867. Why You’re Bloated, Tired + Craving Sugar

23:36And I, and I just, watch the kid move all the vegetables off and eat the pancake. And I'd be like, you're killing me. I know.

23:44Lindsey Simcik:I try to stuff my pancakes with like fiber, the greens, the protein, like what else can I put in here? Oh, we have served so many tainted brownie mixes, but exactly same thing. Yeah. Yeah. It's a fun, it's a fun little project, but you know, obviously if you put a lot of work into it and then they reject it, it's, it's not so fun, but this is great. So I want to go back to the gut microbiome because I feel like we had a moment where it was like all everyone was talking about. Um, and then all everyone was talking about was protein. So I think we're kind of, we're, we're moving on and maybe having a more holistic view of everything, but is there, um, is there any symptoms that could come up or things that could happen when we're having too much protein and not enough fiber?

24:35Lindsey Simcik:Because I feel like a lot of people are just like proteining out right now. Yeah. Yeah. And protein has a lot of benefits. And especially if you're on any certain medications that can cause you to lose muscle mass, then it's really important that you're getting your proteins in you. But if you are on those medications, many people also experience digestive issues. And so the fiber can help you fix that. Ah, okay. Okay. And we're talking about GLP-1s. Yeah, sorry. No, no, no, it's fine. No, yeah. But the gut, so you mentioned that your metabolism is connected to your gut health. Can we go into that and why that is?

25:15How that works? It's maybe not the most intuitive thing at the onset. You're like, okay, I know my gut helps me with bowel movements and digestion, things like that, but what's it doing with metabolism? And so So actually, when you think about it, everything you eat kind of goes to the microbiome to get processed after it gets to the stomach. And so that's where a ton of the action is happening. Your microbiome is basically like this big manufacturing plant and all the food that's coming in. There's like these different departments that are taking that food and they're processing them and they're generating all these nutrients that are really important for your body.

25:46And so one of those departments actually takes the fibers that you're eating and converts it into stimulating your body's natural GLP-1 production. Interesting. So, yeah, a lot of people don't realize your microbiome can actually stimulate your GLP-1. That's how it's supposed to naturally work. You eat food. That food stimulates your – that food goes into your microbiome. Your microbiome stimulates GLP-1. And GLP-1 goes up in your bloodstream. that tells your brain you're full and that tells your body to start processing sugars. And so, because you probably just ate something with sugars in it.

26:20So if you're missing those microbes, you're depleted in that department that does that work. You're not getting the right GLP-1 stimulation at the right time. So you could be eating when you're not really hungry and just having those sugar cravings, things like that. That's right. You could be having cravings where you're like, I know I'm not supposed to eat this, but you're having weird cravings at weird times. and you are also likely having some GI issues. Interesting. Okay, great.

26:47Lindsey Simcik:Is that for everyone? Could everyone have that experience of stimulating their GLP-1 or are there certain blockers in certain conditions or body types? I guess my question is kind of pointing to, I think a lot of people are GLP-1s. I think they can be incredibly helpful and amazing for a lot of people. is there a subset of people where this would be better for them, where they can eat more fiber, have like more of a balanced nutrition, uh, intake and stimulate their GLP-1 naturally? Yeah. So first of all, I think the massive uptake of the GLP-1 drugs tells us that for most people, if you could get more GLP-1 at the right time, you're probably going to benefit from it.

27:35I mean, I think that's really what that's shown us. And you can see it's working for a wide variety of people, right? It doesn't really matter your race, your size, your sex, your diet. It seems to me that what we're seeing is that GLP-1s are really working across the board. So that's a great indicator that GLP-1 is a really important small molecule that everyone can benefit from. And so if you want to, and I think the drugs definitely have their place, and so not anti-GLP1s. And I think in addition to that, separately, you can also try to stimulate your body's natural GLP1. And if you believe that most people can benefit from that, then you have to believe that most people can benefit from your natural GLP1 methodology.

28:16And the tools there are eating fibers, eating polyphenols, supplementing your microbiome with those strains that are in that particular department that helps stimulate GLP1. These are things that you can be doing that I think are additive and beneficial. Great.

28:31Lindsey Simcik:Does fiber have any benefit to the brain? There are some studies showing that fiber can feed strains in your microbiome that can stimulate neurotransmitters. So things like GABA and serotonin, these are neurotransmitters that your gut makes a ton of. And there's actually a direct connection between your gut and your brain called the vagus nerve. So it's like the highway that all these things that are generating the gut can all make their way up into the brain. And so fiber can help stimulate those strains and help them grow. And so it's beneficial really. That's why when we getting back to the first question of what are the markers that your practitioner is seeing, it's when they start to see little signs across the board that it might be an indicator that you're low in fiber because fiber can help stimulate strains that help you with your metabolism, your cardiovascular health, your brain function, your energy, all of those things and your digestion.

