Building A Gut Profile......Days 10 to 12 of Our Probiotic Fast

Day 10 to 12

We are now on day 13 of our fast and feeling pretty good. To be honest, most of the time I feel as if I could carry on indefinitely – I think this is what it feels like to make progress!

Now, to catch you up on what I have been doing….

Days 10 and 11, we just fasted on our fermented drinks, apple cider vinegar and beet root fermented juices. Oh, and I have increased my intake of herbal teas – now I am including a liver tonic along with the hormone balance herbs.

During my fasts is the only time I have experienced unprecedented healing/balancing/regulating of body systems. Therefore, it always makes sense to me to take in lots of herbal teas anytime I fast because you get results far more quickly. Even if only doing a day here and there, herbal tea is the way to go!

To be honest, I just find that all healing takes place at an unprecedented rate whenever I am fasting….healing a body ‘system’ such as immune, endocrine and especially the digestive tract, is much more straight forward when unimpeded by food, debris and by products of metabolism. 

Of course, our bodies heal from the top down, inside out, however, the largest fires will be put out first. So, healing takes time and continued effort on our parts. Deeper inflammation takes the longest. But, you will see improvements no matter how long the fast!

Then, for day 12 - we broke our fast again with lots of garlic with a plan to have some milky foods the next day. I keep craving milk (perhaps because we have so much of it right now!). Over these past couple of days I have been wondering about the best way to get it into my system – fermented milk products are awesome for gut bacteria especially homemade from raw milk.

So, I decided to include some dandelion coffee with our own raw goat’s milk in it, a couple times a week to also help build beneficial bacterial colonies. It tastes great (we gave up drugged coffee years ago) and dandelion has the added benefit of supporting our livers. 

BUT….did you know that dandelion root is also a prebiotic? This means it has components that feed and benefit gut bacteria in their struggle to survive. And roasted dandelion root or dandelion coffee tastes quite nice. It’s a bitter herb needed to keep things in a healthy balance. 

What I know about beneficial bacteria in our guts is that they need all sorts of different foods (raw, living, wild, cooked, sweet, bitter, sour, fibre) to nourish them. Because this is a probiotic fast, I can see and feel already how it is working.

Over these next few hours I plan on getting a little bit of milk into my system – raw and fermented in smoothies and with dandelion coffee as well as perhaps a little meat or fish. 

Meat sounds like a weird thing to include on a mini break from our liquid fast days, however, we also have gut microbes who are complete carnivores (just like my cat) and I want to feed them as well. 

Let’s keep everyone happy in there! 

Up to this point I am feeling very well. I always feel great when I am fasting and my energy levels are quite good – even for all of the detox, changeover and perhaps a bit of an immune boost that is taking place in our guts. There’s a lot of shifting and changing going on…..

April

Getting there!

Fasting - Healing & Sealing the Gut

Day 13

Today is another day fasting –  we are living without food and taking in only liquid drinks, but we are not without sustenance. We were just chatting about how we feel after nearly 2 weeks without solid food and the consensus is – pretty good!

This morning, when comparing how we feel right now to how we might (usually) feel during a Master Cleanse or a water fast – we all agree that we are not tired, we are generally not cold, nor are we hungry or low in energy. 

I’m not even sure we are detoxing at all because this is too easy!! LOL But, all the other signs of a detox/cleanse are there including loads of dreams, deep sleeping, huge energy patterns rising up to the surface, coated tongue, bright eyes, clear skin, a need to clear the house and so forth.

Our plan is to stop shortly for a family birthday/thanksgiving feast – some years we skip this and put it off for after Christmas, but this year we really want to celebrate. After all, I feel we have so much to be thankful for – we are healthy, moving forward and alive.

Which brings me back to why we are doing this fast using only the probiotic drinks (Rebel Juice) I make for ourselves and the market in West Cork. I wanted to see what would happen to our guts. Would they change out in terms of old bacteria leaving and dying off, more colonies of candida being brought under control, internal and outer balance with regards to gut flora overall?

After all, as a Medical Intuitive and Clinical Nutritionist, my main interest is in how these processes work and why it is so vital that we make fundamental changes when we can. Our guts are basically in charge of a lot of physical, emotional and cognitive function - so this is the single most important area in our bodies. 

And a very good reason to choose to detox. Whenever we have been exposed to antibiotics, medication and general toxins, including stress and toxic situation, our guts tend to need healing and sealing afterwards. 

Right now I am watching for signs of these changes of deep healing and internal sealing within our bodies – perhaps later this week when we go back to eating solid foods we will see the full benefits of this fast with our digestions up and running. 

But, there are little things changing already - creativity is opened up and the desire to be organized is very present - both very mental processes.

I knew this was a mind cleanse or as my son calls it, an oil change! LOL

April

Geese in the garden enjoying the sun