Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #320: RaphaBiome with Una Guscott
Could the secret to your health and vitality be hiding in your gut? Una Guscott, founder of RaphaBiome, brings a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to this eye-opening conversation about the gut microbiome and its profound impact on overall wellness.
From the moment we're born, our bodies depend on a delicate balance of bacteria, fungi, and viruses working harmoniously within our digestive system. When this balance is disrupted—through poor diet, environmental toxins, or modern lifestyle factors—a cascade of health issues can follow. Una explains how maintaining our bodies at the optimal pH of 7.365 creates an environment where healing happens naturally, as our cells regenerate every 120 days in this alkaline state.
What makes this episode particularly compelling is Una's personal journey. As a nurse, she had only read about aplastic anemia in textbooks until her own son was diagnosed with this rare condition in 2009. Through focused efforts to alkalize his body, she witnessed his remarkable recovery, sparking her passion for gut health advocacy. Years later, when unexplained laryngitis left her unable to speak last Christmas, Una turned to phytonutrient supplements and experienced such dramatic improvement that she committed herself to sharing this knowledge with others.
The conversation explores how phytopower supplements containing specific strains of beneficial bacteria can restore gut balance, potentially addressing issues ranging from digestive discomfort to food cravings. Una shares the surprising elimination of her lifelong sweet tooth after beginning these supplements—a testament to how gut health can naturally reshape our relationship with food without requiring willpower alone.
Unlike many in the wellness industry, Una emphasizes education over sales, collaborating with a naturopathic practitioner who hosts daily educational sessions to help people understand the science behind gut health. Her approach recognizes that healing is gradual and highly individual, requiring consistency and personalized attention rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
Ready to discover how your gut microbiome might be influencing everything from your energy levels to your food cravings? Tune in to this transformative episode and take the first step toward healing from within. Call (561) 287-3760 or visit https://rapha.lovebiome.com for more information.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Well, hello, hello, hello, friends, family, wonderful community. We are back and we are better than before, as always. The older I get, the more fascinated I become by the human body's innate ability to heal itself from within. So much of my life I lived waiting for the external to impact the internal and I'm coming to realize that most of it comes from the inside, and one of the biggest components of that is our diet. And let's face it, we live in a fast paced society instant gratification, always running, we're on the go and it's very difficult to maintain a well balanced diet. But it's so important for our health and one of the downstream effects of a balanced, healthy diet is our gut health, and so many people overlook gut health. Today we are not going to overlook gut health because we're joined by Una Guscott and Una joins us from Rafa Biome, a company whose mission it is to help people out there maintain a well-balanced and healthy gut so you can live the most optimal life. Una, so nice to have you. Welcome to the show. Una, so nice to have you.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the show. Blessings, good morning to you, jeremy. I am so happy to be here and you know this is my passion the gut microbiome. And I'm telling you there are a lot of people really don't know about the gut microbiome, but as long as you're alive, you have gut microbiome.
Speaker 2:As long as you're alive, you have gut microbiome, so why don't we start there Again? This is a topic people have heard about gut health but start by defining, like what is the gut microbiome? For somebody that hasn't really heard of that, what exactly is it?
Speaker 3:Right, great question, because it sounds so foreign to us when you talk about gut microbiome. But guess what? The fungus, the bacteria, the virus, this is what comprises the gut microbiome. And as long as they're living in that friendly, cohesive environment, right then we're good to go. But when things get, when they're out of balance, that's when we have the problem, and most often people's got. They are out of balance, the guts are out of balance, and this is what we're all suffering from.
Speaker 2:So is that 100% downstream from our diets, or are there other components, other factors that contribute to having a healthy gut? Or is it all the diet?
Speaker 3:Majority of the times diet. Remember the cookware we use right. What is it use right? What is it? The pesticides on our foods?