29:25Right.

29:26Lindsey Simcik:Are there certain strains of like probiotics, prebiotics that you feel like we're not getting enough of that could be beneficial just to switch to the probiotic conversation while we're in the gut? Yeah. So, um, you know, if we're thinking about, um, the, that metabolism and that GLP one pathway there's two strains in that department that have been found, and they're called acromansia mucinophila and clostridium butyricum. So those two strains are the only two strains that have been peer review published that can directly stimulate GLP-1. So I'll look for those two. Okay, great. I'm holding up this bag of the gut fuel.

30:09So the prebiotic fiber, the polyphenols,

30:15Lindsey Simcik:and so it boosts the acromansia if i'm saying that right it boosts it because it feeds it exactly okay exactly it's the food and that's basically i'm like making sense of it's like all a family it's like all helping each other yes exactly so you think about the probiotics or you know things like acromansia and those strains those are the living bacteria and organisms that actually do all the work and this is their food so you're feeding them so that they can continue to grow and thrive and do their job. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it's a reminder that whatever you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone.

30:56Lindsey Simcik:Life has seasons. We know this. Some feel really grounded, and others can feel overwhelming, especially when you're carrying things quietly in your own head. I think there are always things that keep us up at night. I've got a few of those right now, big decisions, transitions, relationships, work, and it's easy to feel like we're supposed to figure it all out ourselves, but no one has all the answers. That's the truth. Having someone to talk to who's there to listen and support can make a huge difference. And therapy can be a space to sort through what's coming up. BetterHelp connects you with licensed therapists and does the matching for you.

31:38Lindsey Simcik:So easy with a short questionnaire that takes two seconds. It's really not long. And if the fit isn't right, you can switch any time. With over 30 ,000 therapists and millions of people served, it's the world's largest online therapy platform. You don't have to be on the journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10 % off at betterhelp.com slash almost 30. That's betterhelp.com slash almost 30. One thing I really try to stay consistent with is my morning routine. Even when my schedule gets really busy or I'm traveling, which I'm doing next week, I really like to have something to help me start my day feeling really good, really healthy.

32:21Lindsey Simcik:And for me, the challenge is doing that even when I'm on the go. But I have been loving and saying this from the rooftops, cachava. Their new travel packs make it so easy to throw a pack into my bag and still have my favorite all-in-one nutrition shake wherever I am, whether I'm heading to the studio or traveling to LA like I am next week or just running between things. It really helps me keep that ritual of nourishing myself without overthinking it. Each packet has plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, greens, probiotics, omegas, and electrolytes all in one simple shake. and it's delicious.

32:57Lindsey Simcik:I also love that it supports things like energy, digestion, and overall wellness, and it actually tastes really good. So the travel packs come in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, matcha, chai, coconut, acai, and strawberry. So it's really easy to switch it up. I love the chocolate. I love the strawberry. It just makes staying consistent feel very effortless for me, which I need in this season of my life, even when my routine changes or it's all over the place. So take your daily ritual with you. Go to cachava.com and use code ALMOST30 for 15 % off your first order. That's cachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A.com.

33:34Lindsey Simcik:Code is ALMOST30. And if you don't feed them, so if people aren't getting enough fiber or the right type of fiber, then you're seeing gut issues, even though you could be taking pro-1 prebiotics. Yeah, you could be taking, if you're not getting, so fiber is a type of prebiotics. So there's prebiotics and fiber is one of the types of prebiotics. And so if you're taking prebiotics that don't include fiber, and then you're not feeding those strains, and then you're also not supplementing with those strains, then you're low in that department. Got it. Okay. All right. And for some people, you know, like I say this about our probiotics all the time.

34:16People are like, do I have to take this thing forever? And the answer is no, you don't. Because if you take those probiotics and they start to colonize, then you're in great shape. But for them to colonize and keep doing their job, you got to feed them. So I think there's a great kind of one-two punch here, which is the food for those strains and take the strains. And then you can see if you can just remove the strains and just take the food for the strains. There's a lot of reasons our microbiomes are depleted in those different strains. And we can get into that. But in general, if you can feed them, you're in pretty good shape.

