis is in a much state of dysbiosis, which is the word that we use for a damaged gut, a person who has ulcer ulcerative colitis a much deeper state, where, from my perspective, if I’m talking to that person in the clinic, I’m gonna say to them like, this is going to take you at least months. Yeah. Maybe more than a year to fully get to where you need to be. But at the end of it, you are healing and you are empowering yourself. And I would make a connection to let’s like compare this to an exercise injury. Okay. So what’s a sport that you enjoy doing other than like yoga, like, uh, running basketball. What do you think?

Kimberly: 45:44 So with my kids, we play soccer quite a bit. <laugh>

Dr. B: 45:47 So let’s pretend you twist your knee one day. Yeah. Okay. And you’re playing soccer with your kids. You twist your knee, you find rate joy in this soccer game you have, but now you’re injured. You can’t get back out there and do it the way that you did it before. So we need to get you better. We need to get you healed. You have two choices, all right, here’s your first choice. You stop walking. And if you stop walking, you will not feel pain in that knee. Right. Right. Because you’re not stressing it. So that injured knee, you will not feel pain. But the problem is that you will grow weaker.

Kimberly: 46:27 Yeah. Atrophies

Dr. B: 46:28 Your legs grow weaker, the muscles above and below the knee grow weaker. You are now more sedentary. You gain weight, you have a met issue. And then there’s a cascade of negative health consequences that come from the fact that you have made the choice to stop walking. Mm-hmm <affirmative> like, guess what? There’s no pain in the knee. It’s a shortsighted approach, right. That no one would do. Yeah. Right. But flip side, I get you hooked up with like a great physical therapist and this physical therapist works with you. And by doing that program, yes. When you are stressing the knee, when you are challenging yourself, you may feel some discomfort, but you’re also healing. Mm you’re also growing stronger. You’re also restoring function to your knee. And a couple weeks from now, I see you, you out there on the playground with your kids and you’re having great joy kicking the soccer ball around. Right. That’s where I want people to be, because food is meant to be joy.

Kimberly: 47:28 Right.

Dr. B: 47:29 Food is meant to be, um, saved and it’s meant to be celebratory.

Kimberly: 47:36 And it’s also not meant to be so complicated. I think, you know, just the overthinking. I mean, I know I used to overanalyze all the time, Dr. B I would put my calories and carbs, all this stuff in charts. And I just, I, at a certain point, it just, I was so obsessed. You know, it was back when I had eating disorders. And I think like, this is not how I wanna live. Right. We have to make the choice. Like I just wanna enjoy life when we eat something and I wanna move on with my day. And so, but sometimes I think, like you’re saying like the repairing of the knee, let’s saying you’re starting to introduce foods. What are the markers that like, we know that we are getting better or because it’s so easy for people to write off, oh, I guess I can’t eat any sort of beans or legumes or too gassy, or I can never eat gluten again or whatever it is.

Dr. B shares what the markers are when repairing the gut

Dr. B: 48:18 Yeah. So when we, when we go to reintroduce these foods, what you will discover is that you will restore function to your gut. That’s the marker of improvement, right? When you are capable of doing more, that you didn’t and think that you are capable of, right. Then you are moving in the right direction. And when you come to a place where you can consume these foods without restriction, right? Like you don’t even have to think about it. Mm. That sort of complexity is gone. That sort of separation between you and your food, where it’s causing you stress and anxiety dissolved that. And now you’re just back to finding great joy in food and throwing stuff on the plate without even thinking twice. Yeah. That’s where we want to get you too. Right. So, but it’s just like healing that knee in the beginning, when you’re during that healing, the process, you’re going to be more attentive to how you feel. Yeah. But when you get to the point where you have overcome that limitation and the function has been restored, then you’re just out there playing sports.

Kimberly: 49:16 Yeah. You don’t have to overthink it.

Dr. B: 49:18 So, and I think that’s one of the big things, but I think that the other thing that you just brought up is a very important point. And it kind of brings us full circle to how we jumped into this entire conversation in the first place, which is the last letter and the growth strategy intentionally chosen, which is that it’s holistic healing. Mm. I don’t want people to lose sight of this because it’s so important. Our relationship with our food affects how we feel during a meal. And it is powerful our relationship with others, our relationship with our environment, it affects our digestive system in a very powerful way. People manifest stress mostly through the gut, and it can manifest in different ways. Now, some people it’s migraine headaches, but most people, they manifest their stress through the gut. And it could be a disruption or a change towards constipation, diarrhea, cramping, pain, after a meal, uh, gas, bloating. This is a gut out of balance. Our body thrives on rhythm.

Kimberly: 50:22 Yeah.

