Did you know that 75% of your immune system is in your gut? Or that 95% of your serotonin is produced in your intestines? Little wonder that it’s sometimes called your “second brain!”

According to Dr. Axe, there are four R’s to healing the gut:
• Remove
• Replace
• Repair
• Rebalance

Remove—foods and triggers that upset your gut
• Stress
• Unnecessary medication
• Environmental toxins – remove non-organic foods, fast foods, unhealthy foods, GMO foods
• Trigger foods – caffeine, gluten, dairy, refined sugar

Replace—trigger foods with healing foods
• Fermented veggies – sauerkraut and kimchi
• Green juice
• Organic nutrient rich fruits and veggies

Repair—with supplements
• Digestive enzymes
• L-Glutamine acid
• Liquorice root
• Quercetin

Rebalance
• Probiotics (the good bacteria in your gut)
• Prebiotics (what feeds the good bacteria in your gut)

It was Hippocrates that first said “All disease begins in the gut.” And he was right. Therefore, healing needs to begin in the gut. As you get started on your journey to health, this is the first place you need to focus some loving attention. We reached out to two of our favorite health and wellness experts, JJ Flizanes and Evita Ramparte, to talk all things digestion!

Digestion is everything. It’s your fuel source. Everything you put in your mouth gets broken down in your body and either gets used up as energy, gets turned into cells, or gets eliminated. The quality and variety of what you choose to eat determines how well your body functions. But modern diets are packed with allergens (GMOs, glyphosate-sprayed wheat, chemical additives, gluten, dairy, pesticides, etc.) that the gut cannot process. The result? Inflammation, depression, chronic disease.

One of the most common digestive problems is leaky gut. Your gut wall is lined with villi—these are tiny finger-like structures that filter out food particles, absorbing the good stuff and keeping other stuff out. But when you eat foods that your body struggles to break down, it becomes wedged in your gut lining. Over time this creates micro tears in your intestine, which means undigested food particles, that are supposed to be contained within the gut wall, escape into your bloodstream. This triggers an immune response: your body attempts to protect itself from what it considers a foreign invader by sending white blood cells to attack. The result? Inflammation. And the more you keep eating foods you can’t digest, the more tears appear, the more inflammation you experience, and the more your health deteriorates. The first thing to do if you want to heal your gut is a 2 to 4 week elimination diet. JJ teaches the best way to do this in her 5-month Invisible Fitness transformational program.

Symptoms of poor digestion:
• Skin irritation – eczema, rashes, etc.
• Constipation
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Bloating
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Cramps
• Excess mucus (throat and nose)
• Are you pooping right? Check out the Bristol Stool Chart!

But more than just diet, your emotions are heavily involved in gut health. In fact, how you digest food is linked to how you digest life. When your emotions are blocked, they’re usually blocked in the gut. If you have a digestive issue that no supplementation is fixing, it could be an emotional issue. If you’re sad or stressed or holding on to anger, your gut responds to that.

Goddess of Wellness and Tigress of Business, Evita Ramparte shares her secrets to healing your gut through juice cleansing. Evita healed her ovarian cancer and lost 50 pounds in just a few months thanks to detoxing, a raw vegan diet, and transforming her emotions. You can listen to her incredible healing story in Episode 57.

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

Welcome to our Tuesday Q&A! Before we get to the questions, we want to share our favorite tips for becoming healthier, happier, AND hotter. Listen now [bitly]!