Speaker 3:contribute to dismantling the whole setup of our gut. Things we take, the sweet that we eat, that sweet it's so dangerous these are the type of things that really change the flora of the gut and this is where the problem comes in. So this is the major the food we eat, the cookware we use, the water we drink, the things that's in the atmosphere that we are not even aware of and, of course, not treating our gut the way it should be treated, not eating the right foods at all. We just concentrate, maybe, on greens, but we need a whole combination of the colors. Look at the colors of the rainbow and then some Right, and you realize that these are the colors we need to include in our diet. That will help to heal the gut.
Speaker 2:I mean our bodies, are our temples? Right, this is the machine that drives us through our life and obviously we want to enjoy life as much as possible as we're going through. But at what expense?
Speaker 2:right To not take care of yourself and eat poorly your whole life, like so what? You can be foggy in the head when you get older and have dementia and physical decline and all these different things, and it's just so important. But it is all about balance, right, you got, you got to enjoy yourself, but keeping track of this stuff is so fundamentally important. I want to talk about the work that you're doing through Rafa Biome.
Speaker 3:So why?
Speaker 2:don't you tell me a little bit about Rafa Biome, the company, and exactly what you're doing and what the mission is?
Speaker 3:Well, I named my personal business, rafa Biome Healing. The word Rafa is healing, healing the biome, the gut, that combination of bacteria, fungus and virus within that would, living in the harmony in the gut. So I named that, but I did not produce the products that's going to help you to heal the gut. To heal the gut, once you heal the gut and when we say healing the gut, the gut needs to be, and the body in general needs to be, a pH of 7.365. Once you're in alignment that way, with that pH of 7.365, then the body can begin to heal itself. And of course, it's a process, because every 120 days we get new cells. Our bodies are made of trillions of cells, but every 120 days we get new ones. We get new ones, old ones die off, and then the new and improved cells. As long as you consistently keep your body alkaline, that is what's going to make your body start to heal itself. It has no choice. It was meant to do that.
Speaker 2:So tell us a little bit about the product. What is it and how does it effectuate what you just said about maintaining the optimal?
Speaker 3:Right fluctuate what you just said about maintaining the optimal right. So we're talking about products, as as we mentioned before, that help to get the body alkaline. We have a whole series of phytopowers and these phytopowers help in that way because it contains different lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium At birth we are born with these. Would you believe, jeremy, that as the baby's in the mother's womb, the baby's healthy feeding, you know, mom is hopefully eating healthy as the baby also comes down the birth canal? The birth canal contains lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, right, and as the mom breast feeds, they babies remain healthy. As long as mom breastfeeds and mom is herself is healthy, okay, and the baby's getting all the nutrients and preventing being prevented from even getting any kind of disease or infection, simply because of the lactobacillus and the bifidobacterium in harmony with that pH of 7.365. So once we have that environment, that platform set, healing will take place as it's needed.
Speaker 3:So we are actually, because of these trillions of bacteria and virus and fungus, we are more bacteria than we are humans. We have more bacteria than human cells, would you believe it? However, they have to work in harmony with each other and as they work in harmony with these phytonutrients that we give it and it's not just any okay the what the products have, the product. They have the correct microbiome that the gut needs, the gut bacteria, that that the bifida bacterium. And we have to examine what these products. There are lots of products on the market and they're all good. However, the masterpiece, the change maker, is the one that you will find that has that serial label at the end. It may say bifidobacterium, but you need to see that serial number at the end and this is what the change maker is now, are all these products strictly supplements or are there any actual like meal replacements?
Speaker 3:well, you, if you want to, you can use it as a meal replacement, for example, but these are all fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables that have been sourced. Out of the 70,000 different ones, certain fruits and vegetables were chosen to be part of the makeup of the products. That would give you the correct phytonutrients, right, and would target, for example, say, you have high blood pressure or whatever it might be. It will target those areas that can help to get the body in the zone where it starts to heal itself.
Speaker 2:Absolutely the body has to be able to heal itself.