34:47Okay. And why are they depleted? Let's get into that because I'm curious. Yeah. You can get to your microbiome, first of all, the key to a strong microbiome and a resilient microbiome is its diversity, its ability to do lots of different things. And so the more diverse your microbiome is, the more it has redundant functions, the more that it can, you know, one guy can take over for another guy on a job, the more resilient you are to all sorts of different things that happen to us throughout our lives that can cause it to become depleted. So some of those things are if you take an antibiotic, that's basically like a nuclear bomb to the microbiome.

35:21So that kills everything. And so if you have to take an antibiotic, just know that you need to replenish your microbiome. And if you aren't kind of mindful about how you're replenishing it, your microbiome that you end up with afterwards is oftentimes not the same as what you had before the antibiotics. And so, and this is important too for children. I mean, actually my first daughter was on a lot of antibiotics when she was in intensive care, when she was first born. And so a lot of the reason I started this company was to try to like battle that. So this happens for kids also. And it's sort of interesting because, you know, farmers for decades have been feeding their cattle antibiotics, not because they were trying to cure them of some infection, not because they knew anything about the microbiome, but what they noticed was if they give their cattle antibiotics, they are more obese.

36:07And that's great if you're a farmer and you're selling by the pound.

36:10Lindsey Simcik:Wow. Well, it turns out that's not just true in cattle, that's true in humans. So the Mayo Clinic did a study showing that kids under two years old, if they're on a lot of antibiotics later on in life, they're more prone to obesity, diabetes, celiac disease, ADHD, allergies, asthma, like all these crazy chronic illnesses that sort of stem from, they took these antibiotics really early in life and somehow their microbiome wasn't able to recover from that or become replenished over time. So antibiotics are a big deal and important to think about. So you recommend if a child or an adult goes on an antibiotic, we have to be supplementing with probiotics as we do it and fiber to feed the probiotics.

36:54Lindsey Simcik:Yeah. If ever you were going to clean up your act on your diet, when you go on an antibiotic, that is the moment to do it because you're clearing out your system and you're kind of a reset. Okay. Okay. I know my son. Yeah. I think he had an ear infection when in his first year and yeah, I think ear infection is like number one for antibiotics for kids. Um, cause it's so common. I have my thoughts on that. Um, but I think, yeah, I, I made sure to kind of like make sure his probiotic was taken regularly, like all the things. But it's stressful because I think we know now that that could be detrimental to their gut.

37:37And, you know,

37:38Lindsey Simcik:obviously you want your kid to be well. And if it's a serious condition, obviously antibiotics can be very helpful and sometimes life-saving. So they're definitely life-saving. So to be clear, you should take an antibiotic if you've got a bacterial infection, but this is just about how do we make sure that the microbiome gets taken care of after this experience? So yeah, antibiotics are number one. The number two way that you can affect your microbiome is through your nutrition, what you eat. And so we know that if you go from being, let's say an omnivore to a vegetarian, within eight weeks, within two months, your microbiome looks totally different.

38:12And so we can tell if you look at someone's microbiome, what's their primary diet, because you actually look different. Say that again, the omnivore to, or did you say? I said, if you go from eating everything to being a vegetarian, like let's say you stop eating meat, your microbiome looks different because you're not feeding those microbes like entire category of foods. Oh, interesting.

38:32Lindsey Simcik:What are your thoughts on these different diets? Do you think it's very bio-individual for the person or would you say that it affects how it affects the gut in general is how you look at it? I mean, I think it's definitely by individual and everyone has, you know, kind of their own journey to figure out what foods work for them. But in general, the more diverse your diet, the more diverse your microbiome will be. Got it. Okay. And then sorry, just to finish the question. So antibiotics and then diet. And then there's a bunch of things that we don't really have control over that can cause our microbiome to become depleted.

39:11So when, as we age, our microbiome just becomes depleted. As we go through periods of stress, that can cause our microbiome to become depleted. When we travel and our circadian rhythm is affected, that can cause our microbiome to become depleted. And for us women, when we go through big hormonal changes, that can cause our microbiome to become depleted. So these are all things that are just part of being a human and living that can cause us to be depleted. So if you are, you know, experiencing or doing any of those things, which most of us are, there might be a lot of reasons why you want to be thinking about supplementing back what's missing.

