GUT HEALTH

What is gut health?

Your gut is like a tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus. While we are born pure, unfettered and uncontaminated, did you know that the moment you exit the birth canal, you start picking up the microbes from your environment? As Raphael Kellman says in The Microbiome Diet, “You become 90 per cent microbe.” If we look at ourselves, we are 10 per cent human and 90 per cent microbes. The collection of microorganisms that make our bodies their home is called human microbiota. The microbiome (the genetic code of each microorganism) is a miniature world of non-human organisms (microbiota) that flourish within your gastrointestinal tract. Our DNA makes us unique, and what we have discovered is we have a unique microbiome. Microbes encompass good bacteria, yeasts and enzymes. Our ‘gut flora’ defines our health. These sustain us and keep us going and are largely concentrated in the ‘gut”---just as in Ayurveda, where the seat of everything goes back to the digestive system, ‘agni’ as they refer to it. As a gut health nutritionist, Shonali operates using the same principles to guide you with foods that work for you.

Importance of gut health

It is important to maintain sound gut health since it is what governs our overall health and immunity. Gut health is crucial as the gut houses a strong ecosystem of diverse gut bacteria. The microbes in our gut control the responsiveness of the entire immune system as they communicate with the part of the immune system located in the intestine. These ‘conversations’ (Justin and Erica Sonnenburg: The Good Gut) help our body discriminate between harmless entities like food or havoc-creating microorganisms like salmonella.

How to improve gut health

Shonali’s training in the area of ‘gut’ strengthening comes after her experience with different ailments that stem primarily from here. She has worked over 3600 cases addressing the gut as an expert gut health nutritionist. Her research is backed by her book The Detox Diet, which puts forth her theory. It’s a good idea to read the book and understand how the gut functions. The cornerstone of Macrobiotics traditions includes foods that strengthen the human microbiome, and this is what marks Shonali’s specialisation as a gut health dietician.

The Macrobiotic approach is one of the world's strongest gut cleansing diet plans. Disease or lack of immunity stems from many reasons. Shonali works on eliminating the reasons that weaken your immune barrier. As a gut health nutritionist Shonali aims at building a healthy gut ecosystem by removing triggers such as medication, NSAIDs...and other foods.

Her gut cleansing program follows the approach as outlined in her book ‘The Detox Diet’. It involves adding high-fibre foods that feed the gut bacteria to nourish them, see them thrive, and fortify them with fermented foods (if they work for you). She then adds wholesome, natural foods and strives to work with your condition, tailoring your gut cleansing diet plan to suit you.

As a gut health dietician, Shonali specialises in ‘gut dysbiosis’—a breakdown of your gut, which is the underlying cause of many ailments (especially autoimmune conditions, allergies, recurrent infection, food intolerances, degenerative disease and those ailments that have broken down cellular functioning).

She has herself survived candidiasis (the multiplication of a negative bacteria that could result in recurrent yeast infections, inflammation, depression, mood swings, hormonal imbalance, mental fogginess, infertility, autoimmune disease, leaky gut, inflammation and a lot more) using the Macrobiotic approach. It took her 2 years to knock it out of her system, all thanks to the gut cleansing diet plans.