Gut Thrive – Christa Orecchio

STEP 1: THE DIET – SLASHING INFLAMMATION

Timeframe: Weeks 1 and 2

The foundation of gut healing is to stop putting things in your gut that don’t agree with it. The first step is to stop adding fuel to the fire! We let food be one of our major tools to reduce inflammation. We do this by removing the most common food sensitivities and inflammation-producing foods and by adding in soothing, calming, and healing foods. Next, we send in key enzymes and the dietary cleaning crew to rid the body of built up and chronic inflammation hiding deep within the pockets of intestinal folds.

Our meal plans are customized and compatible for ALL manner of GI Issues including but not limited to:

You’ll take a deep dive into truly using food as your medicine in Step 1. This is also where we build up liver health. Since the liver is the General of the body, it will need support for the journey ahead.

And since most people with digestive issues also experience adrenal and thyroid issues, we craft the meal plans to support both of these vital glands.

STEP 2: THE PATHOGEN PURGE

Timeframe: Weeks 3-6

The next step in the healing process is to eliminate pathogens from the gut—the natural way. Intestinal pathogens (parasites, protozoa, bad bacteria, yeast, fungus, viruses, heavy metals, worms) may have been wreaking havoc on your digestive system by disrupting the natural balance of things and causing the uncomfortable symptoms you experience every day.

Our cutting-edge approach uses the highest-quality, proven supplements to begin ridding the gut of these “bad guys.” The supplements are paired with other customized, strategic cleansing methods that assist your body’s detoxification process.

More importantly, this purge is done in a totally natural way—instead of “killing them” which could cause more damage in the aftermath (whether you do it the western way with antibiotics or the natural way with botanicals), we take away their communication method, make the environment uninviting for them to stay in, and take away their primary food source.

The past decade has seen the emergence of a new field in basic microbiology. Scientists had long held the view that bacterial cells behaved as self-sufficient individuals, unable to organize themselves into groups or communicate…but little did we know how smart they really are.

Just like no man is an island, we now know that similar to military alliances, bacteria and other pathogens function in groups, sending chemical signals to each other that allow them to form physical structures (like forts or bunkers) to protect themselves. These physical structures are called biofilms.

Biofilms protect bacteria and pathogens from the “fire” of pharmaceutical or even natural antibiotics so that they can remain intact.

The bad guys who are protected in their biofilms are not killed by the antibiotic treatment, while our good guys who haven’t yet learned to properly communicate and build biofilms are destroyed. This leaves our immune systems in big trouble and can drive us deeper into GI dysfunction and autoimmune disease.

This is exactly why we employ a different strategy to get the “bad guys” out. We dismantle their biofilms to take away their protection before we try to remove them from the body.

We do that by weakening their alliances through intercepting the way they send chemical signals to each other (like taking away their cell phones) to remove their “strength in numbers” advantage. So now they can no longer communicate, or “quorum sense” to put it in scientific terms.

This escorting out of the body continues in Step 3, however the strategy now shifts to allow for greater efficacy.

Most people are aware that we have good bacteria (symbiotic) and bad bacteria (pathogenic), but we also have a neutral type of bacteria called commensal bacteria.

Commensals are like impressionable teenagers. They are neither good nor bad. They are malleable. It’s the influence exerted upon them that helps them develop their character as good or bad.

Since commensals have the ability to co-evolve with their host, we want to convert them to the good side.

Thus for those remaining pathogens (we need some “bad” pathogens to stay in order to challenge and inform our immune system) that still pose a threat to our long-term health, we must use good bacteria as the military leaders who exert their positive influence on the commensals, turning them from neutral bacteria that are taking up space, to helpful bacteria that now contribute to the long-term health of the body.

Thus the reseeding phase in Step 3 brings in the peacekeepers in effort to establish both a new terrain (the equivalent to planting a garden) and a new order amongst “the people” (your digestive system).

STEP 3: THE RESEEDING AND HEALING OF THE GUT

Timeframe: Week 7 and 8

THIS IS PART 1 OF STEP 3: THE RESEEDING PROCESS

Now that we’ve had our respectful military coup and the poor leadership of pathogenic organisms have been removed from power (they can now stop confusing your body, causing your symptoms and “dis-ease,”), the new leadership of good bacteria with good intentions are brought in and peacekeeping efforts can begin!

It’s time to reeducate your entire immune system so that it can follow its original genetic blueprint of health. Through diet and supplements, we give a carefully crafted mixture of 10-13 superstar strains of good bacteria specific to your unique digestive issues. We then let your body attract the other hundreds or thousands of strains native to your original genetic origin.

This step gives your body the information it needs to now attract hundreds or thousands of other beneficial strains of bacteria from the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, and the environment you live in. These strains will be unique to YOU and your biochemical individuality.

Under the good leadership of your symbiotic bacteria, the commensals learn to behave in your best interest.

This step acts much like a starter log because we give you the good bacteria you need to “kick it off” and then once the fire has been started, we let your own brilliant immune system and the healing foods you are now eating take over from there.

What kinds of bacteria are responsible for our gut health?

Because it’s truly open warfare in the microbiome, let’s use military analogies to understand the role of certain probiotic strains here.

Now that we’ve dismantled the biofilms/bunkers of the bad guys in Step 2, and began reseeding/peacekeeping efforts in Step 3, we can now focus on teaching the good guys how to have rock solid communication so they form strong alliances and build positive biofilms, which will keep you safe and protected with a healthy immune system for a long time to come.