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Lucie Fink practices 5 days of gut health including making her own Kombucha, eating fermented foods, and meditating. She even goes as far as giving up her morning coffee!
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00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of gut health. We are rounding out 2018 with a video
00:05topic that's been very important to me over the past year. As many of you know in 2017 I had
00:10a
00:10cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal surgery. I have a whole video about that entire journey on
00:16my personal YouTube channel so definitely check that out after this. Ever since the surgery I've
00:20now gone back to a completely normal diet. My digestive system is functioning a-okay. But before
00:26and just after that surgery you really need to watch what you eat. Without a functioning
00:30gallbladder to produce and store your bile you might not be able to digest food that well.
00:34So ever since that operation I've been learning a ton more about nutrition and in particular
00:39how to take care of my gut. To start off this episode I'm going to get a little bit scientific
00:43on you. First and foremost, the big question of the day, what is gut health? Your gut is
00:49your entire gastrointestinal system. It's a muscular tube running from your mouth to your
00:54anus. Okay I promise I'm not going to be silly. This is science! And inside of this digestive
01:00tract there are trillions of bacteria or microbes. So when people use the term gut microbiome they're
01:06referring to all of the different strains of good bacteria that reside in there. Bacteria that can
01:11help with your digestion, your immune systems function, and so much more. Another major component
01:16of gut health is the gastrointestinal barrier or the GI barrier. This is the mucosal barrier inside of
01:22our intestines that needs to simultaneously allow nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream
01:26while still blocking harmful organisms or pathogens from getting in. There is so much more science
01:32that I could get into up front here but instead I'm going to show you what I did on Monday.
01:38Remember the little scoby baby that I grew last month during five days of trying new skills? After
01:43letting it grow and grow it was finally time for the second fermentation process so we're now one step
01:49closer to having kombucha. Because of the fermentation process that takes place when you're drinking
01:53kombucha you're essentially drinking some live bacteria and the good kind. According to a Refinery29
01:59article there's no great evidence to suggest that kombucha will cure you of anything but there is
02:04some research that suggests getting more of those bacteria in your diet may be beneficial for your
02:09digestion and your mental health. The first step here was brewing a fresh batch of organic black tea.
02:14I dissolved white sugar in it and then let it cool to room temperature. I poured that mixture into
02:19a gallon sized glass jar. It was large. And then it was time to pull out my scoby. Side note
02:25you have
02:25to keep everything squeaky clean throughout this entire process so I washed my hands multiple times and
02:31also sterilized everything in boiling water. My scoby had been in the cabinet for a couple of months and
02:36it grew so large that it had multiple layers and eventually it got so heavy that the scoby sunk and
02:42another scoby formed on top of that one so when I ultimately pulled them out I was pulling out
02:46three giant slimy scobies. I picked the one that I liked best and dropped it in the jar and then
02:51I set
02:51the other two scobies aside to add to my friend's scoby hotel. I added two cups of the previous liquid
02:57which is known as the starter liquid. Then I covered the jar with a kombucha cloth and set it in
03:01the dark
03:01in the cabinet. Good luck little kombucha. It's now going to take at least another week for this big
03:10batch to ferment but once it's ready I'll be adding some flavors, bottling it up, and finally filling my
03:16gut up with good bacteria. No walk in the park to make your own booch. I started to touch on
03:24fermentation
03:24with Monday's kombucha so Tuesday was all about diving deeper into fermented foods. Mary Carlin,
03:31the author of Mastering Fermentation, defines fermented foods as foods that go through a chemical
03:36change caused by enzymes produced by bacteria, microbes, or yeast. Fermentation increases the
03:42amount of certain vitamins in the final food product and also when you eat fermented foods
03:46you're consuming that good bacteria and sending them straight to your gut. If you've taken antibiotics
03:51for any reason while they might have succeeded at getting rid of the bad bacteria inside of you
03:56they also might have wiped out the good strains of bacteria. So eating fermented foods is a great
04:01way to replenish that good bacteria. On Tuesday I tried making one of the most well-known fermented
04:07foods, sauerkraut. I pulled the outer leaves off of some green cabbage then I cored the cabbage and
04:13shredded it into strips. I added caraway seeds, sea salt, and grated ginger and then with clean hands I
04:19dove right in there and started massaging the mixture until the cabbage got softer and some
04:24juices started coming out. After about 10 minutes I packed it all into a sterilized mason jar and then
04:29I covered it with those outer leaves just to make sure that it was airtight in there and I sealed
04:33it
04:33all with a fermentation lid. There's a lot of science behind what's happening in that jar but essentially
04:39there's natural bacteria on the cabbage and that bacteria is digesting the natural sugars in the
04:44cabbage and as they digest those sugars they're producing carbon dioxide and organic acids.
