Don't Fall for It! Gut Health Red Flags: When Supplements Rule, You Should Run!
Jul 27, 2023
Katie Lovitt
If you're tired of feeling brushed off and unheard when talking to your doctor for healing your gut, only for them to write you a prescription to quiet your symptoms (which sometimes may make you even feel worse), you've probably sought out a different approach. But different approaches, even if they're "holistic" or "natural"... may not be all that different than what you were trying to get away from. Tune into today's episode where I talk through WHY you should RUN AWAY if a provider recommends supplements first, and what you should be focusing on instead when first starting out healing your gut.
Follow me on Instagram, and send me a DM to let me know what you resonated with in this episode. Ready to begin your gut rehab journey? Watch my program video and let's map out what that looks like for you.
If you're tired of feeling brushed off and unheard when talking to your doctor for healing your gut, only for them to write you a prescription to quiet your symptoms (which sometimes may make you even feel worse), you've probably sought out a different approach. But different approaches, even if they're "holistic" or "natural"... may not be all that different than what you were trying to get away from. Tune into today's episode where I talk through WHY you should RUN AWAY if a provider recommends supplements first, and what you should be focusing on instead when first starting out healing your gut.
Follow me on Instagram, and send me a DM to let me know what you resonated with in this episode. Ready to begin your gut rehab journey? Watch my program video and let's map out what that looks like for you.
If you are working with a healthcare provider, whether it is a functional medicine doctor, a naturopath, a chiropractor, a dietician, a nutritionist, a health coach, anybody. You're struggling with chronic digestive symptoms. Their first line of intervention with you should not be a supplement or many supplements. That is trading one model of healthcare for a slightly different model, but it's the same problem. It's not actually addressing the root causes, causes plural, because there's multiple root causes.
Hey, everyone. Welcome to The Nourished and Thriving Show. I'm your host, Katie Lovitt. I'm a registered dietitian on a mission to help you increase your impact and legacy on the world while healing your gut and reducing your IBS symptoms. I'm so grateful to have you here. Each week I'll inspire you to live vibrantly and provide valuable resources and information that empowers you to take bold action towards your health goals. Before we dive in, make sure you follow or subscribe to my show wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Ready? Let's go!
Katie Lovitt:
today's episode I think is going to be pretty short and sweet unless I go on a tangent, but I don't anticipate that I really need to get this off my chest. I really need to share this with you guys, and even though there may not be a ton of time involved in this episode, I know that there is going to be a ton of value and some big mindset shifts for you. So. Listen up. So you guys are wanting to heal your gut. You're wanting to find answers and resolve your problems in a more holistic, natural, integrative, and really thorough, complete way, which is awesome. I'm all about it. Um, you know, the normal way or what you've maybe been kind of stuck in the cycle of doing. Is mainstream, right? So like it's no fault of yours if you're here. Like I'm not pointing the finger at you at all. It's just the way things are right now. Unfortunately, I think big changes are coming. It just takes time. Um, you actually side note, are helping to make that change. You are helping to change what our medical system looks like by demanding better answers and refusing to accept the current standards. So, Props to you, applauding you right now. If I had like sound effects, which I probably could do, but I'm not gonna go add'em in, I would add in like the audience pausing. So you are actually helping make this change by asking the hard questions and um, you know, wanting answers. So bravo to you. Um, we are making changes together, which is awesome. But that's just how it is set up right now is, you know, you go to a doctor, um, they do their very best to help, but it, our, um, healthcare system right now is set up in a really reductionistic way where you start up at the top of the funnel. You rule things out until you get to the bottom of the funnel and this is what it must be. That's how so many of you guys end up with an I V SS diagnosis is they rule out other things like colon cancer and Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, which is great. You know, if you're not struggling with those, if you are struggling with those, you get a diagnosis, you know, somewhere along that path. Um, and then if they get all the way to the end of that like reductionist funnel and they