Speaker 3:Yes, marvelous, fearfully and wonderfully made, and we don't even realize exactly how it works. Right, because this sort of industry is relatively new. Right, it's been around 6,000 years. But for us, now that we have so many things coming in right and the different metals, the different things in the atmosphere and all this kind of stuff, the radiation, okay, we don't even realize what's going on within our bodies, because today you might feel well, tomorrow you have a pain in the joint. Right, you've got, you're feeling your upset stomach. You don't know that there's nickel in some of this, this cookware, and we're ingesting these things, you see. So we have to keep on keeping on and working and keeping that gut in that zone of health.
Speaker 2:You've got to be hypervigilant. One thing I find where technology is going with AI now. There's all sorts of apps and tools that are available right now where you can do lab tests on your body and submit it and it will get fed into the app and then it will give you because all of our bodies are different, right, there's no one, one size fits all exactly exactly, literally tailor everything you put in your body for optimal health.
Speaker 2:The trick is getting to a point where you could do that consistently, right and actually. Consistency is the key.
Speaker 3:You hit the nail on the head, jeremy, consistently. Consistency, so daily. For example, myself, I ingest these myself daily because I I need to stay healthy, I need to be at a point where I don't have to have somebody take me out of bed, you know, or be on a walker or something like that, nothing wrong. If you need aid, you need aid, but if you can prevent it, prevention you know, growing up here, what prevention better than cure, and I guess it still stands today an ounce of prevention is worth right cure is the saying, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:we all, we all, all too often we wait until we have the problem to fix it and we don't deal with it To fix it.
Speaker 3:Right, but prevention Right.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I wanted to ask you. I know a lot of people that get into the health and wellness space. They do that because they've had their own transformation.
Speaker 3:Challenge.
Speaker 2:Their own person. So I wanted to, I'm curious to learn about your journey and what led you to where you're at right now with graph of biome. Did you have a personal experience with yourself, with these supplements or other supplements that helped you uh, you know realize your optimal health? That kind of lit the lit the fuse or lit the lit the fuse.
Speaker 3:There you go that's a great question. You know, um, jeremy, and it really started in 2009 I'm gonna say 2009 and my son was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Now I'm a nurse and I only heard about that in the books. I I never saw someone with that. What?
Speaker 2:is it called? I'm sure?
Speaker 3:enough. What was it called A plastic anemia?
Speaker 2:A plastic anemia.
Speaker 3:Okay, Right and, long story short, got his body alkaline and that's really what healing is alive and well today. Okay, fast forward to last December now, because I've always sought alternate way of healing. That was a passion of mine. But then that really drove the nail in when he got ill, right, and then he got better. He's well doing, well, no problems. And then in December yeah, christmas.
Speaker 3:As a matter of fact, last Christmas day I couldn't even speak. I had laryngitis. I don't know where it came from. I never had a cold or anything like that and then I connected with someone I know who is also a naturopathic doctor or naturopathic practitioner, and he recommended the phyto powers. And there's no looking back after that. As you can see, I'm talking very well. Okay, so I got my voice back and as I have got my voice back, I cannot spread the word. Okay, so that's how this I really started on the fighter pause, because there are several things out there people can use. But let me tell you, as I tell you, the change maker, the change maker is here and it's here to stay.
Speaker 2:I love it. You're definitely extremely passionate about what you do. What you do and it tells and I think a lot, of, a lot of that comes from not just out there selling a product right, it's about education. It's about education, teaching people, trying to help people live better lives and and just writing the word to everybody.
Speaker 2:So how does that play into what you do with your business, like in terms of trying to? I mean coming on podcasts like this and doing things like that? I know a lot of what you do. The education is so important nowadays because we're bombarded by products and everybody is trying to constantly sell things. It's like, just do this and it'll fix your whole life. And it's too much Right, sell things.
Speaker 3:It's like just do this and it'll fix your whole life, and it's too much.
Speaker 2:Right, right. But he there that really cares behind it. That's there not just trying to sell a thing but actually looking out for others.