39:43Lindsey Simcik:Yeah. I'm pregnant right now and I have been super mindful of my fiber intake and probiotics and all the things. Um, I don't experience constipation, but a lot of women do in pregnancy. So this could be, would you say this would be great for women who are pregnant as well? I think that if you are experiencing constipation, fiber is your number one thing to try to go to. Yeah. Cause yeah. Also when you're pregnant, generally you want to go for natural things that are going to help you. And so, yeah, great. Um, in terms of, uh,

40:22Lindsey Simcik:adding fiber to things like, so if a food label says added fiber, generally, what does that mean? What are they adding? What is that substance? I don't, I don't know. Well, um, you know, fibers generally come in things like plants and fruits. And so they're essentially extracting those and then adding them back to the food. So like what we're doing here and what all these other fiber supplements are doing is enabling you to add fiber back to your foods. And so all they've done is to take those same, you know, extracts and to put them into their processed foods or their the foods that they're making.

40:58And then, you know, you're getting access to it in that way. Does it strip it of its potency or effectiveness? us? It depends on how much they're adding and if they're giving you a diversity of fibers. So you just want to be looking for that. And, um, you know, I think much like protein, people will say, oh, we've added protein or this contains fibers. And then it becomes up to us to actually read the label of like, how much did you actually put in? Yeah. Okay.

41:26Lindsey Simcik:Are there any hacks that you would recommend like being able to like, look at your everyday meals and adding certain things that add a decent amount of fiber. Yeah. I mean, I think if you, you know, again, if you can get those whole foods in, that's great. If you can't and you want to close the fiber gap, that's why we created this product is literally to solve that exact problem, which is, okay, I can't eat a salad, you know, at every meal. And so how am I going to get this into my food? And so the goal of gut fuel is to actually be able to add it to anything that you're cooking or eating and just sprinkle some of it on and you've just turned your food into a superfood.

42:04And so, you know, if you, if you aren't, if you're one of the 95 % that isn't getting enough fiber, any little places that you can hack your way into it is great. So you're having your smoothie, your morning coffee, your beverages, your, um, you know, again, even your, your, your sweet treats that you're, you're baking, like all of these are great places to just put some in. Then you get, I mean, actually somebody at our office recently made, um, this, you know, made banana bread, which generally like you kind of feel like, well, it's a lot of sugar and all this, but I felt great eating it. Cause I know it's getting much of fiber with the gut fuel.

42:38Lindsey Simcik:Awesome. Okay. I'm, I'm actually very excited to bake with it. I'm a, I'm a baker. I'm not a great baker, but I'm a baker. Um,

42:49I, I feel like, and sorry, just to tell you, like we did this, she did this, she ran this fun taste test at our company. So she basically brought in, a banana bread that she had cooked with gut fuel and a banana bread that didn't have it in there. And because we're all a bunch of scientists. So we like this kind of experiment and she put them both. She and she labeled one A and one B. And then she had everyone put in slack which one they thought had the gut fuel in it. And it was like 50 50 of which one people thought had the gut fuel in it. It was really you cannot tell. Wow. OK, great.

43:21Lindsey Simcik:Yeah, I would I would think because even in my smoothie, it just mixes in so well. So you can add it to coffee. People can add it to coffee in the morning. Yeah. We wanted it to be highly soluble because if you've ever, there's some fibers out there which are really good for you, but they just don't dissolve at all. Right. You get to the end and you're like, there's this thick, you're like, did I actually get any fiber in me? Yeah. Totally. Totally.

43:49Lindsey Simcik:I do want to go back to something you said, because I think a lot of people experience stress in their everyday life and they don't necessarily make the connection to their digestion, their gut microbiome, how it's affecting them. One, can you describe kind of the cascade of what's happening when someone is stressed or chronically stressed, even if it's low grade stress all the time, what's happening to cause that disruption? And then is there anything that you would recommend people can do, especially around stress to manage that? Yeah. So stress, if you've ever experienced periods of stress and also experienced GI issues, then you know, you know that they're related to each other.

44:34Lindsey Simcik:I feel like a lot of people experience like not in their stomach and just feeling like either they're not hungry or they're very randomly hungry or a sour stomach. Yeah, exactly. All of those, I mean, I love that the phrase, you know, I've got knots in my stomach and it's usually when you're anxious about something, these things, these phrases came around because we kind of inherently known that our stress and our gut are actually tied to each other. And now the science is catching up to what we kind of already intuited. And so in this case, you know, again, it kind of comes back to that center part, which is the gut microbiome.

45:12I don't know if like people are going to be old enough to remember this, but there was this moment in fitness where people realized like, oh, if you just had a strong core, you could do anything. Like a strong core allows you to like run really far or swim really far, like, you know, or have better endurance and like it's your core. Right. And so the gut microbiome is almost like that discovery of core and it actually is, you know, in your core. And so it's tied to all these things. So when you have a depleted microbiome, you've got this GI distress, you've got the stress and anxiety. And one of the really important things in your microbiome is that, then getting back to the strain, Acromansia mucinophila, it actually can produce GABA.