haven't found something else that fits, you get given the term i b s, which is really a syndrome if you haven't been suffering for long enough to meet the standards of the diagnosis of I B Ss, which yes, there are standards for, um, you're just diagnosed with something like stomach pain, which is so ambiguous and vague and not helpful, but no matter what the label is on this, The treatment is going to be looking at resolving your symptoms, right? They want you to feel better. They're going to give you a medication to get rid of your symptoms, to quiet your symptoms. They're going to suggest you go on a low FODMAP diet and hand you a handout and say, you know, good luck navigating it. Um, by the way, it's, it's a, it's a booger bear to try and implement. And by the way, if you are following an uh, elimination diet or low foul nap diet, those are not meant to be followed long-term. Please do not stay on those elimination diets. Long term, even if you feel better on them, you are seriously restricting nutrients and, um, you know, really cutting yourself short in the long run because, you know, it's, it's not intended to be that way. It's intended to be short term. Let things kind of cool off a little bit and then go on your merry way. That's another reason I don't like them, is like, sometimes issues can just be resolved whenever the stressor is, you know, removed. You know, so, okay. I just have this like, Image in my mind as I'm talking. So I'm gonna just share it.'cause I like images, I like stories, it helps you. So imagine a kid falls down and gets like a humongous splinter, um, in his leg. Or imagine some like gory movie or something and there's a battle scene and there's like a wooden plank sticking out of someone's abdomen or leg or face or whatever. Like we're getting pretty gory here. Uh, so you remove the object. But then you're still left with a wound that needs to be tended to. So I feel like an elimination diet is, um, you know, like removing that object that has impaled the person, but it's not caring for the wound. And then the medication is kind of doing the opposite where it is caring for the wound while you are still impaled. And that's not gonna work. And unfortunately the standard treatment is pairing medication with an elimination diet. While it looks like, based on that story that I just told, it should work. It just doesn't, and it never gets to the root cause. So it doesn't end the battle or it doesn't end whatever caused you to be impaled in the first place. So you're just gonna continue to suffer down the road. So, I, I, can you tell I'm a boy mom? Now can you tell that my son is two and I'm officially a boy mom? Because we're talking about being impaled on the nourished and thriving show. Uh, I hope that you're not too traumatized from that imagery, and it actually helped you to understand what I'm saying. Um, so that's kind the standard of care. If you've been bouncing around in that model, you get what I'm saying? You're probably frustrated with it. And if you're here, you're looking for other options now. Here's what I've come to say. Those other options should not start with a supplement. If you are working with a healthcare provider, whether it is a functional medicine doctor, a naturopath, a chiropractor, a dietician, a nutritionist, a health coach, anybody. You're struggling with chronic digestive symptoms. Their first line of intervention with you should not be a supplement or many supplements. That is trading one model of healthcare for a slightly different model, but it's the same problem. It's not actually addressing the root causes, causes plural, because there's multiple root causes. We've done some, some talking about that. In almost every situation, it's never just one thing causing what's going on. Um, but you're taking, you're going from a prescription medication to a supplement and yeah, maybe the supplement can heal over time, whereas a medication typically is not going to, um, you know, and unless it. For I B s, I guess I should say, medications can heal. Uh, but for I B Ss, most medications are just relieving symptoms. Um, you know, something like a supplement that's aimed at healing your gut lining or something like that can help. But if you're not, you know, getting rid of what is actually causing the problem in the first place, you're gonna end up right back where you started. Probably more frustrated because now you've spent time and money and resources and you thought something was gonna help and it still didn't. So you've gotta look at the root and then you've gotta, so, okay. So supplements are not what you should be doing first. Okay, great. Katie. So then what First? In my gut rehab signature program, the very first thing that every single person does is work on their mindset. It is so foundationally important. You've gotta know what feeling better even means to you. Because if you don't know what that is, how are you gonna be able to recognize it? Whenever you see it, you are