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Client Highlight; Meet Daphné

Daphné reached out to me with energy issues and cravings.

Her sleep wasn’t great and she occasionally felt foggy and forgetful, especially if she was feeling hungry or skipped a meal.

Daphné is a beautiful and dedicated young teacher that loves her new career.

While discussing her goals, she made it clear that she didn’t want a restrictive program and didn’t want to feel deprived.

Upon reviewing her forms, she reported some digestive complaints as well some minor skin issues that were bothering her. She also experienced occasional tingling and numbness in her legs.

We started out by working on prioritizing sleep and integrating a few simple lifestyle things into her routine.

As a culture that puts a lot of value on doing, we tend to undervalue sleep. Sleep is where healing and regeneration occurs and it’s foundational to overall health.

We also looked at her stress picture which was exceptionally high considering the fact that she was juggling a full time teaching position as well as completing Master’s level studies .

The focus of our work was balancing insulin levels, supporting her gut and ensuring that she was giving her body nutrient-dense fuel.

All of that was wrapped up in a bit more mindfulness and self-love ❤️

Shining a light on her stress allowed Daphné to really see how much of an impact it had on digestion and energy levels.

This helped her create some boundaries in order to prioritize herself and her energy.

2 months in, she dropped 10 lbs.

The weight loss was not intentional but moving towards more stable insulin levels and higher quality foods allowed her body to naturally release extra weight and achieve those stable energy levels that she was looking for.

By supporting her gut with wholesome foods and probiotics, her brain fog lifted and her cravings went away.

Prioritizing healthy fats and crowding out inflammatory fats had a positive impact on her skin and the tingling and numbness in her legs.

Daphné is proactive, self-responsible and engaged in her own healing.

What’s more, she enjoys her new eating style and sees it as something that she’ll be able to maintain long-term.

 

Here are a few words from her:

”Before meeting Kim, I was experiencing unstable energy levels, cravings, bloating, brain fog and fatigue, to name a few.

I had been observing these symptoms forever, thinking this was normal.

These states of mind kept going on and on until I finally decided it was enough. One day I reached out to Kim, not knowing this would be a gift to my mind and body.

When Kim asked me to fill in lifestyle forms and questionnaires to draw a portrait of my health profile, the results were speaking.

My score was relatively high for one of them, which meant something was up.

Working with her allowed me to reconstruct my idea of food. This experience has not only taught me about food and its impact on the body, but it has also taught me what my body needs.

She gave me tools and handy advice that are useful daily.

About three months in, I feel like the symptoms bothering me have diminished or disappeared.

I no longer crave sugar and have stable energy throughout the day. I learned to listen to my body and to be aware of the messages sent from it.

Believe me, Kim can make your life much more enjoyable!”

Thank you Daphné, for sharing your inspiring story and congratulations on taking charge of your health.
oxo
Kim

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Friends With Benefits

The friends I’m referring to are the bacteria and microorganisms that make up your gut microbiome. What were you thinking?

We possess more of these microorganisms than we have cells in our entire body.

More and more research is coming out revealing just how much clout these friends with benefits have over us.

Specifically how they affect our brain, behavior and mood. They even play a part in the regulation of compounds like serotonin, our feel-good neurotransmitter.

Conversely, our gut bacteria are intimately affected by our diet, a poor night’s sleep, stress levels or even by emotions such as anger.

There is a new term that’s been coined called Psychobiotics, (microbiota interventions) to help treat a variety of mental health conditions.

 

Here’s a small sampling of some of the research:

–Studies have shown that a specific strain of gut bacteria appear to improve the mood of anxious and depressed mice.
–Germ-free mice and rats without any microbes in their guts, (raised in sterile environments) are more likely to be anxious and are less sociable.
–Mice given antibiotics (well known to interfere with gut bacteria) are more prone to hyperactivity, risky behavior and have more trouble remembering and learning.
–A study done on people experiencing mild to moderate depression showed that those receiving probiotics experienced an improvement in mood compared to those taking a placebo.
–In a large study, those that received antibiotics (disrupting gut bacteria), scored lower on cognitive tests and the effect carried over for several years.
–Elderly with more diverse microbiomes have much better health outcomes and less cognitive decline
–Prebiotics (food for beneficial gut microbes) improved cognitive function and problem solving in people with psychosis.

Get the complete article HERE

 

So here’s the thing; things like stress, antibiotic use (personal and in our agricultural systems), processed food, over sanitization and even increases in c-section births ALL have an impact on the diversity of our microbiomes.

 

Less gut diversity has been linked to conditions like diabetes, MS, irritable bowel disease and even obesity.

The good news is there is a lot you can do:

-Eat a variety of fermented foods like kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, yoghurt, kombucha, miso… rotate them and get some in DAILY. Consider a probiotic supplement if you won’t eat fermented foods.
-Eat a wide variety of seasonal, whole foods like vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruit. MIX IT UP. Wider variety of foods equals a wider variety of gut microbes.
-Take in some extra fiber like chia, psyllium or ground flax, work in more legumes. Your gut bugs love fiber.
-Skip the packaged or processed foods, although your taste buds may be addicted, the additives and chemicals are poison for your gut bugs.
-Connect with people, hug, shake hands, touch. We were not designed to live isolated, sterile lives.
-Move your body. Exercise affects your gut bacteria and people that exercise show a wider diversity of gut flora than peeps that are sedentary.
-Manage your stress, even a few minutes of mindfulness everyday will help on many levels 😉

 

Funny how the most powerful solutions always bring us right back to the basics.

I hope this inspires you. Consider sharing this with someone you love.

Kim

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