45:51And GABA is a really important small molecule that's known to help us reduce our stress and anxiety and help us calm down. And so your microbiome, when it's kind of out of whack or it's depleted, it is creating probably both higher levels of stress for you and higher levels of GI discomfort for you. So if you can fix that central, fix that core, that microbiome, then you can start to have improvements across the board here. Yes.

46:18Lindsey Simcik:I love finding simple swaps that make everyday meals feel a little more supportive of my goals, especially when I don't want to give up the foods I actually enjoy. That's why I have been loving, obsessed with Hero Bread. It lets me keep things like sandwiches, wraps, even pasta nights without feeling like I'm sacrificing anything. And I'm at a point right now in pregnancy where I'm not restricting, but I also don't want to be overdoing it on like the gluten and the pastas and all the things. Hero Bread makes it easy and I feel amazing after eating their products. The taste and texture are what surprised me most, honestly.

46:57Lindsey Simcik:Their products are soft, fluffy, honestly feels like traditional bread. I love the tortillas for easy lunch wraps and their sliced bread for quick breakfast sandwiches. I also love their bagels. Every single morning, my son asks for the bagel. He loves them. And then I've been making him the noodles as well. So it really covers all those comfort food staples. I'm excited for you to try. Nutritionally, it fits really seamlessly into my family's routine. Depending on the product, it has zero to five net carbs, zero grams of sugar, and 11 to 32 grams of fiber. It also has protein too. I'm a girlie that's been trying to get my protein and my fiber at the same time.

47:34Lindsey Simcik:So I am killing it with Hero Bread. And you really wouldn't know that it is this healthy based on the texture and the taste. So Hero Bread is offering 10 % off your order. Go to hero.co and use the code A30POD at checkout. That's A30POD at H-E-R-O.C-O. And I think to noticing what you reach for when you're stressed. Oh, it's always terrible. You know, it's like a, it's a comfort thing, whether it's the sugar or maybe it's the excessive caffeine to just keep you moving through it. Or what would you grab if you're stressed and not feeling good? Oh, I'm just a bag. I will down a whole bag of potato chips or a whole thing of popcorn.

48:21I'm a salty. Yeah. And, and it's a really bad cycle. So you get stressed out, you're reaching for those foods because your food cravings are all messed up. Again, you know, getting back to the conversation we had about the microbiome stimulating GLP-1 and helping you with your food cravings. And then you get into this really bad cycle because now you're feeding the wrong microbes and then your stress continues to get worse or continues to be there. And then you're reaching for still the bad foods. You're having weird food cravings. So your stress, your GI issues, and your food cravings all are kind of on this cycle that, you know, is problematic.

48:55But I would say that's like such depressing shit. But let's just say the good news is you can totally break that cycle. And it can be an easy way just through supplementation. If you can't get the food in or that's really hard to do. Part of the reason that we started this company was what are the easy hacks that we can give to people if they're not able to eat all those foods, do all the exercise, meditate an hour a day. You know, if you can't get all this in, how can we give you these hacks? And it is through the probiotics that can help you with those strains that produce GABA, that stimulate GLP-1, that help you with your digestion, and now the prebiotics that can feed those strains that do all that great work for you.

49:33And so now it's just take a pill in the morning, start your day off with the right microbiome, throw these fibers in, and you are just giving yourself every little edge to have that better day and those better markers. Yeah.

49:45Lindsey Simcik:Yeah. Yeah. I think those healthy habits too, in general, just start a cascade of healthy outfits because you knew, oh, I took that, you know, those great supplements this morning. I'm on my health game. And then you choose to like take a walk after lunch instead of like sit on your phone. You know, it's like you kind of inspire yourself when you start that earlier in the day. On that note, is there like a prime time to have fiber? Is it okay all throughout the day? Is it okay before bed? Yeah. When should we be taking this? It's great all throughout the day. If you're in general, I think you don't really want to eat right before you go to sleep.

50:24And so I think, you know, that might be the, I can't remember the rule of thumb, it's like four hours before you go to bed, you stop eating, which I find to be somewhat impossible. But, you know, to the extent that whenever your last, you know, meal is, that's when I would throw fiber into it. But I think, you know, to your point, starting the day fresh every day. It's sort of like, okay, yesterday was yesterday, Colleen. Today is going to be today, Colleen. And the more that you can do to just start the day off, like in a good way, in a positive way, the more it does feed itself throughout the rest of your day.