Speaker 3:Right, this is exactly so, because you'll find some people they need a product. They will buy a product that's probably going to last them 30 days. But remember, the body heals itself. But you have to put that body in the healing zone so, as we change our new cells, taking something for 30 days really not going to help you and you're going to say, oh, this is no good, but you have, it has not been tested and everybody's body is totally different, right? So therefore, healing for me is going to be different from healing for you, because maybe you started out in a healthier state than I did in the first place. Yeah, right, us not knowing where we are starting out from, and every 120 days as we change those cells, right, then we recognize that. Hold on a second, I can now move this joint. Oh, I'm not having that upset stomach anymore, okay.
Speaker 3:So education is the main focus of this. I really am not looking for somebody to just buy things. I want them to know the value of what they're taking, the value and how valuable it is, and what taking the product over a period of time can do for them. And then it's a no-brainer because, as you see how much you improve and the energy level that you have, then, as I say, it's a no-brainer. You're going to stick to what's working for you. You're not going to go back to the old style of using the inferior cookware drinking the water. That's really not going to help your body to flush you and not drinking enough water as well. Okay, because a lot of people, especially especially the elderly, a lot of them are dehydrated and again, they don't know. Education is the key to everything.
Speaker 3:So, as you know, as a matter of fact, I work my the naturopathic practitioner that I work with. He does presentations monday through saturday at 8 am in the morning, zoom calls and he explains. He breaks these fighter power down. I'm working closely with him because he is what passion talk about passion. He's passionate to the t because he's a cancer survivor of 15 years, right. So he is truly passionate about teaching and when he had cancer he was not a naturopathic practitioner. He afterwards, and when he realized that he needed to get his body alkaline, that's when he really dive deep into this and he's been doing that for a number of years. So I have to really give give him kudos because he has taught me so much in this short journey, because I started taking these products in February of this year, in February of this year, and that prompted me to say, okay, I need to do this to share this with people. It's all about helping people. It's all about helping people. I could have the best product, but if I'm not helping the person who needs it, how, how much, how effective is it gonna be? You know, and and then you know you have.
Speaker 3:It takes a while for people to get into a rhythm of changing those habits that cause illness, sickness and disease, to change to to to their lifestyle. It's a lifestyle change, I can tell you. For me, I had a harder, thank God, a sweet tooth, but taking the fight of power right, the fight of power that blocks the sugar from getting and destroying myself, I have no more cravings. I can't believe this. Okay, I can't believe this because I was a child that would go when the Christmas cake was cut. Okay, I can't believe this because I was a child that would go when the Christmas cake was cut. I'd cut a slice after to eat so they would know that it was being eaten. So that's me on the sweet tooth. But I grew up liking sweets, but I cannot believe that I'm not even drinking coffee with sweet in it. You know, that's just how it is.
Speaker 2:You build these habits right. And also exercise is a huge component.
Speaker 3:The more you start exercising, you think twice before you go reach for the sweet treat, because you just didn't want to build up Exactly exactly exactly when I start exercising, I'll literally open the cabinet.
Speaker 2:I'm like nope, I just went to the gym and spent all that time building up. I am not going to blow it all on this sugary treat, and then, the longer you go without it, you feel like you don't even need it.
Speaker 3:Exactly exactly. I couldn't believe that. I said, oh my God, Mm-hmm, Yep, I don't understand how I got so, even comfortable Because of the sweet I put weight on. I said how did I ever get comfortable with this size? This is crazy, but you know that's what happens. Actually crazy, but I've changed my lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Thank, God Love to hear it. Yeah, it's good stuff. So, una, I have a couple of rapid-fire, lightning-round fun questions for you. You ready?
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:I am.
Speaker 3:Morning routine. Quick or detailed, I'll do a quick detail.
Speaker 1:That's an oxymoron right.
Speaker 3:Okay, quick detail, of course. Course you get up, you do your hygiene right. Yeah, hygiene prayer worship my part. My um zoom call training at 8 am.
Speaker 2:By that time, my firepower so we won't call it quick detail, we'll call it efficient in detail, efficient, efficiently detailed.
Speaker 3:Efficient detail with some exercise in between All right next one.
