Healing leaky gut: day 16

This is part 2 of 6 in my blog series on the 6 basic principles for a healthy lifestyle - the following articles are also included in the series: Introduction (1/6), Sleep (3/6), Positive thinking (4/6), Movement and Breathing Techniques (5/6) and Discussion (6/6).

Diet and hydration can dramatically affect your energy levels and biochemical composition, which in turn affects your emotional and mental reality. When our diet is deficient, there is simply not enough energy or focused thought activity to initiate or sustain the changes needed for us to take good care of ourselves. My recommendations based on my own experiences are to vary and rotate the diet, to use only "real" food and to make it as simple as possible so that it works in real life, to eat 5 times a day and to always eat as much as you need.

We sit in the kitchen and eat our breakfast as a family. Before my 8-year-old daughter starts eating, she lines up everything on the table. I ask her what she is doing and she says, as if it is a matter of course, that she puts the packages in order according to how much sugar each product contains. On the far left is the unsweetened almond milk and on the far right is Dad's orange juice...

Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach or a lump in your throat? Do you ever get a special feeling in your stomach when you meet someone you like or don't like? Has your stomach told you whether something is right or wrong for you?

The stomach can be seen as a source of your intuition. Gut feeling is actually not just nonsense! There are now scientists who insist that we humans have two brains, one of which is located in the stomach (you probably know where the other one is located)! The "brain" of the stomach is located under the outer lining and between the muscular layers of the oesophagus, stomach lining and intestines and is better known as the enteric nervous system (ENS).

Day 2 is over. It started off badly, with a really disappointing breakfast and then ended with a super good dinner. My stomach has been extremely bloated during the day and was really sore after lunch. I know I'm sensitive to coconut products, but have decided to keep these in my diet for at least the first week. If my stomach continues to fuss, I will remove these products as well. I don't usually have stomach pain, but I do have other symptoms of a leaky gut which I will describe in more detail in a separate blog post.

It has been an interesting day. Going from snacking on Christmas food and cookies/candy to strictly following a diet, which includes only the best nutritious and anti-inflammatory ingredients. The transition is sure to take a few days to accept, even as I have prepared myself mentally for several weeks. This change also includes really planning the food, shopping and preparing. Throwing something random together half an hour before food is expected to be on the table will not work. But that doesn't mean that food will take a very long time to prepare, it just requires a little extra planning compared to before.

A few weeks ago, our youngest child started complaining that she had a sore throat and my first thought was: "Oh, no, not now!" I really didn't feel like everyone in the family was going to get sick and in the event of a sore throat also have to take antibiotics!

So instead of taking her to the doctor, I used my knowledge and compiled a list of what we did to boost her immune system, so that the healing process could begin.