Radical Health Rebel

24 - Gut Health with Heather Pearson

January 23, 2023 Leigh Brandon Episode 24
Radical Health Rebel
24 - Gut Health with Heather Pearson
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Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

In this episode, Heather Pearson discusses all-things 'gut health, including what gut health is, what is leaky gut, what is the gut barrier, what can heal a damaged gut, pre and probiotics, how diet affects gut health, conditions caused by gut health and Heather's top tips for optimal gut health. 

We discussed:
2:38

Heather's background

9:21

What is gut health 

14:37

The Gut Barrier

21:38

What supplements can help heal the gut barrier

48:31

How diet affects gut health

56:52

What can upset the health the gut

1:02:26

What conditions can be caused by an unhealthy gut 

1:04:05

What significance does gut health have on sports performance and injuries 

1:11:29

Top Tips for a Health Gut

You can find Heather @:
www.strengthsenseiinc.com
www.1body4life.co.uk
Facebook @1body4life  
Twitter @1body4life
Instagram @1body4lifeuk

Headway (Brain Injury Charity):
https://www.headway.org.uk/

Support the show


Don't forget to leave a Rating for the podcast!

You can find Leigh @:
Leigh website - https://www.bodychek.co.uk/
Leigh's books - https://www.bodychek.co.uk/books/
Eliminate Adult Acne Programme - https://eliminateadultacne.com/coaching-program/
HEAL THEM Education Programme - http://healthemeducation.vhx.tv/
Radical Health Rebel YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@radicalhealthrebelpodcast

[00:00] Heather Pearson: Autoimmune is 100% a gut issue. You know, a lot of thyroid issues, a lot of, you know, hormonal issues, you know, stem from gut. You know, I've had women who have had lost their periods and I've got them on gut supplements and within a few months period to come back, you know, you can't fake that type of result. So it's, you know, the microbiome is irresponsible for so many different things. And as you say, we don't protect it properly, then this is where ill health and disease is allowed to form.

 

[00:33] Announcer: Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast with your host, Leigh Brandon. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a five star rating and a warm review. Your opinions are important and your ratings help grow the podcast and help educate people to lead a healthier, more productive, fulfilling a happy life. This video is your thing. Please check out the Radical Health Rebel YouTube channel where you'll find fun bitesized clips from each episode. And now, here is Lee, the radical health rebel. With this week's podcast.

 

[01:15] Leigh Brandon: Heather Pearson. Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast. Thanks for coming on the show.

 

[01:19] Heather Pearson: Good morning. Thank you for having me. Nice to see you.

 

[01:23] Leigh Brandon: You too.

 

[01:24] Leigh Brandon: I'm really looking forward to this. It's been a while, isn't it?

 

[01:26] Heather Pearson: Been a long time. Very long time.

 

[01:29] Leigh Brandon: So today's episode is entitled Gut Health with Heather Pearson. So when looking at the physical body, for me, the most important aspect is gut health and the gut microbiome in particular. In my own work, I've seen how gut health and the gut microbiome can affect things like sports, performance, pain, weight management, skin conditions, energy, clarity of thought, immunity and autoimmune conditions, mental health, and much more. When we consider that there are more microbial cells in the human body than there are human cells, by nine to one ratio and about a 99.5% of our DNA is not human but microbiole, you begin to see its importance. So I'm really looking forward to this deep dive into the world of gut health with my very good friend, Heather Pearson. So, Heather, can we kick things off by sharing with the audience a little bit about you, your upbringing, your professional education, your history, and your career today, and what led you to learning about gut health in particular?

 

[02:38] Heather Pearson: Well, it's been a journey. So in my career, I did start working in television and then had a very severe car accident 21 years ago and eventually decided to change industry and start helping people because I was left with so many injuries and eventually lots of medical issues. So that kind of led me, education wise, to studying around the world, learning from the best of the best about all sorts of treatment and training and psychology and all sorts. So the more I learned through all these courses in education, the more I applied these to myself and my patients and athletes. And as you know, that becomes experience, and the more experience you get, it leads you to other avenues. So it's been a lot of years, a lot of education. I am a little bit obsessed with learning, but along the way, because I've had so much of my own experiences with the guts and lots of associated issues, I've dived even deeper as the years have gone on. So that's kind of where I've got to really career wise. And yeah, personal experience with the gut is you can't beat personal experience. Sometimes research will tell you a lot of what's going on inside, but research and it can't tell you how things feel or recognize certain symptoms, whether it's a verbal symptom, a physical symptom, or something you can visually see. So that for me, personal experience is always going to be a winner, especially when you're helping people who are going through certain issues, whether it's a gut problem, diarrhea constipation, or a mental health issue that's sleep related. With gut sleep, brain, personal experience has been quite a big journey for me. Big one.

 

[04:47] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. Do you want to share a little bit about your personal experience?

 

[04:50] Heather Pearson: So, yeah, I mean, when I had my car accident, I didn't realize at the time that I had a brain injury, which I know we'll probably come to at some stage. When you have a brain injury with that sort of severity, you've got instant gut health dysfunction literally within 24 hours. But I also had a lot of heavy metal fillings, the silver fillings, the amalgams from when I grew up, when dentists were getting paid to put fillings in your mouth. And so, again, I didn't realize the severity of heavy metal toxicity. And that's been a huge cause of many of my gut issues. And once your gut starts going downhill and into decline, you're opening the door to all these nasty infections. And eventually this unhealthy gut for me has led to autoimmune issues, which is quite a steep hill to climb back from by the time you realize you've got an autoimmune disease. And of course, along the way, it's learning about or how do you know you've got symptoms. And that comes with testing methods. And then once you do the test, it's knowing then how you resolve your issues with the test results. And again, a lot of that comes from symptoms. Symptoms will tell you a lot, and then the testing will tell you a lot, and then that you have the resolve, which is, again, for me, it's been a journey of not just working with one specialist, it's also been with my own research and trial and error with experimentation. But, yeah, quite a big part of that is symptoms. And not just gut symptoms. It's also sleep and it's also brain and they're also interlinked. So, yeah, it's been an experience that I'm still going. It literally is working hand.

 

[06:55] Leigh Brandon: Yeah.

 

[06:57] Leigh Brandon: So I imagine there's some people listening to this and they're thinking, well, how can a brain injury cause an issue with the gut? Can you explain a little bit about that?

