Seeing we’re now mid-way through May, I wanted to update you all on my Gut Health Journey so far. You can read about my beginning right here if you haven’t read it already.

For the last 6 months I’ve focused on healing my gut the natural way. I could take the ‘easy’ way out and go on antibiotics to ‘kill’ the bad bacteria in my stomach, but western medicine and treatment are part of the reasons as to why my gut has been ruined in the first place, so it hasn’t been an option I’d like to take.

My motto has been “Food is Medicine” and in the last few months I’ve really realised how true this is. Coming from a past of disordered eating, this has really helped me understand even further that what we put in and on our bodies plays a massive role in how we feel – emotionally, psychologically and physically.

Through this journey, I’ve been confirmed even further in the fact that the gut is the epicentre of our overall health and wellbeing. Everything originates from there, and chances are, if you have anything wrong with you, whether it’d be eczema, psoriasis, cystic acne, hormonal imbalances, mood swings, PMS, arthritis etc., there will be a link back to you gut microbiome and the state it’s in.

My first step has been an elimination diet to starve the bad bacteria in my gut and introduce foods that would promote good bacteria + a 500 billion/day prescribed probiotics treatment. Again, you can read more about that here.

I was following this diet strictly for 8 weeks. Which, in the beginning was easier than what it became. As I wasn’t ‘allowed’ starchy vegetables, grains, dairy, gluten, fructose (fruit) or any sugar at all, it made it very hard to be social and eat out. As you all know, I’m a huge foodie and I eat out multiple times a week. I did find myself retracting quite a lot, and so I discussed these symptoms with my Nutritionist Katherine Hay to come up with a solution that would work for me and my gut, but without being so compromised.

It was important for me to catch this early, as I do come from a disordered eating past and it can still play mind-tricks on me from time to time.

Instead we agreed on that a little bit here and there was better than ruling it out completely for my mental health. It just meant that my gut-healing would take a little longer, but in the overall grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter.

I genuinely cannot express how amazing I felt on this ‘diet’. Cutting down on starchy vegetables, grains & bread (in particular), sugar and fructose made me feel a million bucks. I also quickly realised how addicted I was to sugar and this would go for most people. Without the bread and grains and heavy carbs my energy levels would rise and I wouldn’t feel so sluggish and tired like I used to.

I want to summarise really efficiently what I’ve focused on the last few months:

• Eating a varied, mainly, plantbased diet with the addition of fresh fish & sometimes chicken.
• Keeping starchy vegetables to a minimum and only having grains once or twice a week. Best options for me is quinoa, a bit of brown rice, and sprouted bread.
• I’ve had a bit of fruit here and there and have tried to keep it at berries, pineapple and low-fructose fruits.
• No gluten and dairy – if I have this, I can feel it the next day instantly. I’m either on the toilet all the time or I can’t go at all.
• Taking the right strain of probiotics is so important for your gut. If you take the wrong one, you could add fuel to the fire if that’s the wrong strain for your gut health.
• Supplementing is necessary for healing. I can’t rely on food only although it’s my approach. Natural supplementing has to take place and in the right manner in order for my gut to heal and function properly.
• Current supplementing includes: Calcium D-Glucarate, Digestive Enzymes, Probiotics, Zinc, GI Powder, Collagen, Adaptogens, Medicinal Mushrooms.
• Topical Magnesium from Abundant Natural Health has been a lifesaver when I’ve been bloated or had stomach cramps & pains. It’s also helped rebuild my gut-lining, making it stronger when it’s come to viruses and bad bacteria. I’ve been using the Gel, Spray & now Bath Soap Bar that is so convenient and easy to carry with me.
• Aloe Vera Juice is amazing for soothing the stomach if I have a stomach-ache.
• Stress is a massive culprit in my life and I know when I let stress get to me, my gut suffers, so remembering my self-care routines like meditation, time alone, walks in nature, cuddles with my dog Archie, intimacy with Pash and so on, is really important for my presence and mindset.