50:57It's sort of that mentality of every morning is a day to reset your intentions and refresh everything for yourself and give yourself forgiveness for what happened yesterday and just let it go. I agree.

51:08Lindsey Simcik:I agree. With other supplements like a probiotic, are probiotics best taken in the morning, would you say? I think they're best taken whenever you can remember to take them. So whatever your stack is or when you can get these things in, that's the best time. Because the main thing you want to go for is the routine, is the daily routine. And so I take mine every morning. I have coffee. I never miss my morning coffee. And so that's when I take my probiotics is with my coffee and then put some of this stuff in. Okay, great. Great. I know I'm taking my little, most of my stack at night because I just feel like it's the only time I have a moment where I'm like, okay.

51:46Lindsey Simcik:Then you should do it all at night. Just add it. But I'm thinking, okay, maybe there's some that I can do in the morning just to kind of bookend my day with some good habits. But I think if you're getting it in, it's a positive. I wanted to touch on just some vices that we might have and how it can affect either our gut microbiome or maybe the effectiveness of fiber. If we're drinking alcohol, what is that? We know alcohol is not good for us. I think we can kind of just say that as a blanket statement. However, in terms of the gut microbiome, what is it doing? Man, I hate this question because I know alcohol is not good for us, but um, yeah, I'm saying, you know what I'm saying?

52:34Lindsey Simcik:I love a glass of wine. Like, you know, it's, I think I'm speaking to, you know, people are going out regularly having at the end of a week, say five to seven plus cocktail, you know, like things like that, where it like accumulates over a short period of time. Yeah. What could it be doing? In general, um, alcohol is pretty bad for you on every count, including, you know, for your gut microbiome. And I always joke, like, I don't read those studies. But we, and if you're having cocktails, like certainly all those added sugars are really, you know, not great for you. But I will give one little plug, which is that if you have to have, you know, a little bit of a vice, red wine does contain polyphenols.

53:19So, but in general, the whole alcohol thing is not great for your microbiome. Yeah.

53:24Lindsey Simcik:Okay. So, so it like kills it. Like, is it killing it off or is it just kind of like... No, it's not killing it off. It's just that, you know, again, everything that you put into your system, you're feeding certain microbes and not feeding others. And so I think the studies are mostly correlative, but I think that, and I don't think I've seen any studies of what you can do to counteract, you know, what's happening. So I think that's pretty early literature. Okay. And processed foods in general are just not adding any value. Yeah, processed foods are, generally speaking, I think the vast majority of publications, I don't know if I've seen any contrary publications, but most of the publications show that if you're eating processed foods, you are depleting your microbiome.

54:09And so that depletion, again, we talk about resilience and having all the players on your team and they're all working and they can cover for each other. The processed foods are causing your microbiome to become depleted.

54:21Lindsey Simcik:And processed foods, just to review for people, are foods that like if you look at the label, there's just a whole lot going on. There's not a lot of whole foods at all. Yeah. If you can't pronounce the stuff on the label, that's a problem. But in general, you think about the layout of your grocery store. It's like just take your cart and just stay on the outer ring. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Okay. Okay. As far as probiotics go, you know, we see yogurts and coconut yogurts and different things that have probiotics. Would you say that is a good addition or like, could people only be doing that and getting enough?

55:00So yogurts, actually a lot of people don't know this, but yogurts, at least here in the U.S., they actually pasteurize them, which means they kill all the bacteria and then they add the probiotics back afterwards. So they don't naturally, I mean, yogurts naturally do they add it afterwards. And so, um, but, but I would say like, it's fine. It's fine. Like, so if you're eating yours, just be, be aware that most yogurts have a lot of sugar in them. And so that's not great, but you know, yogurts are good for you. Um, things like kombucha, sauerkraut, fermented foods, these are all great for your microbiome.

55:34And what they're mostly helping you with our lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains. So now we're talking another language here, but these are the kind of the names of the probiotic strains. So when you're eating all of those foods and getting and having all those beverages, you're getting lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. And that's what's in most probiotic supplements. So if you start to read those labels, you'll see lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. There's a whole next generation set of strains that scientists are now learning are really important for all these things that we've been talking about metabolism, cardiovascular health, brain function, stress, and those are not part of this group.

56:11And so you could be doing all that, but you're still missing those next gen strains. Okay. Yeah.