04:49Eventually the environment in that jar is going to become too acidic for the bad bacteria to thrive
04:54so good bacteria will develop in its place. I stuck this jar in another dark place in my cabinet and
05:00the fermentation process will take place over the course of about three days. If you want to try making
05:04some fermented foods at home there are so many options for you out there and there are recipes on
05:08every corner of the internet. Sauerkraut is a quick and easy one but there's also homemade yogurt,
05:13kimchi, sourdough and so much more.
05:19By Wednesday I realized that I'd been exploring many of the food related aspects of gut health but
05:24I hadn't yet checked out some of the lifestyle aspects. Johns Hopkins University, my school,
05:29put out an article about various ways to support your gut health aside from just eating the right
05:34foods and three of their major players were get more sleep, move more and manage your stress. So on
05:40Wednesday I spent the whole day following some idealistic lifestyle rituals that are recommended
05:44for improved gut health. The first thing I did was ditch my morning coffee. I've actually heard both
05:49pros and cons about coffee when it comes to gut health. So on the one hand many people say it's
05:54dehydrating and people tend to feel like their stomach is gurgling after they drink it but on the
05:58other hand coffee is a fermented drink. So I'm just assuming different people react differently to it.
06:04So instead of coffee I made myself a turmeric latte which I thought was perfect because of turmeric's
06:09powerful anti-inflammatory properties. I mixed almond milk, turmeric, honey, fresh ginger and ground pepper
06:16in a blender and then poured the drink into a saucepan over the stove top to steam it. When it
06:20was ready I
06:21used my electric frother to make it a little extra foamy like a latte and then I turned my phone
06:26off
06:26and began the day with some morning meditation. According to another Refinery29 article studies
06:31have shown that meditation can help us build our mental resilience against stress and it's something
06:36that I've actually been working to include into my life daily. I've heard that staying hydrated is an
06:41important way to keep your gut happy so I filled up a big reusable water bottle and then got ready
06:45for
06:45tip number six moving. I did a few quick exercises at home to get my heart pumping which is a
06:52great
06:52way to release endorphins and start the day with a little bit of sweat and in the evening on Wednesday
06:57I got into bed nice and early. I read a little bit of my book about happiness and then I
07:01turned the lights
07:01off before 10. One thing I loved about Wednesday is that I really felt like I was having such a
07:06healthy
07:06and positive day but when I actually look back at the things that I did that day I realized that
07:11these are
07:11pretty easy activities to include in my everyday life and listen I get that everyone's schedule is
07:16different and you might not be able to live your ideal health day every single day but you can
07:21start slowly by adding some of these things into your life and eventually it might become second nature
07:26to you. Let's talk about the gut brain connection. A lot of people refer to the gut as the second
07:34brain.
07:35The enteric nervous system or the layers of nerve cells that line our GI tracts is the nervous system
07:40that regulates our digestion and communicates with our brains. There have actually been a lot of
07:44studies linking gut health to mental health but the truth is this area is still being heavily studied
07:50and it's not entirely clear to us just yet how the two work together. The director of the Johns Hopkins
07:55Center for Neuro Gastroenterology says that for decades doctors and researchers have thought that
08:00anxiety and depression contributed to issues like IBS, bloating, diarrhea, constipation and more.