I’m doing another assessment round with Katherine Hay (clinical nutritionist) soon to see what we now need to focus on.

As I’m currently sick with the flu & a chest-infection, I’ve had to succumb to antibiotics as it just wouldn’t budge for 2,5 weeks. Because I’m doing antibiotics and they kill everything in you (unfortunately it doesn’t just pick the bad bacteria), I’m doing another round of the intensive 14-day 500 billion strain probiotics treatment to help my gut recover from the antibiotics.

For me, my goal this year is to continue working on my gut-health, I’ve just started studying Health & Nutrition and am excited about helping others heal. Another goal of mine is also to keep challenging my thoughts and ideas around food and clean out in old thought-patterns around diets and health.

I am so passionate about gut-health and helping others feel their very best selves. I know, from my own journey, that it’s not easy figuring out what’s wrong with yourself and sometimes you wonder if it’s all in your head.

I’m telling you this; it’s not all in your head and if you are questioning your health and if you’re feeling okay, chances are you are not. Don’t delay seeing someone about this, because a happy gut is a happy body.

The average Australian sees about 8-10 specialists and spends thousands of dollars before they’re diagnosed. I know this and my friend and clinical Nutritionist Katherine Hay knows this, so to help you in your journey and getting to the bottom of the root-cause of your health issues, we’ve created a GUT HEALTH EVENT that’ we’d love for your to come along to.

It will be a very informative & intimate 2 hours with Katherine & myself, so that you can walk away feeling supported and knowing how to tackle your gut-health issues moving forward.

We also have an amazing goodie-bag lined up for you worth over $350.

You can get your tickets here

The post My Gut Health Journey Halfway Through 2019. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.

I have, and still am, very exhausted and fatigued most of the day, my skin is breaking out – both with acne but also with chicken-skin across my body, I’m bloated, constipated and just a bit of a shell of a human, to be honest. At my lowest, and when I had a little mental breakdown on Saturday, I decided that enough is enough..

Unfortunately, as I don’t receive Medicare, I’m not at the liberty of finding specialists and run tests that can help pin-point what exactly is wrong with me, so I’ve had to do what I’ve always done; research and read my way to (potentially) figuring out what’s going on with me.. I know that, on the back of cancer and eating disorders, I’ve had severe Gut-Health issues, so my thoughts are that my gut simply isn’t working, or that I am, in fact, suffering from Leaky Gut..

I’ll write further about Leaky Gut once I’m more into my new diet to see if it helps me. So far, it’s been very helpful the past 3 days, although I did have something last night that made my tummy flare up, and I looked 5 months pregnant.

One of the things that is recommended on a Leaky Gut Diet is to drink Bone Broth twice a day (2 x 250ml) to heal your gut. Broth contains collagen and the amino acids proline and glycine that can help heal your damaged cell walls.

See below for my Beef Bone Broth Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 kg of Beef Bones (from grass-fed cows – very important!)
• Water
• 4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Celery Stalks
• 1 Large Onion (with skin)
• 4 Bay Leaves
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 15 stalks of Fresh Thyme
• 10-15 Peppercorn
• 2-3 tbsp Salt (more to taste once done)
• 4 Curry Leaves

Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 240 degrees, and place all the bones in a baking-tray. Roast for 30 minutes to improve flavour.
2. When the bones have roasted, place the bones in a large stock pot (with juices)
3. Add cold water to the pot so it covers the bones and a bit more. Add the vinegar over the bones. Leave it for about 30 minutes so the Vinegar can help draw out the nutrients of the bones.
4. Roughly chop and add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pot. Leave the skin on the vegetables, just make sure you rinse it well.
5. Add the rest of the herbs, spices, pepper & salt to the pot.
6. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer until done. The longer you leave it to simmer, the more nutrients. However, I leave mine to for about 4 hours. You can leave it to simmer for up to 10 hours if you wish.
7. Check on it every hour, and add more water if needed.
8. When finished, remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Remove the bones with tongs, and strain the broth using a fine strainer to remove all the bits of excess fat & vegetable, so you get a clear broth.
9. You can store the broth in glass jars in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze it for later.