56:16Lindsey Simcik:I feel like we're like, are we discovering new strains? Like all the time, all the time, all the time. Like, and, and most of the strains, these lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains that are out there, they are, most of them have been grandfathered in because we've been using them for so long, but they only represent less than a percent of all the microbes that are in your microbiome. And so every day there's like exponential discovery of what are these other strains and what are they doing? And if you really want to get outside of just GI and into all these other health benefits, you got to start looking at that other 99%.

56:50Wow.

56:50Lindsey Simcik:Okay. And we want to make sure that, is it the actual stomach that is where they're going, or is it the GI tract or both? Yeah, it's really the GI tract. And so when you think about it, we eat food. It goes into our stomach first. There's a lot of acid and mechanical ways that that food gets broken up. And then it goes into our small intestines. So we've all seen that picture of like that maze of intestines. So it goes through all that. And at the end, the distal colon, the distant end of that, that's where all the gut microbiome action is happening. So these other strains, they'll get into kind of that small intestine part and that's fine.

57:34There's benefit there. But all that big action that we've been talking about with your immune system and your brain function, that's all in the distal colon, the gut microbiome. Ah, okay.

57:46Lindsey Simcik:It's funny when I think about the microbiome, I think of my stomach, you know, like my visual, I'm like hopping into my stomach and there's all these like little bacteria in there. But okay. They're like hiding in a cave. Yeah. You like have to go all the way into the tunnel and they're like in the cave having their party. It's like a secret underground party, not in your stomach. Totally. This is, um, a question that, uh, is on topic, but off topic. And just let me know if it's, it's not within your wheelhouse, but it just reminded me when you said the colon, the last part of the colon, I, I, I feel like there's, um, potentially an uptick or maybe just more coverage of, of colon cancer as of late.

58:28Yeah.

58:29Lindsey Simcik:Um, is there any connection between colon cancer, fiber, like all of that, all of that? Yes, there is a huge connection. Thank you for asking that. And I do agree. It's sort of, um, I don't know if it's a higher prevalence or it's just starting to get attention and younger and younger and younger. And so we have to be really cognizant of colon cancer and having healthy colon cells as we try to avoid and prevent that from happening. So we'll just continue to nerd out on this. So your colon cells are the only cells in your body that use this thing called butyrate as their energy source. Every other cell in your body uses glucose.

59:12And so glucose is kind of what we think of as sugar. Glucose is the normal energy source for every cell in your body except the colon. The colon uses butyrate. And butyrate is one of the major things that your gut microbiome produces. A healthy gut microbiome is making a ton of butyrate. And that butyrate is going to help feed and fuel your colonic cells so that you can have a healthy colon. And so the kind of things that enable that butyrate production are butyrate-producing strains. So things like there's a strain called Clostridium butyricum. So butyricum infers what it does. So Clostridium butyricum is a major butyrate producer.

59:51There's other strains that do it too. And fiber feeds those guys. And so the more fiber that you can get, and you probably know this when you're talking to your physician or your practitioner, that fiber is really important for good colon health. And that's why it's because the fiber you're eating is feeding those strains that produce butyrate that feeds your colon cells. It gives them all their energy. got it. Okay.

1:00:16Lindsey Simcik:So we can assume, you know, if however the cancer forms or whatever the cause is, if those cells are not healthy, then they won't be able to properly quote fight the cancer or make it a lot harder. Yeah. I mean, so I did cancer research, um, in, in my PhD program. And And one of the main things that can, there's a lot of things that can trigger cancer cells, but it's basically your regular cells that have some kind of mutation that makes them act improperly. And most cancer cells grow faster than your regular cells. And so anything you can do to help avoid those mutations is helpful. So like, for example, one of the, I studied skin cancer and one of the best ways to prevent skin cancer is to keep your skin cells healthy by putting sunscreen on and avoiding UV irradiation, UVA radiation can damage your skin cells.

1:01:11And as soon as they're damaged, that is what can prompt skin cancer. And so it's similar across the board in colon cancers like that too. The more you can keep your cells healthy and that they're not looking for other ways to be able to grow, the better your chances are of avoiding some of those preventable mutations. And so that's why trying to have a healthy lifestyle, have healthy colonic cells is going to be really important for avoiding those mutations because our body and all of our cells are naturally inclined when they're depleted in food or they're not feeling healthy, they look for other ways to survive.

1:01:42And that's where those mutations really start to kick in.