not. You've gotta define what feeling better is. You've gotta know what you're going towards and you've gotta know why. Feeling better is not your why. Getting rid of your symptoms is not your why. Your why has to help you feel motivated on those days where it feels hard to show up and make those decisions that you need to make to keep moving forward. So mindset has to come first. I help my clients with all of this, and then from there, you need to build on nutrition and sleep and stress management. Hello. That's a big one. Exercise, movement, hydration, relationships, all of that. And then alongside that, possibly some very strategic targeted supplements. Ideally based on some testing, so that you actually have some concrete evidence of what you need to be doing and why you need to be doing it. So you can be working towards that long-term goal. You know where you're headed, you know what you're trying to accomplish, versus just shooting in the dark and honestly throwing a protocol at you that you hope works. It's a one size fits all type thing. So, Red flags if somebody is selling you supplements to heal your gut before talking with you about other things. If they are telling you to start out with supplements before working on other things, to me that is a huge red flag. Um, and it's just replacing one. Dysfunctional approach that is mainstream medicine when it comes to chronic syndromes like i b s and chronic digestive symptoms. Um, it's just replacing that for something else that's, yeah, maybe more natural, but is it better? I would argue not. So we talked through, The red flag, what to do. Um, if you want to get started on your gut rehab journey, the way I've outlined here, if you want to start thinking about. Mindset and what does feeling better even look like and mean to me? That's gonna get you really excited whenever you start to really think about that and dream and use your imagination for your benefit instead of your hurt or your harm. Think about all of the times that you use your imagination as an adult, right? As kids, we're using it to imagine that we're princesses or that we're giga rich, as my five-year-old always says, what? Whatever else, you know, crazy things. My little sister wanted to be a lion when she grew up, and I would get so irritated with her telling her, Danny, you cannot be a lion. You are a human. And she'd always say, well, my mom told me I can be whatever I wanna be when I grew up. But she was a kid. She was using her imagination and that was awesome. Um, but as adults we lose that and a lot of the time we just use our imagination to think ab to keep ourselves safe, right? To think about what can go wrong. Um, and so I really encourage you to dream a little and use that imagination to think about all of the wonderful things that you can do and be whenever you healed your hot mess gut. Once and for all and are confident in your body and knowing how to navigate it and knowing what it needs and how to honor your health and support your body so you can go do all the things you wanna go do. Write'em all out. What do you wanna do? Go dream. If you want some help with that, I have just the thing for you. I have a guide called the Six Stages of Gut Rehab Guide. Um, Side note, again, I have podcast episodes that go into depth on each of these, um, stages that can be really helpful to listen to as you're looking at the guide. So go back. There were some of the first episodes I did go back, listen to those. But go follow me on Instagram. Send me a message that just says Guide, and I will send you this six stages of gut rehab guide tucked into this guide. Is a why exercise for you to help recognize why this matters to you. You can also go in and book a free nourish clarity call with me there in that guide. If you want the link for that. It's also here in the show notes. You can message me. I want to talk to you if you are serious about rehabbing your gut because you need some support. Um, I've helped hundreds of people. Heal their guts, reduce their digestive, digestive symptoms, and also just live better. I've seen relationships healed. I've seen adventures, um, been taken. I've seen finances improved. I've seen careers transformed for the better, and I want that for you as well. So reach out, get some support, run away from supplements first, and be in touch and we'll talk soon.
Thank you so much for listening to the entire episode. I hope you are feeling inspired and empowered to take bold action towards your health goals. If you enjoy what you heard, don't forget to follow my show so you never miss a new episode. And it would mean the world to me, if you left me a review, so others know what to expect from my show. Last, get in touch. Let me know what bold action you're taking. Let me know how you're inspired. Follow me on Instagram@the_healthygut_dietitian. I've put a link in my show notes for you, so you can simply click and follow. Come say hi, I respond to all my messages and I can't wait to get in touch.