 

[07:06] Heather Pearson: Well, there's something called the gut brain axis. And that is, as you know, there's lots of cells in the neurons, in the nerves as well as there's lots of cells in the gut. And they communicate with each other, particularly through the big boy, Mr. Vagus nerve. And where the nerves travel, and we will these cells travel up and down with this wonderful system. Anything that happens to the brain will affect the gut because of this communication with each other. They're like brother and sister. So as is said, the gut is the second brain. So where this lovely system we've got breaks down, if something goes wrong with the brain, automatically the gut is injured also. And a brain injury is very complex. It's not like a muscular injury that you can do some exercises and have some treatment and be along your way. Brain injury is for life. But with the gut, the relationship is so strong. Because of this system, we've obviously got the interact system and the communication is so strong. So unfortunately, with a brain injury, when your brain is good, your gut is a little bit better. If your gut is good, your brain is going to be better. And when you're looking at something like leaky gut, which a lot of people have heard of, of this leaky gut, if you've got leaky gut, you'll have leaky brain. So if you've got a brain injury, you know you're going to have leaky gut to an extent. So, yeah, brain injuries I could probably talk to you about for about another whole day. I think.

 

[08:58] Leigh Brandon: We can do another podcast on that time.

 

[09:01] Heather Pearson: I'd love to.

 

[09:02] Leigh Brandon: So you mentioned leaky gut and I'm going to come back to that. But before we talk a bit more about that, if you think of, let's say, someone's listening to this and they've not really looked into gut health per se, how would you define gut health to someone that's probably never really kind of considered it?

 

[09:21] Heather Pearson: So gut health I would describe as your immune system. Most people understand immunity, so your immune system is your health, whether you're in good health. And the majority 78% of your immune system is in your gut. So gut health means healthy brain, good sleep and general good health. And that's the basic layman's terms. And if your gut health, which is full of this, well, as I explained to people, gut flora, as it's called flora in Latin, means flower. And for healthy flowers, we need healthy soil and we need water and hydration. So if you think of your gut as this thriving flower garden, we need to keep it healthy. We need the balance. We need the balance of sun, of water, of food, and also happiness and positivity. And when we lose that imbalance, that's when gut health starts to decline. And then that can lead to lots of mental issues, lots of sleep issues, and lots of disease, which it was hippocrates way back when, BC, who said most diseases can be fixed through the gut.

 

[10:53] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, absolutely. That's certainly my experience as well. So just coming on to what we touched on just now was leaky gut. Do you want to explain what leaky gut is and perhaps what that can lead to?

 

[11:07] Heather Pearson: Yes. So leaky gut basically is like a carpet. So in your gut, you've got this carpet where you have the layers of you got the fluffy layer, and then underneath you've got this thick base. And so the fluffy, or as we know, they're called villi, they should be very packed, full, close together. And what happens with leaky gut eventually is the fluffy bits of the carpet, they start to branch apart and they start to get these little holes where now food is not absorbed into the fluffy bit of the carpet. And then food ends up going straight into the bloodstream instead of into the intestines, where it should be absorbed and broken down. And so the problem is the holes get bigger and then more of them start happening. And so the more holes that you get in the fluffy bit of the carpet means poor digestion. And then eventually that starts leading to other issues. The problem is, is when you don't absorb food, you don't break food down, you don't gain the nutrients. And then that leads to other issues where we're looking at specifically bacterial infections, because then it's like opening the door to any nasty that can walk in because you haven't got your protective barrier anymore, your protective wall. And so that's when you can start getting bad bacteria, yeast overgrowth, like Candida, any type of bacterial infection, clebsiella is quite a popular one. And then before you know it, you've got one infection and another infection and yeast overgrowth. And the biggest one word I would probably describe gut health, which is the number one is inflammation. And once you have inflammation in the body, inflammation is what leads to disease, and inflammation is what also causes stress. And stress and inflammation have this relationship. Stress causes inflammation, inflammation causes stress, and they work together. And once you have this leaky gut that leads to inflammation, then the circle starts to get worse and worse and worse until you start to fix it. So it's a cascade of events of leaky gut, and everyone has different severities if you think of the holes. But the good thing about leaky gut is there are lots of things, supplements and natural products that you can take to start filling those holes, effectively plastering them, as I call it, sticking loads of plaster at the holes and start filling them.

 

[14:05] Leigh Brandon: Okay, I'll come back and ask you about how you can do that. But before I ask you that, can you talk a little bit more about how the digestive tracts or the intestinal tracts is part of the immune system or protective system of the body? Similar to like you got, the skin is the barrier from the outside, but obviously the digestive tract is more of the protection to the inside of the body. Do you want to go into that a little bit?

 

[14:37] Heather Pearson: Yeah, I mean, talking about the Ville, the fluffy bits of the carpet. So ultimately, we need balance of good bacteria, good bacteria and bad bacteria. We have yeast. We have candida. But when it overgrows, then it becomes dangerous. So if we don't have that protection, it's like having an army of soldiers, and these soldiers start disappearing. Then you can't fight infections. You can't produce the correct proteins and antibodies that you need to fight off infections. So when you come up against an infection, you need to have that protection. One of those reasons for the protection is short chain fatty acids. But if you've got a poor diet and you're not getting enough fiber, you can't produce the short chain fatty acids, which you need for your protection barrier. And that protects you from inflammation. Obviously, coming to diet, if you're not producing the short chain fatty acids, which are a huge part of your protection of your gut lining, then it leaves you open to invaders, to foreign invaders. And that's the key, really, to inflammation, is protection. And a lot of that comes from not just diet. Diet is a huge part of gut health, but also from stress. And stress is probably one of the biggest things because we have this gut brain relationship, stress in many different ways, and there are so many different stresses, physical medication, emotional stresses that will lead to a decline in our gut barrier wall. And once that starts opening, it's literally opening the cross bridge to a castle and letting all the nasties come in. So the protection of the gut lining is so important, and stress starts to break that down very quickly. So stress, I'd say stress plus sleep also, because one of the things that research does show is an inverse relationship between sleep and melatonin. So if you don't sleep, you don't produce enough melatonin, melatonin goes down. Melatonin is very closely linked to good gut bacteria, and we have 400 times more melatonin in the gut than in the pineal gland. So melatonin is pretty important in terms of gut health. And again, this comes back to the protection of the gut lining, because if you're not producing melatonin, you don't sleep. If you don't sleep, that affects the gut. And you just have this, again, another cascade if you're not sleeping properly, which, again, can come from stress. So it's all interlinked. And yet, at the end of the day, if we don't have the protection, it's like not having the correct antibodies for any infection. If we don't have our protection in our gut lining, there are so many processes that don't happen, which a huge part of that is sleep and the brain.

 

[17:54] Leigh Brandon: Yeah.

 

[17:55] Leigh Brandon: One of the ways I look at the digestive tract so if you think mouth to ****, it's like a tube, isn't it? Basically, it's basically like a tube. And if you compare it to say, like a bagel or a doughnut with a hole in the middle, it's like on our bodies, our immune system is on the outside is the skin, but on the inside it is basically detracts from the mouth to the ****. And what I try and get across to people is that if you look at the bagel, the hole in the middle is not the bagel. Right. It's a hole in the middle. And if you think if something is in your mouth or it's in your stomach or your small intestine, your large intestine, it's not actually in your body, it's in the hole. And what lines that trapped is the microbiome in each different area, which is different. And that microbiome helps to protect you or should say your bloodstream from being exposed to things that it shouldn't be exposed to.

