1. Not following a consistent treatment plan
I get it, you have been feeling bad and you’ve been researching gut health on the internet. You are following lots of gurus and are in lots of gut health groups on Facebook. This can be both good and bad.
In groups people tend to talk about what worked for them. So you start moving from one product to another hoping to make some impact on how you are feeling. You’re taking advice from anyone that has an opinion.
Just last week I was in a group and someone stated that they had a bleeding bowel. They received all these solutions around what they should do. The answers were mixed; add more fibre, try colloidal silver, eye of newt! Yet no one suggested that this person should go to the doctor. A bleeding bowel needs a doctor. Stat! There should be no hesitation to go to your doctor around these sorts of problems. In fact for me this is a red flag. A must go.
Find a qualified person that has the qualification in the area you need. No nutritional advice from your chiropractor, kinesiologist or personal trainer unless they have additional qualifications in this area. Nutrition is one area that can make or break your gut healing.
2. You are not committed to doing the work
Your mum follows a fantastic practitioner on Facebook or Instagram. She books you in for an appointment. You begrudgingly go. Do you think you will get results?
You have to be in the right headspace. You have to trust the practitioner. You have to believe they are going to steer you in the right direction. Ultimately though, you need to do the work. I have had clients that don’t give themselves the time to do the work. They are generally givers. They give to everyone but struggle when it is time for them to give to themselves. For treatments to work you have to be ready to do the work.
3. You don’t give yourself long enough for the protocol to work before switching to something else.
Gut health isn’t about taking a few supplements and changing your diet for a few weeks and you are all fixed. This may happen for some but for many it is not reality. For most, gut health can take as long as a year to really get nailed down. Longer if you have had the problem for any length of time. If you have had constipation for 2 decades 3 months is not going to fix your problem. If you have had diarrhoea for 40 yrs. I have had a client with this. It is going to take time, effort and trial and error on your part. You are going to need to make changes.
4. You haven’t nailed down your diet
This was one of the things happening with my lady that had diarrhoea for 40 years. She would get the diarrhoea under control then she would have a junk food binge and a night on the booze. Then her symptoms would come back.
I hear a lot of people say they don’t want to change their diet they just want to take supplements to get better. Unfortunately for them our gut is made up with living bacteria, giving them an ultra processed supplements won’t feed them. The food that they get from a fibre rich diet is what sustains them.
You need to constantly eat fresh foods to get the best of your gut bacteria with lots of diversity and colours. If you have been following along with me for any length of time you will know this is where you will see the best results.
5. You have not processed your emotions around the problem in your gut
This can be directly or indirectly related to what is happening in your gut. What do I mean by that. I once had a male client that had extreme constipation and it was linked to what was happening in his marriage. Once he could see that it was causing him to hold on to all aspects of his life his constipation resolved. He took actions to resolve how he felt about the situation and his life changed for the better.
If you have unresolved emotional trauma it will be part of your symptom picture. This includes chronic stress, not taking the time for yourself, being a chronic yes person or people pleaser. All these things can cause people digestive symptoms that can cause a pathological response. Investigate therapies like EMDR, PSYCH-K or find a great psychologist to help with this.
These mistakes are easily reversible so you can get the result you want for your gut health to thrive. It does take some commitment and perseverance from you to get the result you desire.
If you would like to know more about how I could help you, book in for a FREE 15 minute GUT HEALTH ASSESSMENT and let’s get you started.