Hope you love it. Please let me know how you go.

Anna xx

The post BEEF BONE BROTH appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.

I know, I know.. You’ve probably been told this a million times over and over, but listen up; I’m here to tell you again – just in case you forgot; START FOAM ROLLING!

I know it’s another thing to ‘add to’ the never-ending list of ‘Things To Do In Life’.. But really, you should be adding this to the top of that list, because the benefits of it, the more I look into it and feel it on my own body, seems to be never-ending.

Foam rolling helps to create and maintain long, smooth muscles by massaging out the knots and releasing trigger points. It’s also a fantastic (and cheap!) way to release the fascia, which is the thin layer of connective tissue that lies under the skin and wraps around every muscle and organ in the body. Fascia helps connect the muscles to the bones and joints and plays a key role in our structural integrity – so in a way it is like the scaffolding of the body.

Fascia is also where the nerves and the lymph nodes sit – so it is now being called a sensory organ because this is where pain originates and is communicated to the brain. Crazy, huh?

I started Foam-Rolling only a few weeks ago, and boy has it already changed my life. My body is really struggling at the moment, with a bad lower-back, tight hammies, ITB and hips that are out of whack. It’s all interlinked, and so when one thing is off, the body tries to make up for it in other ways, and overuses certain muscles for certain exercises or movements that it’s not meant to, leaving your body unaligned.. Which is what I’m currently suffering from.
However, foam-rolling every morning has taken away a lot of that pain of which I’m otherwise experiencing daily.

So are you listening to me now, when I say you should start foam-rolling? Or do you need more reasons?

If you do, then read on below for 5 reasons as to why you should make Foam-Rolling your new best friend.

1. It will break up scar-tissue:

Breaking up scar tissue and adhesions between the skin, muscles and bones is crucial for a healthy body. When you foam roll, you put targeted pressure on your fascia, releasing trigger points where you’re feeling pain. The process relieves pain and usually clears up problems caused by tight fascia and muscles pretty easily.

2. It can improve digestion:

Many people, including myself, are dealing with digestive issues as a result of diet, stress, food allergies, and other environmental factors. Using the roller not only helps smooth out “knots” in the muscles and joints, but it helps create support and calms your nervous system, improving blood flow and circulation to the organs, which benefits digestion.

3. It can increase your flexibility:

We all know how important it is to stay flexible, especially as we grow older, and foam rolling can help with that too. Maintaining flexibility throughout your life reduces injuries, improves your athletic performance and keeps you strong and healthy into old age. So whether you’re into HIIT, yoga, or any other form of exercise, foam rolling can improve your performance and make you a more flexible, healthier athlete in general.

4. It helps prevent injuries:

When you work out hard, your muscles end up tight and develop knots from constant stress. And unless you want to end up with injuries and small knacks all the time, your best bet for staying injury-free is to foam roll as often as possible.
When you foam roll out the tight spots, it prevents those areas from becoming injury trigger points which could eventually lead to shin splints, neck immobility, knee pains and painful IT bands.

5. It will help improve your posture:

Good posture is so important because of two things; the way you carry yourself and how the world sees you, and also because bad posture increases the risk of back and neck pain along with other things. Using the roller improves circulation and blood flow, allowing the body to restore and align, making you taller and more confident.

So the next time you go to the gym and see all the foam-rollers sitting in the corner, don’t be shy to pick one up and give it a go. Even better, invest in one you can have in the house and use for a few minutes every day.

If you dedicate a little time, every day, you’ll quickly see and feel results. I promise!

Stay tuned for a series of Foam Roller Exercises to help with tight IT bands, glutes, hammies and back-pain.

Anna x

The post 5 REASONS WHY FOAM-ROLLING IS YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.