 

[19:08] Heather Pearson: All the nasties.

 

[19:10] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. And obviously, probably the most important part of that is your small and large intestine. I would say.

 

[19:17] Heather Pearson: Yeah, 100% hundred percent. Well, it's where it's the majority of our, you know, 70% to 80% of the immune system of that long tube is is in the small and large intestines. And they both have different jobs. As I say. The short chain fatty acids are specifically where fibers fermented in the large colon and the small intestines do majority of the work for absorption of macronutrients. But we need protection for both. And if you don't have that protection, that's where you see and so many, like we were talking earlier, there's so many cancer, there's so much cancer around, there's so many autoimmune issues that come about and so much of that I'm an autoimmune is 100% a gut issue. A lot of thyroid issues, a lot of hormonal issues stem from gut. I've had women who have had lost their periods and I've got them on gut supplements and within a few months period to come back, you can't fake that type of result. So the microbiome is irresponsible for so many different things. And as you say, if we don't protect it properly, then this is where ill health and disease is allowed to form.

 

[20:35] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. And it makes sense that 70% of our immune system is in the gut because that's where we are absorbing nutrients. That's where we are taking things from the outside into our bloodstream. So it makes sense that most of our immune system is in that area to try and stop the baddies, so to speak.

 

[20:57] Heather Pearson: As I call it, of the garden. That's the pesticides trying to get into the soil. But you've got to have your protection. If you don't have protection, the pesticides will end up coming in and start destroying things. Protection is a big thing and we all fight stresses every day and there's lots of things you can do for that. One of them is good diet and good sleep and that's that in itself, as well as coping mechanisms for stress as well.

 

[21:30] Leigh Brandon: One thing you mentioned earlier was there are some supplements that people can take to help repair the gut lining. Do you want to share a few of those with us?

 

[21:41] Heather Pearson: Yeah, I've got a long list of things that I use with patients, Nathalies. I think a couple of the most simple things to take to help with the repair of the gut lining. One is glutamine powder, which is glutamine amino acid, which is a protein. And it's a very simple powder, tastes of nothing, even just a tablespoon in a small little bit of water every day on an empty stomach. So it can be utilized because a lot of people associate glutamine with a protein shake. And after a workout, which, yes, it does a slightly different job specifically for the gut first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Glutamine has been known to fuel the cells in the gut and to start healing the lining and the protection of the barrier wall. And it's a very, very cheap powder to buy, very easy to take. And I've had huge success with having people on glutamine. I'd say another one in my if you'd say like a top four is a digestive enzyme. And I've had some patients who they've had long term gut health, they've had symptoms of diarrhea or constipation, bloating, et cetera, and they can't do without a digestive enzyme. And what the digestive enzyme does is once we take it before food, it will start to line the gut with certain enzymes that help to break food down so we can absorb them. And that's if you do have leaky gut, you won't produce the correct amount of enzymes to break food down and absorb it. So the digestive enzyme gives us that extra help until we start patching up the holes of the leaky gut to break our fats, proteins and carbohydrates, to break them down so we can absorb them better and fuel our muscles and our organs in a much more efficient way. So digestive enzymes, and one before every meal, is ideal. Another gut supplement, which is, again, something that is very important, which is more specifically for breaking down protein, is HCL and hydrochloric acid. And what I've found over the years, a lot of people have reflux where the food comes back up the esophagus and sometimes back into the mouth. You have this burping of food that you can taste again in the throat, and reflux is very common. And I went through the journey of this, and when I went through that journey, I was told I didn't have enough stomach acid. Sorry, I had too much stomach acid and I needed to suppress the stomach acid. So I was given anti acid, and that was many years ago. I since learned actually, I didn't have enough stomach acid. And that's something actually coming back to the brain injury. That's something that happens instantly is when your gut starts to decline. If it's from a brain injury, you instantly have less stomach acid. It's something that happens literally in an instant. And so if you don't have enough acid when food enters the stomach, you can't break down food properly. Specifically for protein. As you know, we need protein for all sorts of different processes in the body, very important processes for growth and repair. And so eventually I learned about this HCL. Actually, I was in need of HCL, and at the time, I'd been having these really severe stomach cramps. Three months after I started taking medication for my pain, and six years later, after having all these stomach cramps twice, I ended up in hospital from the severity of these cramps and I started taking HCL. Within three months they were gone, those stomach cramps. And again, I've had a lot of my patients and athletes on HCL and whatever symptoms they've had have improved literally within two or three weeks. So HDL is a very, very important one, something I found a lot of people have way less stomach acid than they should. Way less. The one thing I would advise with HCL, which I do in my book, just squeeze that in there, is to always start. I changed the way I administer HCL. The average is 648 milligram capsule, which you typically take two with each meal. Three times stays the average. But I've since changed that. I prefer to get people on a much lower dose to start with, because if your gut is quite leaky and your gut is actually in quite a bad place and you take a high dose of HCL, it can actually make you worse. So now I start people on a very low dose, sometimes just a digestive enzyme that's got some HCL inside it, just to get your stomach used to gaining a little bit more stomach acid so it doesn't react adversely to it. And then gradually, over time, dependent on symptoms, then we start increasing the dose of HCL. So there's a lot of this available on the Internet, and this would typically be around sort of 3350 milligrams of HCL. And I typically would start people on just one a day, then two a day, then three a day, because the maximum is six two with breakfast, lunch, dinner. So you gradually get the gut used to having it. It's something that you've got to go quite gentle that I found from dealing with patients and athletes. But the biggest thing that I've found I've had the most success with, which you still need the glutamine, the digestive enzyme, the HCL. But the thing I've had the most success with, with the gut is bone broth.

 

[28:13] Announcer: You're listening to the Radical Health Rebel podcast.

 

[28:18] Leigh Brandon: Are you regularly suffering from painful bloating and wind that could be smelly and embarrassing? Are your bowel movements not as they should be, either constipation or diarrhea, or possibly alternating between the two? Do you find the pain is bad enough, but the bloating and cramps make you feel awful and are affecting your everyday life? Do you sometimes feel you can't eat properly because of the wind, bloating, and pain? And has your doctor told you that you have IBS but unable to help find you a solution? Do you feel right now that you simply don't know what's causing your symptoms and whatever your doctor has suggested hasn't worked and you feel frustrated that you're still far from having a normal, flat, comfortable tummy? Have you invested a lot of time, energy and money into improving your symptoms and don't wish to waste any more? Do you feel frustrated and depressed and don't feel like you can take part in all the activities you enjoy and sometimes have to cancel attending events because of the way your tummy feels? Do you fear that if you don't get this sorted, you could end up with a much more serious gastrointestinal disease? Or if so, what would help you right now is to understand the root cause of your digestive condition. Rather than continuing to try to mask the symptoms with over the counter or prescribed medications. You need help understanding how factors such as nutrition, gut health, stress, and toxicology affect the digestive system and how to optimize these factors. You need someone who can advise, motivate, and support you every step of the way, someone who has walked the path before and taught many others to do the same. What you need is my overcome your digestive issues program. My Overcome Your Digestive Issues program can help you in the following ways I will help you understand the root causes of your digestive problems and teach you how to approach the condition holistically via expert advice on nutrition and lifestyle Factors.