• Do something you love every single day. Dancing, singing, painting, spending time with loved ones, cooking--whatever your passion, carve out time in your day to experience something that brings you joy. Even devoting just five minutes to your passions will leave you feeling more uplifted all day and that joy will extend into all areas of your life.
•
• Choose Happiness. Happiness doesn’t come from external things (new car, promotion, marriage, baby, etc.) it comes from within. Your happiness is a choice. And the way into that happiness is gratitude. Check out the book Believing in Myself by Earnie Larsen.
• Eat high vibe energizing food. No, we’re not talking about caffeine. ;) Most of us are stuck in a junk-food cycle. We eat foods that make us feel sluggish. We opt for sugar and coffee to perk ourselves up, which only leaves us feeling more tired. Break the cycle and focus on high vibe energizing foods instead. Think: a banana with a spoonful of nut butter, veggies dipped in tahini dressing, avocado and aminos, fruit or vegetable smoothies, raw soups, green powders, maca, chia seeds, cacao….
• Forgive and be grateful. If you hold onto anger or judgement against another person, or yourself, it only hurts you. Holding onto anger is like holding a hot coal. If you want to be free and experience true happiness, you must forgive and release that negative emotion. You can choose to be a loving human being to yourself and to others. The way to get there is through gratitude.

Now let’s dig into this week’s questions!

Question 1: What’s the best way to tone and lift a saggy butt?
We reached out to Ella Magers for her secrets to a toned and tight booty. There is no one-size-fits-all perfect butt: a sexy booty is the healthiest fittest version of your own. To achieve that, you’re going to need to clean up your diet and do some targeted exercises. Squats and lunges are your best friends. Depending on your specific goals, you’ll either need to do more reps (to tone up) or add some weights (to build and firm). If you want an awesome work out for your booty, then check out the Brazil Butt Lift Workout!

Question 2: What are your thoughts on plant milks and which do you recommend?
To answer this question in depth we asked Eco Vegan Gal Whitney Lauritsen, our go-to-girl for the latest in vegan research and taste-testing. We love plant milks and have probably tried all of them, but here are some of our favs: Oatly oat milk (we’re a bit obsessed with this one, it’s super creamy!) and So Delicious coconut milk are perfect if you have a nut sensitivity because they’re nut free. If you don’t have an issue with nuts, then Milkadamia macadamia nut milk Califia Farms almond milk, Forager cashew milk, and Rice Dream rice milk are all delicious.

You can make milk from most nuts and grains (like quinoa, hazelnuts, flax seeds, hemp seeds, etc.) so experiment to find your favorite. Whatever brand you go for, make sure you check the ingredients—some brands are more processed than others.

Question 3: How flexible is JJ Flizane’s Invisible Fitness Course and what’s included?
JJ’s five-month transformation course, Invisible Fitness, is a self-paced online program. When you sign up, you decide when you want to start. You get a 30-minute coaching call with JJ every month where you can get support with whatever you need. These coaching calls can be grouped together to fit your unique needs. You also get personal attention from JJ via her Invisible Fitness Academy, where you’ll find a supportive community and accountability partners. The course is flexible and customizable! You can get in touch with JJ at info@invisiblefitness.com for more information.

If you want to reach your fitness and wellness goals, and be the healthiest, happiest and hottest version of yourself, then JJ’s course is perfect for you—but hurry because there are only 2 weeks left to enroll! Click here to get all the details about the course, plus fabulous bonuses!

Natural Tooth Powder Recipe
The most important thing you can do for your teeth and mouth is to move away from conventional toothpaste brands, as they contain ingredients that are known to disrupt hormones and irritate gums. Instead, make your own mouth-and-tooth-friendly natural products. This is Suzy’s new and improved tooth powder recipe:

• 1/2 cup baking soda (neutralizes the acids in your mouth, makes your mouth alkaline, which means bacteria can’t grow there)
• 3 tbsp calcium carbonate powder (for healing receding gums)
• 1/8 cup Himalayan salt, milled very fine (for tightening gums)
• 10-20 drops therapeutic grade essential oil (peppermint, spearmint, lemon, clove, you can blend these to suit you)
Optional:
• You can also add 1 tbsp dried herbs like mint, sage, parsley, lavender – get experimental and add an earthy vibe to your toothpaste!
• For a little sweetness, add Xylitol, which is antimicrobial and great for your teeth

If you have gum recession, get some comfrey root, make tea from it, and use it as a mouthwash—it will help regrow your gums. You can also get calcium ascorbate powder, which is vitamin C buffered with calcium. A little bit applied to your gums will bring them back to health. If you don’t have time to make your own natural toothpaste, try Ecodent.

