Have you ever had a morning where you were rushing to get out the door?

You helped your kids get ready for school. 

They ate their breakfast. Now you’re screaming to leave because they’ll be late for class. 

Your breakfast is still sitting, now cold, on your plate. 

So you pick up your cold oatmeal and berries.

You chew, chew, chew, and swallow.

After 5 spoonfuls, you rush out the door to drop the kids off at school before their late bell rings.

Phew. 

I’ve been there too. Not fun.

I noticed that after a few days of eating my food really fast, I started to have digestive issues. I knew it wasn’t the food I was eating. It was the way I was eating my food.

Eating your food fast and in a stressful state can actually increase weight & cause bloating. The best thing to do is to slow down. If you’re in a hurry, instead of gulping down your breakfast, wait and eat your food when you’re in a calm environment. 

This way, your body will be in a rest and digest state instead of a fight or flight state. 

You’ll be able to produce enzymes to break down your food. Your body and gut will also absorb vitamins and minerals more efficiently.

Unfortunately, most health professionals don’t teach their patients this. 

If you’ve been trying to lose weight, you’ve probably heard your doctor tell you to eat less and exercise more. 

But sadly, this advice blames you. Instead of feeling empowered and motivated to lose weight, you’re left feeling like you can’t lose it.

Therefore, you don’t.

Through my practice’s Metabolic Reset Program, I’ve found that weight and resistance weight loss is not the problem.

We need to look at weight and weight gain as symptoms of something else going on in our bodies. We need to get down to the root cause.

After years of helping my patients, I’ve found that gut health is a key root cause when it comes to weight loss issues.

Sure, we need to make sure we’re eating the right foods. We need to exercise at the right time and the appropriate amount. But exercise and diet aren’t the only solutions.

When we get down to the root cause of our weight loss issues, I know my patients can see positive results. So, let’s take a look at our gut and see how it impacts our ability to lose weight

What is your gut microbiome? 

You have trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and fungi living inside of you. These microorganisms are called your microbiome. 

While different organs have distinct microbiomes, your microbiome in your gastrointestinal tract (AKA your gut microbiome) has received a lot of research attention because of its role in health and disease. 

Specifically, your gut microbiome helps with functions like:

  • Metabolism
  • Immune system development
  • Communication to the brain through the gut-brain axis

When it comes to weight loss, the bacteria living in your gut (AKA your microflora) tell you:

  1. Quantity of fat you store
  2. How you balance blood sugar levels
  3. How your body responds to hormones that make you feel hungry or full
  4. If you can absorb nutrients into your bloodstream

Talk about the importance of your gut microbiome!

Your gut microbiome is composed of good bacteria and bad bacteria. Our gut is in equilibrium when you have a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut. But there’s a problem when you have an imbalance.

When you have an imbalance of normal gut microbiota, you may have: 

  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Indigestion or acid reflux
  • Gas & bloating
  • Constipation and/or diarrhea
  • Anxiety and/or depression
  • Autoimmune conditions
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Obesity

In order to lose weight and maintain optimal health, you need to make sure your gut microbiome is in equilibrium. 

When you have abundant, healthy bacteria in your gut, you’ll be able to effectively absorb the nutrients from your food. 

If you have an abundance of bad, inflammatory bacteria, nutrients from your food can’t be absorbed. Instead, pathogens and toxins are absorbed.

To get my patients’ gut microbiomes in equilibrium, I help them eat foods that promote the growth of good bacteria and stop the growth of bad bacteria. I also perform a GI MAP test. 

Let’s look at two important bacteria measured from the GI MAP test that often explain why my patients have trouble losing weight.

Which gut bacteria can cause weight loss?

Remember – your intestine is home to bacteria. I’ve conducted many GI MAP tests, and I’ve found your gut microbiome can explain why you’re having trouble losing weight. 

Two important good bacteria in your gut microbiome are Akkermansia muciniphila and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii

Akkermansia muciniphila

Remember this:  Mucin = mucus. Phil = loving.

And mucin is the mucus in your intestine which some bacteria use for fuel.

Let’s call this bacteria Akkermansia. Think of Akkermansia like pacman. 

It sits in the mucus layer of your intestine and loves to eat the mucus as food. Akkermansia also secretes byproducts like acetate. 

These acetate byproducts are crumbs that other bacteria can use as their fuel source. The crumbs are a really important fuel source, especially when a person is fasting and isn’t consuming food.

Your gut loves when there’s an abundance of Akkermansia so that other good bacteria have a fuel source. Akkermansia also makes sure your intestinal walls are healthy.

What happens when your Akkermansia levels are low?

Low levels of Akkermansia are associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. So if you’re having weight loss resistance problems, we can check to see if a low Akkermansia level is the culprit.

What about the second bacteria? Keep reading.

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii

Your gut bacteria can provide by-products that promote healthy intestinal cells. 

The bacteria Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, or Faecalibacterium, is one of them. It produces butyrate. Butyrate is a beneficial, short-chain fatty acid. What are short-chain fatty acids?

Short-chain fatty acids are compounds produced when bacteria ferment hard-to-digest dietary fiber foods.

The short-chain fatty acid butyrate helps to: 

  • Produce hormones to reduce your food intake
  • Aid in colon motility
  • Reduce inflammation

High amounts of the good bacteria Faecalibacterium are great because your gut can benefit from butyrate.

If you don’t have enough Faecalibacterium, symptoms include:

  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Autoimmune conditions
  • Diabetes

These are not good for your gut health. Low levels of Faecalibacterium could be the root cause of your weight resistance problems too. So we need to be sure we have high levels of good bacteria like Faecalibacterium.

How? 

We can boost the amount of Faecalibacterium by increasing the amount of Akkermansia in our bodies.

And how do we do that?

We can do that by the foods that we eat.

Foods Good for Gut Health

We can heal our gut by increasing the number of good bacteria like Akkermansia and Faecalibacterium.

What foods can help us increase good bacteria?

I recommend that my patients consume:

Polyphenols are micronutrients that act as antioxidants. They neutralize free radicals that can damage your cells and cause diseases. Examples of foods and drinks with polyphenols are berries, green tea, kiwis, and cloves.

Curcumin is a bright yellow compound that’s found in turmeric powder. It’s great for reducing inflammation and will benefit your overall health.

When it comes to increasing Akkermansia levels, I recommend that my patients choose a broad spectrum probiotic high in Bifidobacterium.

To increase Akkermansia levels, I also recommend that my patients:

  • Don’t overconsume calories
  • Don’t overconsume fats
  • Reduce alcohol consumption
  • Fast from meals

Ultimately, a diet high in whole foods will help increase the good bacteria in your stomach. But I really want my patients to notice how they feel after eating food. 

So if you feel terrible after eating healthy vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, we can always modify your diet and choose healthy food that will make you feel good.

Let’s Improve Your Gut Health

When my patients want to lose weight, I always start with tests that give us information about their gut health like the GI MAP test.

When we improve gut health, a root cause of weight loss resistance, we can also improve other areas that prevent weight loss.

Are you interested in healing your gut with accountability, supportive community, delicious foods, and no exercise? 

Consider joining my Metabolic Reset Program – it’s currently open for enrollment. Through the program, you’ll also get access to my probiotics line like Tummy Tone and Probiomed 50.

To learn more about what’s really getting in the way of you losing weight, book a discovery call with our expert health coaches.

Let’s heal your gut and get down to the root causes of your weight loss resistance.

Cheering you on,

Breanne

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4566439/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7046546/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.00025/full