 

[30:21] Leigh Brandon: To Overcome Your Digestive Issues Program we'll start by ensuring you are on the right diet for you based on your genetics or metabolic type, and one that avoids the foods that are known to exacerbate your condition. We'll go on a journey step by step, learning all the necessary lifestyle changes required to achieve a flat, comfortable, pain free tummy. Each weekly 30 minutes coaching session will include advice, support, and guidance specifically tailored to your needs and at a speed that is right for you. Once you're eating right for your metabolic type, you will begin to see changes in how your tummy feels, and we will also uncover all the necessary blocking factors that you may have, and you'll be taught how to reduce, replace, or eliminate all the factors that are causing your digestive problems. Ultimately, this program will enable you to achieve a flat, calm, and comfortable tummy every day for the rest of your life. For more information about how to improve your gut health and to claim a complimentary no obligation gut health consultation, please go to www.bodychek.Co.UK that's BodyChek. And fill in the request form at the top of the homepage and we'll be in contact to arrange a convenient time. Now back to the podcast.

 

[31:42] Heather Pearson: And bone broth is by far top of the tree, supersedes literally everything. It's the best natural product I have found, which I've been on myself for five years. And the success I've had with bone broth with patients is unbelievable. So again, this is literally cooking bones on a very small low heat. Much easier in a slow cooker on a low heat. And that's what it is, it's cooking bones. You've got to have clean water with it. The bones have to be organic because as you know, if it's not organic, it can be pumped with all kinds of antibiotics and whatnot. So the bones need to be clean. You can use fish if you're not a meat eater, you can use fish bones. But the difference is how long you cook it. Again, coming back to individuals, everyone's different. So if you're sensitive, you would cook the bones to start, you would cook the meat on the bones to start and you'd only cook it for up to 5 hours. I think initially I started on 4 hours. When I first started taking bone broth, I've had one of my patients actually 2 hours was enough for him and eventually he went to three and then to four. So the severity is going to differ depending on what your issue is. So I always advise people, if you're going to start doing bone broth, start with what we call stock. Stock is gentle. The longer you cook the bones, the more goodness that comes out, but the stronger it is. And if you've got a sensitive stomach, leaky gut, leaky brain, you've got sensitive stomach, you'll be sensitive here too. And obviously we'll talk about the whole depression anxiety relationship that comes with gut ill health. So with the bone broth, it's really important to start slow and it's got to be consistent. As you know, with anything, consistency is everything. So bone broth has to be every day. So once you start taking it, I typically advise 250 mils, like an average mug, like a cup of tea, except you can't chuck it in the microwave as some people have asked, because then you'll just smash all the goodness out of it. So you've got to heat it up on the stove like the good old days. And then you salt it with you season it with salt and pepper. So coming back to cooking it, I have my own recipe which is on my books website and it's literally cooking bones, organic bones with clean water. And then you put veg in it, then you're getting the juices from the veg as well. So you're. Getting a double whammy and also that flavor. So you can add bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, whatever herbs that you want. But I do always suggest at least one or two veggies so that you get an extra double whammy and then understanding what is bang broth. It's full of amino acids. It's full of minerals. It's full of collagen. It's the best way to get natural collagen. So something we haven't talked about, which I'm sure we will, is injuries. So whenever I have an athlete who's injured, I have all my athletes on bone broth on a daily basis, to be honest. But it's got this constant turnaround of collagen. So in the athletic world, it's very typical that you'll gain injuries quite regularly here and there. And so this constant turnaround of collagen bone broth is amazing. Any time I ever have an athlete who has a ligament tear or has to have surgery, they're going to be on a higher dose of bone broth. Or if they have high inflammation or their stress levels are super high as well with the injury, I'm going to get them on double dose of bone broth in a day. So because of there's so many nutrients in the bone broth, it's been definitely one of the most successful things I've ever used, especially for anyone with an autoimmune disease. It will start patching you up super, super quick. The only thing obviously, again, moving on to testing, if you don't mind, is you need to know what's wrong. Because if you start having these gut supplements, you could start to feel better. But if you have a stomach infection or a yeast overgrowth or any type of bacterial issue, you've got to get rid of that. You can't get rid of that with these gut supplements. You can help to restore the gut lining for sure and see a lot of much more positive symptoms, even with mood and sleep and motivation, with taking these gut supplements. But unless you test, you won't know if you've got anything else going on. And you can look perfectly healthy. But until you test, that's really the key to fixing gut health issue. And the issues really are your symptoms. Your symptoms will tell you if you blow after certain foods. It could just be a food sensitivity. Could be, but the food sensitivity could have an underlying reason. And that's where testing methods are so important for resolving gut issues.

 

[37:30] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, I just want to take you back just a little bit. So for those people that perhaps don't have time or don't feel they have time to make their own broth, you can buy it. There are a lot of places now that actually there are pre made bone broths that you can buy. They are expensive. To have two cups of broth is probably going to cost you about £5.01. Thing that I use every day. I actually use a protein powder that's made from bone broth.

 

[38:06] Heather Pearson: Bone broth protein powder. They're quite common now.

 

[38:13] Leigh Brandon: I absolutely love the one that I use. I'm actually going to shut them out. I don't make any money from them.

 

[38:19] Heather Pearson: What make is it?

 

[38:20] Leigh Brandon: Planet Paleo.

 

[38:22] Heather Pearson: Oh, planet paleo. Yeah. It's one. I've got.

 

[38:26] Leigh Brandon: Brand. There's no rubbish in them like there is in a lot of protein powders.

 

[38:31] Heather Pearson: No, they're excellent.

 

[38:33] Leigh Brandon: Mix them up and they taste great. And yeah, I have to have that every single day.