1:01:45Lindsey Simcik:Okay. So helpful and such a good reminder. Okay. That is so, so helpful, especially now I feel like we're just hearing, yeah, quite a bit about cancers happening younger and younger. And again, I feel like it's never too late, first of all. So if you're listening to this and you're like, well, I don't know, I'm halfway through my life and, you know, is it even worth it to start these healthy habits? It absolutely is. 100%. Unless you are done with life, then you have, this is the best opportunity for you to be able to transform what's going to happen to you in the future. I mean, that's what I love about the gut microbiome.

1:02:21If you go get a genetic test and you find out, oh man, I had these genes and I'm predisposed to X, Y, or Z, you're kind of like, okay, and now I know that. I can't change my genes. Like gene therapy is really not quite a thing yet for your general stuff. And so, um, but the microbiome, you can change every day. You can change it every day. You can reset it and it will change your health of that day, next week, the next months, the next year. So any moment is a moment you could be 80 and deciding I'm going to work on it. So powerful.

1:02:52Lindsey Simcik:So, so powerful. This has been amazing. I think a lot of notes were taken. I feel it. Um, I learned a ton. And again, this product is incredible. I've been taking it every morning. I've been doing it for almost two weeks now. I put it in my morning smoothie. That's been like the easiest for me, but you've inspired me to sprinkle this. I'm going to put it in my son's yogurt, maybe like a soup or a coffee, et cetera. Like this is just very easy. It dissolves beautifully and it's a superfood, like you say. Awesome. Well, I hope that people will, we want to start a gut fuel kitchen where everyone can share what they're doing and share with each other how they're getting this into their foods.

1:03:35Oh, I'm obsessed with that. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll kick that off and then we'll invite everybody to share their best ideas. Okay, cool. Because I think it really is about how do we get our way to getting all these diverse fibers and these polyphenols and helping with our gut health and our overall health and our GI issues and how would we help our kids and our families? And so if you're the primary chef in the house, like here's your chance of sneaking all in. I know.

1:03:58Lindsey Simcik:Beware. I'm going to put it in everything. Thank you so much. Yeah, thanks for having me. If you want to watch any other episodes of Colleen, just type in Colleen Almost 30 in your search bar because you've just been a wealth of information around the gut microbiome, metabolism, fiber, all the things. We appreciate you for being so close to almost 30 and educating us on the regular. Thank you. And people have any other things they want to learn, please check us out at pendulumlife.com. If you're wondering, you want to learn more about the microbiome, about fiber, about healthy habits, all of that is really important and we're there to help support.

1:04:39Lindsey Simcik:Yeah. We need support during these times when we're kind of making those changes. It feels good to just feel educated and also like accountable, you know, once you know, you can't unknow. Um, so we have a code almost 30 for 20 % off the gut fuel and your first subscription order. So this is a no brainer for me. It's something that you can put in so much incorporate every day. We'll get our fiber up code is almost 30. Thank you so much, Colleen. Thank you. Amazing. All right, guys, we'll see you on the next one. thank you so much colleen for joining me it was incredible to sit down learn so much about fiber i am on my fiber game how about you i think it's incredibly important now you know we are doing so much we can do so much good at this point in our life if you're listening and you're in your 20s 30s 40s or even beyond you can start at any age but i'm i i just want us to remember that these years can be foundational for our long-term health, longevity, the quality of our life and health.

1:05:41Lindsey Simcik:So don't push it until later. It starts now. So you can go to pendulumlife.com and use the code almost 30 for 20 % off gut fuel and your first subscription order. I'm excited for you to try this and I'm going to be, I'll share like some recipes I'm using this and I put it in my son's pancakes in the morning. I put it in my morning smoothie. I'm going to try a banana bread. edition. We'll see. Um, but get, get creative. Let me know how you're using gut fuel, but thank you so much for listening to almost 30. It's an honor to serve you all and to have these conversations that I hope are just making you think maybe changing little things and big things in your life.

1:06:24Lindsey Simcik:And, um, we appreciate you. So this is subscribe to the show, anywhere you listen to the podcast that really helps us. And also we're on YouTube. So we're on video every single time we record and I'm pregnant and it's getting harder to dress for my bump. But YouTube subscribe there. That is a place that we would love to see you on more. We would love to chat with you in the chat under each video. So subscribe. It means a lot to us. We have two new episodes every single week. Your girls have been doing this consistently, never missed a week for 10 years, and it's been a joy and a pleasure and the greatest ride ever.

1:07:05Lindsey Simcik:So we love you. Almost 30 podcast on Instagram, almost 30 podcast on TikTok and almost 30.com. We'll see you next time. Bye.

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