Dr. B: 50:23 So like, think of the heart for a moment, right? The heart is in rhythm as it squeezes. And you could take a great athlete. And if you throw their heart outta rhythm, this could be a person who could run a marathon and you throw their heart outta rhythm and they can’t even walk a hundred yards.

Kimberly: 50:39 Yeah.

Dr. B: 50:40 Right. Our gut is no different. Our gut thrives on rhythm. And when we year, when we are in rhythm, we are having good regular, complete evacuations. And we don’t even think twice about it. Yeah. And it’s just, it’s actually a great source of satisfaction. It’s a great way to start the day is

Kimberly: 51:02 To have the lighter, good,

Dr. B: 51:03 Complete bowel movement. Yeah. Right. And we there’s like this sense that we’re not allowed to go there. We’re not allowed to talk about bowel movements and yet everyone poops

Kimberly: 51:13 <laugh>. Right. Exactly.

Dr. B: 51:15 So, and I think it becomes an important measure. Like if you, if you care about gut health, right. I’m here telling you as a medical doctor, that this is the revolution. This is changing the way that we think about the human body. And it’s not even human.

Kimberly: 51:28 Yeah.

Dr. B: 51:29 Right. But if you care about this, then we need to be paying attention to our poop because our poop is a window. It’s an insight into what’s happening with your body. And when it’s out of balance, when you are struggling to have a good bowel movement, when it becomes tedious and requires effort and is a source of fear and anxiety, like, I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I go into that bathroom. Like that to me is indicative of not being in the right place and needing this more holistic healing. We need to look beyond just, we need to look beyond just biochemistry and food. Like this is not just like chemistry where it’s,

Kimberly: 52:05 It’s not just math.

Dr. B: 52:06 Yeah. It’s not enzymes enzymes meat, like, you know, molecules like this. This is so much more. And this is about you, the way that you feel your interactions with your environment, how you feel about yourself. Um, these are sort of the critical factors, and this is where your work comes in, which is that you have increasingly been turning your attention towards this element of our humanity. So our spirituality,

Kimberly: 52:31 Yes. And, you know, I use this term true self, uh, Dr. B, which is, you know, who you really are beyond the surface, beyond what you look like beyond the fear, beyond the mind chatter. And when you connect to that and you can just say, oh, like, this is who I am. You get more comfortable with yourself. I know for me, healing, self relationship healed a, all my other relationships, including my relationship with food, because I was putting so much on the food to help me feel better, you know, to, to prop me up to, it was like the enemy, cuz I wanted to be thin. It was just so much at the end of the day, it’s just food, right? It’s it’s it’s neutral. So it’s this interstate, this inner turmoil really did was a huge part of healing. My, my gut health, Dr. B, I had to take measures. I had to, you know, finally give up the dairy and do certain things. So it’s the, it’s the combination. I love that you’re putting shining this light on the holistic, um, aspect of this because yes, there’s, you know, food sensitivities and there’s training, but then there’s life.

Dr. B: 53:28 This is what I want people to hear is that is that you can do everything, right? Yeah. You can follow every, going back to my patient with the ulcerative colitis, you can do everything right. You can follow my dietary recommendations. You can sleep, you can exercise, you can do it all. But if there is something is affecting you, that’s more holistic, right? Your gut does not work in isolation. Your gut is connected to your soul as connected to your whole body. And this is why I value your work because I think that this is an important part of healing. And you know, again, with humility, we don’t have a complete understanding of this. But part of that is because this goes beyond clinical trials. Yes. This is the humanity. This is our, this is who we are as people. And yet this affects the stuff like the work that I do in trying to heal people’s guts. So I think it’s very important to shine a light on this and for us to be very attentive to the whole person.

Kimberly: 54:22 And you know, it’s so in alignment with AIC medicine, thousands of years old, the LAR the oldest medical system, which did talk so much about digestion and did talk so much about poop here, we are in the west, which is like, everything has to be, you know, surface and nice in, in this image of life. But we’re humid. We’re real, there’s poop, there’s messiness, right? Those of us that have kids know, there’s a lot of poop. <laugh>

Dr. B: 54:44 A lot

Kimberly: 54:44 Of poop, right? So it’s a, this idea you knowing medicine talks about, you know, chakra as an energy and where this sits re relationship with personal power is, you know, where the colon colon is. And so it’s this idea of energy transfers throughout. And I love that you’re, you know, emphasizing that because it’s easy to just look at the, the surface and the numbers and think, well, now there’s something really wrong with me and thing will work and to feel even more isolated if we just take that other approach.