 

[38:38] Heather Pearson: Yeah, I mean, ultimately the cheapest and the best bone broth is homemade. That's hands down, you know what's going in it. You can make a lot of it. It's very cheap. Very cheap. And also what I didn't explain is it doesn't matter how long you're cooking it for, but let's say you're cooking it for something for 5 hours. You cook it for 5 hours, drain the liquid, let that cool down, put more clean water and more herbs in and cook the bones again. So you can get two to three weeks worth of bone broth from one chicken carcass. That will cost you two quid. So you can see the difference in price. But everyone's situation is different. So, yes, the packet, bone broth, five pound, five pound 50, you'll get about two cups out of it for about half a liter. But it does get very expensive. The problem with that also is you don't know how long it's been cooked for. So if you've got a sensitive stomach, which I've had with a couple of patients, is they've had the packet and they've got worse. So the powder stuff, the powder bone broth, which I first had actually in La about four or five years ago, can't remember the name of the, the make, but we've got the Planet Paleo is, I think, the the version that they've got over there. And I was really quite pleasantly surprised at how good the powder is as a protein shake. Also where you get the foam frost protein shake that I have after a workout. So you get a double dose. But again, the convenience is what you have time for. So if you don't have time to make your own or if you've got someone else that could make it for you even better, again, getting hold of the organic bones, if you've got a butcher, fantastic. Otherwise there's loads of places online. But the powder, I'd say, is very good, especially if you're after a workout and you're getting bone broth in a protein shake. Yeah, I'm a huge fan of that. Huge fan. And I really Plant Paleo. I've got two lots in the kitchen. I'm quite a big fan of anything they produce. As you say, it's super clean. So no ****. Very good.

 

[41:03] Leigh Brandon: So, Planet Paleo, if you want to sponsor this podcast, let me know. I'm open to offers. Just going back to repairing the gut lining. One of the things you mentioned was the importance of short chain fatty acids. Do you ever use supplements to help feed the short chain fatty acids?

 

[41:26] Heather Pearson: Well, that would be prebiotics, but for me, not really. I focus more on gaining more bacteria rather than feeding it, which will be in diet. So it's diversity of veg and fruits, really, and the better fruits with the fiber from the skin. But I think ultimately I try and encourage people to increase their vegetable intake as much as possible and diversity because I don't know anyone that likes every single vegetable and some people only like a handful of vegetables. That's okay. It's trying to stick to what, you know, you will eat diet wise. And there are other things that fiber wise that you can take. Psyllium, husk tablets, and there's lots of fibrous drinks out there. There is one thing that I do encourage, certainly I encourage my athletes to take, and that's a green drink in the morning, which is full of green veg and fruit. And it's basically an extra added dose, not an alternative, as some people have asked. So it's an addition to your daily vege intake, but it gives you the extra dose of fiber. Plus it's also extremely alkaline, which, as you know, buffers out the acidity. So that helps in other ways. So double dose, but yeah, I've never really used any type of prebiotic, although there are lots of supplements out there, I prefer to use that as natural with veg, veg and veg, which I found has been pretty good, really, with doing testing for people who haven't been absorbing vegetable fibers. And when you increase the vegetable intake and we test, then the absorption is there.

 

[43:33] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. I do use some prebiotic powders that I found particularly useful. The one I use myself is called pHGG or partially hydrolyzed guar gum.

 

[43:48] Heather Pearson: Well, okay.

 

[43:50] Leigh Brandon: And I found that really, I mean, my gut's never been that bad, to be honest. But I've found personally, for me and for a number of clients, it does actually work really well. There is there is another one that I sometimes use for clients depending on, obviously, test results and their symptoms, et cetera. Galacto oligosaccharides or as goss. That can be problematic with some people. So, like, if someone's small intestinal bacteria overgrowth, that can be a bit irritating, but I found both of those can be quite useful.

 

[44:25] Heather Pearson: Yes, I found the goss, I have tried that. I haven't worked for me personally or a couple of people, but for me, I concentrate more on the probiotic than the prebiotic. So that's quite a big part of what I dish out as homework for diets. So focusing on getting as much good bacteria in there in the first place and then the fiber from food will feed off it. But looking at probiotics is I encourage my clients to obviously depend on if they've got a yeast they've grown or not. Kombucha, which is, again, I've made homemade for many years. It's whether or not you've got the time and the patience to make kombucha, which is quite an achievement when you make it yourself, because it takes a while. Kombucha. And it's so widely available now as well. Kombucha so widely available. Sauerkraut and kimchi. The Korean version I see is sauerkraut, which I make my own. Really, it literally is the most simple thing to make on the planet, literally. Cabbage and water and salt could be easier, but again, wildly available in shops that you can buy in health shops that are super clean, easy to eat.

 

[45:49] Leigh Brandon: I just got to give a shout out to Lori's Foods, by the way, so that's a friend of mine that produces those products.

 

[45:55] Heather Pearson: Right, okay, excellent.

 

[45:58] Leigh Brandon: They're all organic, very high quality. So, yeah, if you want fermented vegetables, then Laurie's Foods, I would recommend.

 

[46:06] Heather Pearson: Amazing. I like to make my own, but convenience, obviously, is good. And then you've got cafe. I'm not a fan. One of my friends, my friend Phil, is a huge fan of Cafe advertising to me. But any type of fermented food is full of probiotics that I found has been very good for patients and myself. I've noticed a huge difference with eating. And all you need is just a spoonful every morning, isn't it?

 

[46:48] Leigh Brandon: It's not like you're replacing a whole vegetable. It's just a little dish.

 

[46:53] Heather Pearson: Yeah, even just having a tablespoon. And I remember I first had Kimchi with my sister's Korean friend because it's got a slight spice. It's not massively spicy, but it's got a slight spice to it. And I love spice, and I couldn't believe how tasty it was. And so now I make my own. I actually make my own version of it. I don't use the standard, the cabbage, I use normal red cabbage with onions. So I use my own version. But ultimately, just even a tablespoon a day is enough to feed the garden, to feed the soil of our garden. But, yeah, probiotics work very well. But I have been asked a question about prebiotics. Say I've tried one lot. The Goss I've tried before didn't really work too well, but I think also it depends where your gut is, because what I found is a lot of people here in a place like where I'm at with an autoimmune issue, is the probiotics. You need the good bacteria first to start lining, and then the fiber should be enough. Sometimes, like I say, green drink on top is good, a little bit extra.

 

[48:12] Leigh Brandon: Okay, awesome. So from your experience, have you noticed kind of like a difference on gut health or should I say a difference in the gut microbiome, depending on what type of diet someone is on. So whether someone's more vegetable based, whether someone's more kind of animal based, or somewhere in the middle, have you noticed any difference between the different types of diet?

 

[48:42] Heather Pearson: Yeah, more so with a healthier diet of no processed foods and sugars and bad fats. The trans fats more so. But I think really the key is having balance. And more so, I see it more with I don't see as much of a difference with someone who's a vegan and someone who's a protein lover, because as long as you get the right amount of fiber and you get the right amount of veg, then it doesn't matter. With protein intake, I think that's a slightly different subject. But still, what I do find is obviously proteins, the different quality of proteins, unique for different things. So that's a little bit more I'd say where I've seen sleep related can be sleep related, blood sugar related repair. So in that sense, yes, because if you don't have the right amount of protein, because obviously the school with protein is a different amount of protein in a bowl of chickpeas than there are in a chicken breast with a bowl of chickpeas. So it's the amount of proteins and the type of proteins that you can't get in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Proteins, again, they need to be broken down properly in the gut. But if you're taking adequate gut supplements to break these things down, we need protein for DNA, we need protein for repair, for injuries, which is another thing. I've seen also that people who have more protein in their meat protein, the repair via the gut for injuries is quicker. And that's not saying the same for everybody, just what I've seen with my experience. So that's probably the main difference, I say, that I've seen.

