What to eat and do to boost energy, brighten your mood & improve focus

Your gut-health dilemmas resolved with easy to follow expert advice. From bloat, weight gain, IBS & allergies to booze, probiotics & hormones: all your questions answered...

Dr Emily Leeming: time to make your tummy happy!

Lorraine writes: This book is going to change your life! No, really it is. We all know by now that our gut microbiome influences many aspects of our mental and physical health and most of us have changed our dietary habits to power-up those all important tummy ‘bugs’. But did you know it’s not just what we eat that nurtures our gut microbiome? It’s also who we meet, what we breathe, what we feel, what kind of personality we are and how we live day to day too. In her new book ‘Genius Gut: The Life-Changing Science of Eating for your Second Brain with 10 Simple Hacks on What and How to Eat to Boost your Mood, Be Mentally Sharp and Feel Amazing. Dr Emily Leeming, a microbiome scientist, dietitian and chef, explains that there is so much more to a happy, healthy gut in children and adults than what we feed it.

I particularly love how this book explains the effect stress, loneliness, hormones and soil (yes soil) has on the tummy. Dr Leeming also reveals that the science behind the new mantra of eating 30 plants a week for your gut microbiome is surprisingly weak and instead she offers easy to follow gut health hacks which feel less onerous. While many books on the gut tend to complicate matters for us normal people getting on with busy, sometimes stressful lives this one simplifies everything, breaking the evidence down into easy to follow bitesize guidance. It’s also an enjoyable read which delves into the science behind ‘gut feelings’ and the links between food and mood.

Trish and I decided to make the most of Dr Leeming’s expertise and we asked the 13K women of our private Facebook group (which accompanies this newsletter HERE) for their every day gut health dilemmas. They wanted Dr Leeming’s answers on weight gain and gut health, bloating, IBS, histamine levels and also asked how to help their teenagers maintain a good microbiome despite their chaotic adolescent eating habits. Dr Leeming tackled alcohol’s effect on your gut, whether probiotics are necessary, how HRT and hormones affect gut health and she gives tips on the best ways you can boost your gut health easily starting today. All the answers to the questions asked are in detail below including tips on Dr Leeming’s BGBG method, the key to nurturing your gut microbiome.

Q: I am 48 and get a bloated stomach every day - is bloating part of an unhealthy gut microbiome, if so what can we do to alleviate this? 

I really want us all to feel completely comfortable with a bit of bloating after meals, rather than being a sign of an unhealthy gut microbiome, it’s actually a sign of a thriving flourishing one. When your gut microbes feed on fibre-rich foods, like whole grains, beans and legumes, fruits,vegetables, nuts and seeds they make healthy molecules that travel across our bodies and even as far-reaching as the brain. A side effect of them feeding on fibre, is that they also produce some gas which is why you can feel bloated in the hour after a meal. An easy way to help your digestion and if your bloating is feeling uncomfortable is