My Post Pill Gut Healing Journey– A Personalized Case Study

After my struggle with healing my body post-pill, I decided I wanted to take my gut health to the next level. I knew that living with digestion distress didn’t have to be my way of life. I wanted answers and facts. I was tired of guessing. I decided to work with a holistic nutritionist to run tests on my gut and provide me a customized protocol for healing.

I did two tests. First, I did the MRT test which shows all the foods causing inflammation in my body for up to 150 foods/chemicals. Next, I did a stool test which shows the levels of bacteria in my gut, how my food is digesting, and the level of inflammation.

THE MRT TEST:

Here is a photo of my MRT results. >>>>>

It labels each food/chemical as either green, yellow, or red. The goal is to eliminate these foods for 3 months to reduce inflammation and allow the body to heal. Food sensitivities occur because so many of us have leaky gut. If you want to read more about leaky gut and what it is, go back to my post here. I knew I had leaky gut when I developed an intolerance to eggs a few years ago. Now I knew why I still wasn’t feeling amazing even though I only ate real food. Food like salmon, chocolate, coconut, turmeric, and cauliflower which were total staples in my life all were causing some type of reaction.

Looking back on my life, I realized that my gut was getting more “leaky” due to a few key factors. (If you need a refresher on leaky gut – read my post here.)

1. Stress – I never thought of myself as a stressed-out person, but the last few years have made me a basket case. I guess you never know what different experiences will bring out in you. I try to be as happy, motivated, and inspired as I can be, but life isn’t always that easy and figuring out to handle these “stressors” and self-defeating beliefs have been a challenge.

2. Medications – Medications of all kind damage the gut. Over using ibuprofen, the pill, antibiotics, Accutane…etc. Looking back, I honestly believe the pill did the most damage. Especially as we get into my stool test.

THE STOOL TEST:

Yes it sounds gross. But it was a new experience and who doesn’t like adding that experience into your life!? Haha My results surprised me, but at the same time did not. I was convinced that my food might not be absorbing into my body. Luckily, I was wrong. My food is absorbing wonderfully! I also thought I was not absorbing fat very well from not eating enough fat. That was also not case! YAY! But what here is what I did find out:

Bacterial Overgrowth – The pill disrupts your balance of good bacteria in your gut. And mine was no exception. Bacteria is necessary for a happy gut. But for optimal digestion, you want a healthy balance of good bacteria and not so high bad bacteria. I have a high level of one strain of bad bacteria and my good bacteria was OKAY, but could be higher. *Note this is not SIBO, this is an overgrowth in my large colon. This is a connection to my allergies, acne, and bloating.
Candida – The test also came back with some candida yeast particles. This is also very common post-pill because the level of bad bacteria allows the yeast to grow. Candida overgrowth causes loads of problems in the body and is the start of many chronic diseases. Symptoms range from achiness, acne, fatigue, allergies, leaky gut, headaches, bloating, constipation, and on and on. *DO not diagnose yourself with candida, I recommend taking a stool test to validate your belief.*
Inflammation Markers – This can back over the normal range which was another clear explanation of why my gut wasn’t always happy. Another good reason to stay away from the red and yellow MRT foods.

THE PROTOCOL:

First I want to note that this is MY personalized protocol. I do not suggest doing these tests on your own and following what I did. The point of doing these tests is to customize it to you!! I also highly suggest working with someone who can read these tests and guide you. (no google isn’t a guide) Yes it costs $$, but this is an investment in preventive health and your future. I believe that the minor symptoms are what lead to chronic disease. Most people live day to day just trying to get by. Most people will shell out thousands to fix themselves AFTER they are already very sick. Think about what you want and make the best choice for you! I must say that hiring a nutritionist helped to put my trust 100% in her. I knew I believed in her philosophy already, so that helped with the trust. But there is so much info out there on what you should and shouldn’t do that doubting what you are doing is exhausting. Pick someone and fully trust them. The bad thing about google is that we can question everything and doesn’t always get us anywhere….

Post- MRT Test Results:

Ok! So first things first. I got my MRT test results back in November and I had to start removing my list yellow and red foods. *pictured above*
I have to say it was quite helpful to start out with just the MRT test. The first week was stressful to adjust to a new way of eating. I sat down and made my own plan of recipes ideas and other ingredients I would need to keep around the house.

Here is a bit of where I struggled, what I found, and what I did instead:
I went a search to find gluten-free broth without celery in it or mushrooms…which was tricky to stay the least. But I eventually found a few!!

I had to cut even more processed foods which was good! I was heavily dependent on snack bars like protein bars and lara bars. It was VERY difficult to find processed foods without coconut oil and vanilla extract. Lemon flavored lara bars were my life saver over the month of December.

I went 100% gluten-free instead of just 98% of the time. So I had to cut out beer which was fine because around the holiday time I don’t really like beer. I prefer wine.

I really focused on rotating my vegetables more for variety and to avoid anymore intolerances. It wasn’t too hard to cut out cauliflower and spinach until you realized that is like 2 of the most popular health foods. Lol Also apple and oranges are EVERYWHERE!! Apples are used as a flavoring in teas! Mushrooms are one of the most popular trends right now so that is being thrown into everything!! Same with turmeric! And every paleo recipe involves coconut!!

So instead I made some basic switches.