 

[50:47] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, it's interesting. I've delved quite deeply into the research into different kind of micro floors, depending on the type of diet that someone's eating. And what I've seen from the research is that plants are good, meat is bad. There's a few caveats to that. But that's pretty much the message that I get from the research. Now, obviously, we know research isn't always designed in the best possible way, which is kind of why I asked you that question. But my experience is I actually have a chart right above my desk that shows the different types of microbiome that you tend to get with different types of diet. And my experience is it just doesn't match that at all. Yeah, which is quite interesting. And what you said earlier, I think I can relate to. As long as someone's getting enough fiber, regardless of the type of diet they're on, it's probably the most important thing. Yeah, I mean, I can talk about my own experience, and I'm sure I've mentioned this on the podcast before, but in the first 30, 31 years of my life, I was constipated and didn't even know it. And the reason I didn't know it was because I had a bowel movement every day. And people don't realize that you can have a bowel movement every day but still be constipated. And basically what you've got, you've got a backed up colon. And I used to think that it was normal to spend 30 minutes to have a bowel movement, right? I didn't know any different. And then one day when my my boss pulled me aside, who sadly died recently, he pulled me aside one day and he pulled me aside one day and he said, why did you keep disappearing for half an hour? I said, Well, I'm going to the toilet. He said, but you're taking half an hour. And I said, yeah. He said, It doesn't take half an hour to go to the toilet. I said, I just didn't know any different, right? So then once I became more knowledgeable and started eating differently and interestingly, I changed my diet so that it had a higher proportion of fat and protein or animal food than when I was constipated and I started having what would be considered normal bath movements. I was no longer constipated and it was after I started eating more fat and protein, more animal based foods and less plant foods, which goes completely against the science, which to me just suggests that we're all different and we all react differently. And you've got to find out what works for you. That's what I got from that, which is interesting.

 

[53:43] Announcer: Get the radical health rebel ad free. Head on over to our Patreon channel at www.patreon.com radicalhealthrebel. It's the only place where you can watch full length, completely add and sponsor free episodes of the podcast. Plus, you can join the Radical Health Rebel Patreon community where you can have a say in the podcast. Watch exclusive behind the scenes clips as well as early access to the podcast@patreon.com Forward slash Radicalhealth Rebel.

 

[54:18] Leigh Brandon: Just a brief interruption to this podcast to talk about adult acne. Now, did you know that 40% to 54% of men and women older than 25 years will have some degree of facial acne? And that clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3% of men? I know only too well the devastating effects that acne can have on your confidence and your self esteem and how it can easily destroy your social life, your career and your relationships. I know this only too well because. I suffered from severe cystic acne from age 13 to 31 over an 18 year period. I visited my doctor on many occasions and his only suggestions were acne creams, harsh cleansers and antibiotics that weren't working and were actually making my skin worse. After 18 years of struggle and thousands of pounds invested in treatments that didn't.

Work, through my professional education, I began to learn that what my doctor had told me was untrue and that diet was directly related to acne plus other factors such as food sensitivities, toxicity, hormones, and balancing the body's microbiome. Putting what I had learned into practice. I managed to rid myself of acne over 20 years ago and have been helping others to do the same for well over a decade by teaching people what Foods calls acne, what food sensitivities each individual has, how to optimize their detox pathways, how to reduce environmental stresses and toxins, and how to balance hormones, especially those related to the mTOR pathway, a major causal factor with acne. I've been able to help many other adults overcome their acne nightmare too. So if you would like more information on how to overcome your adult acne, please go to www.skinwebinar.com. That's www.skinwebinar.com, where you can also request an acne breakthrough. Call with me to see if you are suitable for my Eliminate Adult Acne coaching program, where you can once and for all learn how to overcome your adult acne. Now back to the podcast.

 

[56:32] Leigh Brandon: So we've spoken a little bit about the gut lining, why it's important, how we can help kind of fix it, so to speak. You've mentioned stress. What other things can upset gut health?

 

[56:49] Heather Pearson: Well, long list. So first thing that comes to mind is antibiotics. That's probably one of the biggest culprits, I'd say, that upsets gut health and sends it into quite a large decline. Antibiotics, they pretty much ruin the gut lining. Obviously, we got stress, we've got lack of sleep. You have different types of stresses, though. You've got obviously, you've got the emotional stresses that you go through every day. You could have a physical stress, which can be something like a medical condition, having a heart condition, having a lung condition, have a thyroid condition. Those types of things we would class as a stressor. So a stressor to the body will affect the gut. Then you have things like childhood stresses, traumas that you've gone through as a child. If you were born early and you adjourned this, which would put your liver into a demise instantly, you'll be affected. And that will come from being a baby. If the mum was on antibiotics in her pregnancy, that will affect your gut and you will be born with that, whatever the problem is. So a lot of babies that you see with skin issues, eczema and allergies as a kid, and then you look at the statistics of the mothers who were on antibiotics, the, you know, the relationship is there's a huge correlation. Medications, so many medications, whether it's liquids, whether it's pills, medication again, rots the gut instantly. There are other things like toxicity, which is things like heavy metals, fillings, you've got things like mold we were talking about earlier. So different types of toxins, which you have again, all these what we call endocrine disruptors. They disrupt the endocrine system, they disrupt your DNA. There's so many different types. I mean, even walking around in the street, you've got petrol fumes that are toxic. Then you come back inside and you've got packaging. That's food is in that's plastic that's toxic. So there's toxins pretty much everywhere, whether you're ingesting it, you're inhaling it, you're eating out of it, all these different things. And then, of course, there's diet. Alcohol is another toxin there's eating food with trans fats, with high sugars, processed foods, with high salts. So these are all things that disrupt the gut. It's a long old list, very long list, even down to your garden and using a spray for the garden. I can't remember there was one particular spray that there's the research, actually, there was a lawsuit and the lawsuit was kept out of the public eye. Can't remember the name of it, but there was so much research. Pardon?

 

[01:00:19] Leigh Brandon: Glyphosate. Was it glyphosate?

 

[01:00:21] Heather Pearson: No, it's really, really well known. And the case was kept out of the public eye and it was basically where there was so much information. It was like the Aaron Brockovich film and the correlation between this pesticide killer, the garden spray, to cancer and all sorts of different cancers and all sorts of different diseases, not just cancer and gut health. And yeah, there was a lawsuit. It was millions, millions and millions that this company had to pay. But it was all kept out of the public eye. So there are lots and lots of toxins out there.