Speaker 2:What one food that you can't live without.
Speaker 3:One food that I can't live without.
Speaker 2:We know it's not sugary cakes, because you said you.
Speaker 3:No, you know what? No, I cannot think of any. No, you know what? No, I cannot think of any. I truly can't Before I could say I can't live without. But I like mangoes, I like you see, you notice what I like the sweet fruits, right, I like mangoes, I like bananas, that type of thing, but there's nothing. I can't live without now.
Speaker 2:True, I can't believe it?
Speaker 3:No, that's a question I really have me thinking.
Speaker 2:Because before I would say something else, all right, Favorite way to recharge after a long day.
Speaker 3:After a long day, I just unwind. Sometimes I'd watch some of those funny clips that get you laughing, you know, and with the laughter it really, it really helps to unwind. Praying is another way. Before I go to bed at night, you know, have music, worship, music playing. That's my unwinding.
Speaker 2:Very good, all right, here's a good one. If you could only pick three wellness habits to keep for life, what would they be?
Speaker 3:Okay, number one we know we need to do our walking Fit, that walking in. If you can't do the running, if you can't get to the gym, just simply walking 30 minutes, that's number one. Taking my fighter powers, I have that's number one. Taking my phyto powers, I have to put that in, okay, because if you you can walk, but by the time you get back and you're sweating, you need to replace your, your fluids, so the fluids with the energy included. Taking that for sure. And prayer is number three or top. Maybe that's first, maybe that first, best, first, it can switch around, depending. Okay, seeking my higher power.
Speaker 2:I like it. I like it, I was, as you got two, two of three of mine. Mine, I was thinking would be, uh, exercise, which you alluded to with walking I'm being more, a little bit more broad maintain a healthy, balanced diet. And then I think, I think having like routine sleep patterns for me is like like so many people don't get the right amount of sleep, don't sleep well, and that's such a huge impactful thing that that's true.
Speaker 3:That's true because if you don't sleep, you need to get that 90 minute REM sleep where your body is just dead at rest, sleeping to recharge for the next day.
Speaker 2:Indeed. Okay, last one for you, ready Mm-hmm. Yes, who inspires you most in the wellness world?
Speaker 3:In the wellness world, I'm going to have to tell you my mentor, my mentor Glenn John.
Speaker 2:The gentleman that does the Zoom. Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:Because of his passion, he attends a naturopathic conferences every year. He learns whatever it is that's going on in the community of health and wellness, you know. So he is the person that really I have to give it to him. He's top of the list.
Speaker 2:Hats off to him. Yes, definitely Very cool. I'll have to meet him one of these days. Yeah, absolutely so, una, before we wrap up here, why don't you let our listeners know how they could learn more about the work that you're doing? Maybe share the best way to contact you website? We'll put it all in the link in the description below, but just for anybody that's listening and looking, what's the best way to do it?
Speaker 3:Okay, so my listeners can contact me at my email, first and foremost, and my email is rafalovebiomecom. Sorry, I have this all twisted up loveyourbiome at gmailcom. That's my email. Love your biome. Loveyourbiome at gmailcom, Right. Gmailcom, right. Then they can also call me at 561-287-3760, 561-287-3760. My website rafalovebionecom Rafalovebionecom. I can be contacted there.
Speaker 2:Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. You hear that everyone out there. If you're struggling with your diet and you're not feeling well, reach out to Una. She could definitely help. She is also, I must say she's, by definition, a good neighbor. She lives right down the road from me in Cooper city, so it's always a pleasure having somebody from our local community on the show that's doing such great work. Una, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate having you on and hearing all about the wonderful, wonderful work you're doing in our community and beyond. So thanks.
Speaker 3:You're very welcome, jeremy, and thanks for having me and thanks to the crowd out there listening.
Speaker 2:Contact me, yep. Thanks everyone for tuning in and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Everyone take care, stay healthy out there. Remember we only have this one life to live. Let's make the most of it. Everyone be blessed. We love you all.
Speaker 1:Take care. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom, that to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.