Mashed Cauliflower -> Mashed Rutabaga (Way tastier and way less messy)
Coconut Milk – > Almond Milk
Coconut Butter –> Almond Butter
Coffee >> Pique Green Tea

Post Stool Test Results:

Once I got into the flow, it was easy to navigate until I got the next step. When the stool results came in, I had a new goal get rid of the bacteria overgrowth, candida, and help new bacteria to grow. Bacteria feeds from carbs so in order to re-balance everything I had to lower my starchy carb intake so the bad bacteria would stop growing.
This did not mean non-starchy vegetables so I could eat as much of those as I wanted! The goal was to limit starchy carbs to 1 serving a day or less. I also had to remove all alcohol, vinegar, gluten-free grains, and sugar of any kind. It took me about a week to mentally adjust, but again it wasn’t so bad once I got used to it.

Here is a bit of where I struggled, what I found out, and what I did:

I felt like I had no dessert options because sugar was out the window. I made nut butter cookies with monk fruit sweetener.
I resorted to pumpkin covered in nut butter with cinnamon, chia seeds, hemp seeds, nuts, or berries as my daily snack. ( I did limit fruit for 4 weeks)
I made sure I ate enough food for breakfast and lunch. It is very difficult to eat enough food so I had to do a lot more planning.
I had to find quick recipes that fit my protocol. The hardest things I had to ditch were vinegars and soy sauce. Coconut aminos is the best soy sauce replacement and I couldn’t have that because of my MRT test. For vinegar, I can only have apple cider vinegar, but I couldn’t have apples. ☹ So I was out of luck. But I got creative, and created a whole library of simple 1 pan recipes that fit my protocol.

I had to ditch vinegar and sweeteners, dressings, sauces, mustards, and Asian Meals…
>>Replaced with Indian 1 Pan Meals
>>Replaced with Taco Salads, Fajitas, Chili Lime Cod, Garlic Butter Shrimp, Home-made Meat sauce and spaghetti squash…..(see there is a lot I can eat!!)
>>Taught myself how to cook steak, pot roast, pork chops!! Win-Win!

The Supplements:

Last, I added on the supplements! The nice thing about the stool test is that it shows what type of anti-fungal and anti-bacterials that will work the best in YOUR body. I loved this!! I didn’t realize that some might not be as effective. Luckily I think I had the same supplement for both and the best one (IMO)….GRAPEFRUIT SEED EXTRACT.
I had never taken a liquid supplement before so I was a bit nervous. I thought it would taste horrible. But it tastes REALLY good. It tastes like candy haha!! Like how is this stuff killing my candida??
My nutritionist also has me taking a soil-based probiotic and some enzymes to break up the biofilm over the bacteria. I don’t fully understand what this does, but to my understanding the bad bacteria really likes to stay put so it makes a coating and this enzyme helps to break it up so I can get rid of it.
And that was all the supplements! I was quite happy that it wasn’t too overwhelming or pricy…it did add up, but mostly for the first month. I thought 3 supplements were totally doable.

Not too bad right?? I still have about a little over a month left on the protocol. I am excited to be done so I can enjoy a bit of coffee again. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by, but I think I picked the best months to do this protocol and I didn’t really plan that.
I have a few more posts I want to write specifically How I followed a Candida Protocol and Paleo Lifestyle on a Budget, and My Thoughts and Results – Post Candida Protocol. Last How I find Freedom in a Restrictive Healing Protocol.

Since I know you all want to know….I will share a bit of my results so far. This is just a teaser…so be on the look out for the full results!! Heck I still have time left for more.

-My digestion moves MUCH faster. (I didn’t just need to drink more water lol)

-PMS symptoms decreased specifically, sensitive breasts (which I have never had in my life) have decreased because the estrogen is processing out of my body must faster. (PMS is a sign of excess estrogen)

-I noticed a big difference in completely cutting out all grains, sugar, fruit, and coffee. My stomach feels more comfortable and my brain feels amazing.

– I feel like my brain functions at a high level, I don’t get brain fog at all or random fatigue over my entire body where I just can’t do much for the rest of the night.

– My sugar cravings are non-existent again. I miss sweets for the experience of trying new things but not because my body wants them.

-Going to events without alcohol is freeing, I really like it. I haven’t had to gone to many parties in the last few months, but I don’t miss drinking at all. I could fully be in the moment of where I was, enjoy the people I was talking to and I woke up the next day with a brain full of energy and no bloat. *win-win*

As you can see, I have a lot to say…this has been a great experiment to say the least. I will talk more about my results in another post. 😊

Please feel free to comment below or reach out to me if you have any questions – I am happy to answer them. My goal is to someday be trained on these tests so I can offer this resource to my clients. BUT if you need help transitioning to a new way of eating and making lifestyle changes effortless, I am YOUR woman. I am a pro at making this stuff as easy as possible. As you can see the first week was the hardest but after that it felt pretty easy!! I have even easily been able to navigate all sorts of social situations while on the protocol!! I know how to make this stuff easy so if you need help – please reach out! I would love to set up a free 30-minute consultation to guide you on making effortless lifestyle changes AND without breaking the bank!

I will end this post with a quote:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – If you don’t like what you see, you got to try something different!

xoxo
Love
Chelsea Jolene

PS! If you are looking for personalized support on your healing journey, I am now accepting 1:1 clients! I support my clients through specialty lab testing to find EXACTLY what their body needs and use my detective skills to connect the dots on their unique past and develop a simple to follow plan to get them back to feeling amazing! Just click here to apply (so I know a bit more of what is going on) and we can chat about exactly how we can restore your health! yay!

Questions? Email me at chelsea@cjwellness.com . xx