 

[01:01:04] Leigh Brandon: Was that made by Monsanto, that weed killer? Because that's the most common brand in the UK.

 

[01:01:10] Heather Pearson: Doesn't ring a bell. I can't remember. I'd have to look it up. Joyce was having a brain injury. Can't remember the simple things.

 

[01:01:19] Leigh Brandon: I remember being at my parents one day and I was in the garden and I just happened to look and I saw weed killer. And it was glyphosate made by Monsanto.

 

[01:01:29] Heather Pearson: Right.

 

[01:01:30] Leigh Brandon: And that's what you buy in all the garden centers. People are spraying that stuff on their lawns and letting their gas and their peers run around on the lawn, not realizing that they're causing them severe the damage. And then they get an illness, they take them to the doctor and the doctor just gives them some pills and they carry on spraying the grass.

 

[01:01:49] Heather Pearson: Yeah. And then eventually that will lead to more illness and more illness and obviously disrupts the gut bacteria and then leads to more illness and more illness. That cascade of events of illness, illness, illness. And you've got to go back to the main culprit, but that's where testing methods come in also.

 

[01:02:16] Leigh Brandon: So what are some of the common conditions that you see people having that are caused by the gut in your own experience?

 

[01:02:28] Heather Pearson: So conditions that most severe would be autoimmune issues. Autoimmune could be colitis, lupus, hashimoto's, rheumatoid arthritis and all of the above. Colitis, actually, IBS and Crohn's are found to be completely misdiagnosed. And I've managed to get people off their medication and obviously, typically present with diarrhea or constipation and Bloatedness after certain foods, and they'll be quite sensitive to foods. I'd say that the second most common thing I see is yeast overgrowth a typical Candida. The problem is with Candida is there's typically not always, but typically an underlying reason. And the reason with Candida can be anything from a bacterial infection some sort of dysbiosis, which again you have to test for, could be plain leaky gut. And that you'll see in a stool test. From certain markers of inflammation.

 

[01:03:47] Heather Pearson: I'd say they're probably the most common things that I would see. The yeast is very common.

 

[01:03:53] Leigh Brandon: So as someone who's done a lot of work with athletes and especially sports injuries, what significance would you say gut health has on performance and sports injuries?

 

[01:04:04] Heather Pearson: Well, the first thing is there's a huge link between gut health, a healthy gut and muscle function. Obviously there's the repair and the growth, but the function itself. So that's the first thing. The second thing is for an athlete to be lean and muscular. So if you're not absorbing nutrients properly, you're not going to have the muscle efficiency that you need. There's also the repair. If you do have an athlete has an injury, being able to recovery, the speed of recovery is imperative to an athlete's recovery, getting back to full performance, but optimal performance, ultimately gut health is linked, as I say, to muscle function itself. So if your gut is unhealthy and your muscles aren't performing as well as they should, and you're also looking at tendons and ligaments, as you know, you need strong tendons and ligaments for an athlete, not just the muscle itself. So being lean, the correlation of lower body fat percentage, which is if an athlete is stressed mentally or physically, gut health could be below par. So that's going to have an effect through the gut brain axis as well as performance itself through muscle function. Yeah, I mean, athletes tend to suffer as much stress as an average accountant, mother, whatever, in a different way. So the mental stress is just as important when you're looking at gut health for an athlete. It's keeping stress levels down, but yeah, very important for optimal performance. Gut health has to be 100% as close to it.

 

[01:06:09] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. One of the things I've seen a lot in my own practice working with anyone that plays sport or has any kind of physical activity is visceral somatic reflex, which for those who aren't aware of that, so visceral means organs. Somatic talking about the musculoskeletal system and if someone has inflammation in their gut, the visceral somatic reflex, what it will tend to do is it will inhibit the muscles that are inhabited by the same nerves as that organ. So if someone's got an inflamed small or large intestine, what it would tend to do is inhibit the muscles of the abdominal wall, particularly the slow twitch fibers, which we know play a massive role in motor control and posture. So if anyone wants optimal performance, what they definitely don't want is inflammation in their small intestine or large intestine. Because if their muscles of the deep abdominal wall, particularly the slow twitch fibers are inhibited, it means that their fast twitch muscle fibers are going to actually do the work that the slow twitch fibers should be doing. Now that's okay to a degree, but as we know, the fast twitch fibers will fatigue much quicker. And that's when towards the end of an event, an athlete might end up with a reduction in motor control because they're type two B or their fast twitch fibers have fatigued and now they've got unstable joints. Now their performance is going to be reduced and they're less likely to be able to stabilize the joints, which is going to also increase their likelihood of injury. So I found when rehabilitating people from injuries, that the gut health is actually the most important thing quite often to look at, because you can work on someone's physical body. You can do exercise, you can do soft tissue. Work. But if you don't deal with the gut issue, then the injury is just going to keep coming back because you haven't actually dealt with the root cause.

 

[01:08:24] Heather Pearson: Yeah, 100%. As I'm saying, one of the main issues I look at with injuries, with athletes comes from here. First because of stress. And as we're just saying, stress causes inflammation. Inflammation has detrimental effect on muscle function and we're talking, as we say, not just muscle, we're talking ligaments and tendons for stability. So once conquering the stress mentally as well as the physical guts, as I say, all my athletes are on BOV and a number of gut supplements, then you're kind of halfway there. But one of the main components I find with athletic performance, what influences the gut a lot is stress. That comes from mental health of the coping mechanisms. So that's quite a huge part of gut health. Huge part. Something I haven't mentioned, obviously talked about supplements. But the other side of the coin for gut health is actually coping mechanisms for stress which affect gut health a heck of a lot.

 

[01:09:44] Leigh Brandon: Heck of a lot, yeah. So things like having a daily meditation practice and things like that would be helpful, I guess.

 

[01:09:54] Heather Pearson: Yeah. I've got also parts sports psychologists, so I have a range of psychology tools. But one of the most simple tools is obviously meditations which you can cut down to just an affirmation here and there. You can say as many times in the day, you can associate it with a positive picture, visualized picture of something that means something to that athlete. But also one of the easiest things is diaphragmatic breathing. Five breaths, that's it, you're done an instant calm and wherever you are, especially if you are injured, then it's maintaining positivity. As we know, positivity has a positive physiological response in the body, particularly the gut, and calming the brain. When we move into that parasympathetic calm side of the brain with good digestion, the positively stimulates good digestion and lowers stress, which in turn lowers inflammation. And then you get all the cascading events that leads to all the positive stuff. So it's the mental stress. I think coping with stress is just as important. For the gut, which also enhances good bacteria.

 

[01:11:19] Heather Pearson: So, really important.

 

[01:11:24] Leigh Brandon: So, we've discussed quite a lot today, but what would be your top tips for achieving optimal gut health?