Dr. B: 55:10 Yeah. And I think this is, this is where, you know, you can be so self righteous and be like, oh, well, in Western medicine we have clinical trials with 3000 people in, you know, in each arm and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it’s like, hold up a second. Like IIC medicine has been around for thousands of years. Yeah. Right. So perhaps they didn’t have the modern research tools that we do, but they have there’s wisdom in thousands of years of observation of healing people. Yes. And there it’s no coincidence that the more that we apply our Western tools of clinical trials and whatnot to the health of the body in biology, the more that we’re discovering yes. That what is taught in IIC medicine is in fact true. And it’s just another way of saying the exact same

Kimberly: 55:59 Thing. Yes. Incredible. Well, Dr. B I could go on and on this, I’m holding fi the fiber field cookbook in my hands right now. It is incredible. The who looks amazing. What is a message? You wanna say, you wanna leave us with, I know that’s a hard thing. People ask me that sometimes, you know, the, when, when your first book came out, it was like, you know, many messages. But what I felt like was a, such a clear message was, Hey, you guys are talking about protein, but what’s really missing here is fiber. So what would you say is, you know, a, maybe not the message, but a key message now, as it expands with this book.

Dr. B: 56:34 I think, I think my, my message with this book is so first of all, to zoom out for a moment with my first book, fiber fueled again, like I said, in the beginning, this was a pure passion project. And I wanted to get people like I wanted to shine a light on gut health and get people motivated. I wanted to show you why you should care about gut health. I’m back because I wanna show you how this time mm. I wanna show you how

Kimberly: 57:01 Thank you. Yes. Yes.

Dr. B: 57:02 There are people who I have taken care of where they come into my clinic and they say, Dr. B, I love your book. I want to do it, but I just can’t do it. This book is for those people, I want to level the playing field so that all of us can open up the same cook book and find great joy. That’s what I want. I want everyone to find great joy in their food.

Kimberly: 57:29 I love it. I, I will say it’s, it’s so much more than a cookbook though. Like there’s incredible information, but it, that practical element of like, here’s what you do here are the foods that are great for your gut. Do it, live it, make it right now. So it, it has everything thing, which is how I like to, you know, there’s the information and there’s the practical implementation. So thank you so much, Dr. B, this is amazing. Uh, tell us where we can find out more information about your work as well.

Dr. B: 57:57 All right. So the, the fiber fields cookbook is available through all the major book outlets out there. So whatever you prefer now, I personally am a big fan of buying local. Yes. Because we have people that live in our own community. These are our neighbors, they have a local bookshop. And, um, they’re struggling because of like, we’re, you know, hopefully coming out of the pandemic here, but they’re, they’ve been struggling for a while now and we want to keep them and lift them up. So I, I that’s, honestly, if you have a choice, that’s where I ask you to, to buy a copy of this book. But if not, you can buy it wherever you want. You can buy on Amazon, if you want to. Um, you can find me@theplantfedgut.com. I have an email newsletter where I like to like, get you hot things off the press.

Dr. B: 58:40 Um, deeper dives into topics. Like I just did a deep dive into how I prepped for my colonoscopy that I have. Mm. So, and I shared that exclusively to my email list. Um, you can find me on Instagram and on Facebook as the gut health MD. Don’t try to find me on Twitter, unless you want to see a guy who’s just like following a bunch of fantasy football stuff. So, um, and you know, honestly, you can’t really, this has been amazing. Thank you so much for how having me here. I, again, uh, it’s just really cool to be here full circle.

Kimberly: 59:14 Yes.

Dr. B: 59:14 And after our first interview and then some of our connections since, and then to be here in person for the first time together. And, um, it just feels so warm and generous and really just right.

Kimberly: 59:26 Well, I just wanna acknowledge you Dr. B for really being a true warrior for good. And I felt that the first time we talked, here’s someone with a real get goosebumps, someone with a real purpose, someone that is here to serve. So thank you so so much, you’re doing incredible work in the world. You’re helping so many people and I just wanna share your work with everybody. So thank you for coming on. We love you so much, and we’re all rooting for you.

Dr. B: 59:50 Thank you so much. Thank you.

Kimberly: 04:19 Well, I hope you enjoyed our interview today with Dr. B as much as I enjoyed our conversation, please be sure to check out the show notes over at mysolluna.com for links to other podcasts. I think you would enjoy please go back and listen to our prior podcast as well, which is full of, um, more, uh, other additional rich information on gut health and, um, wonderful ways to really support our microbiome and to continue to improve our health and vitality. Other shows, meditations articles, recipes, and more cannot wait to connect with you further on Thursday, which is our next Q&A show. Remember if you have any burning questions for me that you’d love for me to answer, you can connect. You can submit them as well on mysolluna.com to then take great care. I’ll also see you on social at underscore Kimberly Snyder, sending you so much love and so many good vibes for health, energy, vitality, and peace.

The post How to Boost Your Gut Health with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz [Episode #677] appeared first on Solluna by Kimberly Snyder.