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

We're thrilled to be talking to two fitness experts, Sexy Fit Vegan Ella Magers and Fit2Love’s JJ Flizanes about how to jump-start your fat-burning efforts, boost your metabolism and get fit fast!

Voted one of the 50 hottest trainers in America by Shape Magazine, and motivated by her love of animals to make a positive difference in the world, Ella Magers is dedicated to helping people reach their health goals. You might think that crunches and sit ups are the best thing for your abs, but you’d be wrong. In fact, those exercises might even be damaging your spine. It’s all about strengthening your core, and cleaning up your diet. Filling your plate with nutrient dense plant foods. You don’t need to give up your social life to get abs, you can do it with a balanced lifestyle; you simply need to find what works for you.

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

We’ve admired her for a long time and we’re so glad to have her on the show! Kathy Patalsky was inspired by her love of animals and her struggles with an eating disorder to start the vegan food blog HealthyHappyLife over a decade ago.

But as we know, being a successful eco-entrepreneur isn’t always easy. Too much work, no socializing, no time to process emotions. Invariably this affects our physical health. For Kathy, this manifested as asthma flare-ups, exhaustion, depression, and panic attacks. Doctors and naturopaths couldn’t diagnose anything specific. The cause: repressing emotions. Pretending everything is ok. Basically, faking it.

Can you relate? We can! And we need to stop. It’s natural not to want to be judged for feeling sad, or being unable to cope with a crazy workload, or not being “perfect.” But, plastering a smile on your face and saying, “I’m fine” only makes it worse. You need to be vulnerable sometimes, to be gentle with yourself, to reach out to a friend, to give in to what your body is calling out for, whether that’s a hug, a walk in nature, a massage, meditation, or healthy plant-based food.

Kathy’s websites HealthyHappyLife and FindingVegan are the perfect places to get inspired to add more vegan goodness to your life. And with the app, you can literally veganize any dish (there are over 116,000 recipes!!). If you’re a plant-based food blogger, head to Kathy’s Facebook Group to connect with and get support from like-minded people. If you have a question about veganism or panic attacks, reach out to Kathy via her FB or Twitter.

Kathy has also written the best-selling books 365 Vegan Smoothies (where you’ll find smoothies for your every wellness need) and Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen (which groups together Kathy’s favorite and most popular recipes).

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

Are you addicted? Probably. Addiction is simply a movement away from feeling something. Most of us don’t want to feel—we seek to distract ourselves. And most of us are addicted—to coffee, to control, to sugar, to approval, to people pleasing, to social media, etc. These addictions are simply the strategies we’ve found to keep ourselves from experiencing, and expressing, unpleasant feelings and emotions.

Feelings don’t just appear out of nowhere. They are an energy born of your mental chatter. First you have a thought. From that comes an interpretation (depending on your life experience), which then determines how you feel about it.

“The emotion that can break your heart is often the very one that heals it.” In other words, you have to feel it to heal it. Unexpressed emotion and repressed anger will only cause more of the same, and damage your health too.

So how can you embrace and process your feelings? Tune in to discover JJ’s 3-step process!

What about body shame? No matter our shape or size, the majority of us have some form of body shame: we dislike our bodies, put ourselves through extreme workouts, go on diets, but nothing ever works. And this is because we’re only addressing the surface. Everything from your biology to your spirituality, your endocrine system, thoughts and beliefs, are all part of fitness, even though they’re invisible. We need to go deeper than dieting and exercise.

JJ Flizanes is an empowerment strategist, personal trainer, podcast host and best-selling author. Her latest book “The Invisible Fitness Formula: 5 Secrets to Release Weight & End Body Shame” is dedicated to helping you address the emotional causes of weight gain, and reconnect with your body.

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!