 

[01:11:34] Heather Pearson: Well, I would say.

 

[01:11:38] Heather Pearson: Really and truly.

 

[01:11:40] Heather Pearson: For optimal gut health, you need.

 

[01:11:46] Heather Pearson: Good.

 

[01:11:46] Heather Pearson: Sleep, a good diet, which includes a good amount of veg intake, and as far as I'm concerned, a good amount of protein also, and some general gut supplements. And number one is a positive mindset because if you can eat right and you're sleeping okay, but you're negative, eventually that will lead to a decline in gut health. So it's a package of good sleep, good diet, includes your veg, some basic gut supplements. Even if you just had bone broth once a day and had some sort of positivity in your life, whether it is doing a meditation first thing or it's going for a walk every day, which a lot of my patients, non athletes and athletes will do something like that, where they go for walk in a forest that they've got nearby, or a park where there's greenery, which we know the link between good bacteria and bathing in nature. As they say, there's a huge correlation between good bacteria and because it's diverse and it's local. Local bacteria means a lot for where you live. So also walking to clear your mind, you get the good bacteria at the same time, you get the distress at the same time. Bit of a double whammy. So, all of the above, having an animal also has been quite a good tip that I've given out to people. I'm just having an animal, the diversity of good bacteria from a cat. But cats, plants and nature, I'd say are a very good tip for the stress mechanisms because they're simple things in your life that can give you the extra enhanced good bacteria for a healthy gut, whether you're an athlete or no athlete.

 

[01:14:03] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, that's great. What's next for Heather?

 

[01:14:08] Heather Pearson: For me, continuing with my gut health regime. So, as you know, I have had many gut issues from the brain injury.

 

[01:14:23] Heather Pearson: And from heavy metal toxicity.

 

[01:14:25] Heather Pearson: Now I've got mold toxicity, so I've had an array of parasites and goodness knows how many gut infections. So leaky gut and constipation has been around for best part of two decades, so, and as a result, I've got three autonomy diseases, cancer in two places. For me, it's now continuing with my gut research also and trying to get myself healthy as well. I'd say I've been classed as the healthiest unhealthy person. So when it comes to gut health, I practice what I preach, very much so. And as we said before, experience counts. So the more experience I get with me, the more I can help other people with their guts. But ultimately, what I would say is testing, you've got to test, because testing, as much as it's expensive, it will tell you what's going on once you know what's going on, you can fix it.

 

[01:15:34] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, absolutely. And where can the audience find out about the courses that you do in your books and where else can they find you online?

 

[01:15:43] Heather Pearson: So my website is one body for life. One body for life. Number one. Number four. And all of the Strength Sensory courses are on there, which I'll be teaching the level two Gut Health in March, which is all about toxicity, specifically toxicity, heavy metals, medications, mold, and how to resolve how to test for them and how to resolve it. And so otherwise, there's the Strength Sensay website. The Strength Sensor Sensory Inc. I NC website. Sorry. And they've got a list of all the courses I'm teaching for them as well. And there's a website for my book which is Back Paintbrew Me, and that's got a whole subject on the gut.

 

[01:16:36] Leigh Brandon: Okay, great. And the courses that you're teaching, are they all in the UK?

 

[01:16:41] Heather Pearson: Most of them, yes.

 

[01:16:42] Heather Pearson: But I am due to teach, hopefully a course in Slovakia later this year and possibly Poland. But that's all being discussed as we speak. Okay, but on the gut specifically, we'll be in the UK.

 

[01:16:58] Leigh Brandon: Okay, great. And do you want to let the audience know a little bit about Headway?

 

[01:17:02] Heather Pearson: Headway? Headway is an association for brain injuries. So people were called brain injury survivors. And the website is a fantastic tool, not just for people with brain injuries, but also for people who are friends or family members of people who have had a brain injury. And I find it's useful for both parties because suffering with a brain injury is the facts on their reading about symptoms that you've got and coping mechanisms, different things that you can do to help is very comforting for someone with a brain injury. But for someone who's living with or had a friend or family member actually reading, there's specific articles for carers and for family and friends. And it's very, I think, enlightening, because for a lot of people, they don't really know how to cope when someone's had a brain injury and their personality changes, and a lot of people don't know how to cope with that. So the Headway website is amazing for that. Like absolutely amazing, and always doing charity events and there's just so much information on there. So if you have got a brain injury, you can also get what's called a brain injury card. So it's a little identification card that you can carry in your wallet. And so if you are having any issues with speech in a supermarket or whatever, you can pull the card out just to say, look, I've got a brain injury, please be patient with me.

 

[01:18:46] Heather Pearson: Because it's very hard to live with a brain injury.

 

[01:18:49] Heather Pearson: You can't see the symptoms, but Headway is definitely, in my eyes, the best website that's out there. It's so full of inflammation information and it's also got a very good support group called Health unlocked, which you can get. They have haven't got the app anymore, but it's on the internet, and you can just join it as a member and put your details in and then speak to other people around the world who are suffering with the same thing. It's a very good support network. It's excellent, actually.

 

[01:19:27] Leigh Brandon: And what's the headway website address?

 

[01:19:35] Heather Pearson: I can't remember my head. I think it's headway.org.

 

[01:19:42] Heather Pearson: The joys of having a brain injury.

 

[01:19:43] Heather Pearson: Is you forget the simple things. I think it's www.headway.org, I think. But if you google headway brain injury.

 

[01:19:56] Leigh Brandon: It will come up great. Awesome. Heather, thank you so much for taking your time out today to share your wisdom with Radical Health Rebel listeners and viewers. And to all the radical health rebel tribe. If you know someone who would benefit from watching or hearing this episode, please make sure to share the love and forward it on to them. After all, the mission of this show is to help people lead a more fun filled, healthy, productive, fulfilling and happy life. And if you'd like to support the podcast, you can for as little as one, takeaway coffee per month and go to Patreon.com Radicalhealthrebel, where you can also receive lots of other exclusive premium content for no extra fee, including unedited, full length ad, free video episodes monthly, Ask Me Anything, Q and A sessions, and discounts on my coaching programs. So that's all from me and Heather for this week. But don't forget, you can join me same time, same place, next week on the Radical Health Rebel podcast.

 

[01:20:58] Announcer: Thanks for tuning in to the Radical Health Rebel podcast with Leigh Brandon. You can find Leigh at www.bodychek.co.UK that's BodyChek co UK. Please hit the like button and share on your social media and with someone you feel will benefit from watching this episode. So together we can help them lead a healthier, more productive, fulfilling and happy life.

Heather's background
What is gut health
The Gut Barrier
What supplements can help heal the gut barrier
How diet affects gut health
What can upset the health the gut
What conditions can be caused by an unhealthy gut
What significance does gut health have on sports performance and injuries
Top Tips for a Health Gut