08:07But he also says that some more studies might be showing that it's also the other way around and
08:12perhaps digestive issues can contribute to us feeling more anxious or depressed. In a Refinery29
08:17article they cite a study that shows how the bacteria in your gut can actually affect the molecules in
08:23the area of the brain that is associated with anxiety and depression. When I started doing research
08:27for this episode one topic that continually came up was bone broth. I've now heard many nutritionists
08:33gush about bone broth explaining how it's packed with minerals and also with collagen which can help
08:38improve your hair, skin, nails and joints. But there's also been some evidence that collagen can
08:43positively impact your gut health. I began exploring bone broth a bit this summer and I first started
08:48by visiting some of those bone broth shops that have been popping up around New York. But one thing I
08:52hadn't tried yet was making my own bone broth at home from scratch. So on Thursday I followed Wellness
08:58Mama's recipe for a homemade bone broth. I found the beef bones really easily at Whole Foods and I
09:03first roasted them to bring out the flavor. Then I let them sit in water and apple cider vinegar for
09:0830 minutes before I added the chopped up vegetables and spices. I brought the mixture to a boil and then
09:14I let it simmer on low heat for about eight hours. When it was done I skimmed the impurities off
09:18the top,
09:19I set some aside in a glass container to put in the freezer for later, and I used the rest
09:23of it to
09:23make soup for dinner. So I sauteed some vegetables and mixed them in with the bone broth. Then I added
09:28a heaping serving of ramen noodles and a couple of hard-boiled eggs to the top. I don't know if
09:33it
09:33looks as amazing as it tasted, but it was a giant bowl of dinner and it was delicious.
09:40The final lesson of the week is understanding probiotics versus prebiotics. Probiotics are live
09:46bacteria found in certain foods and supplements that help add to the good bacteria in your gut microbiome.
09:52You've likely heard of people taking a probiotic supplement before and essentially they're just
09:56hoping to add to the good bacteria that's already in there. And prebiotics however are non-digestible
10:02food ingredients that act as the food for the good bacteria in your gut. You can find prebiotics in
10:07foods that have fiber like garlic, onion, whole wheat pasta, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. So one is the
10:13bacteria themselves and the other is the food that feeds the bacteria. The wider range of plant foods
10:19that you eat, the more types of bacteria you're feeding and the more diverse your gut microbiome
10:24will be. I found a few recipes online for probiotic smoothies and I made one of them on Friday. I
10:28chose
10:28a peanut butter berry recipe which called for blueberries, peanut butter, flax seeds, vanilla extract,
10:34ground cinnamon, and the big ticket item, kefir. Kefir is a fermented yogurt-like drink that's filled
10:40with probiotics. It's kind of sour tasting but if you like the taste of Greek yogurt you'll probably like
10:45this too. Probiotics are a very interesting topic because supposedly many of the probiotics on the
10:50market right now are made with strains of bacteria that just can't withstand the heat of your stomach
10:55acid. So that means they would die in your stomach before they even get to your intestines. Some people
11:00believe that spore forming probiotics are a better choice because they're hardier and they can
11:04supposedly withstand that heat. So if you're interested in learning more about this I would highly recommend
11:08you do some research into a brand called Silver Fern. They're definitely on the expensive side but they claim
11:13that their bacteria can survive and thrive in your gut and it's gotten great reviews from many of the
11:18health and wellness bloggers that I follow. I love this week because I feel like I got to try so
11:23many
11:23new things but I also learned so much that I'm so excited to share with you all. If you already
11:28have
11:28some gut health issues there are so many things out there that you can do to try to help heal
11:32your gut and
11:33even if your gut is totally fine and it's already functioning pretty well it's still great to learn how to
11:38maintain that health. See you next year!