00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of gut health. Happy December everyone and
00:04welcome back to Refinery29's YouTube channel. If you're new here be sure to
00:08click on the little subscribe button in the corner now and give this video a
00:11thumbs up if you're excited to learn about the gut. We are rounding out 2018
00:15with a video topic that's been very important to me over the past year. As
00:19many of you know in 2017 I had a cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal
00:23surgery. I have a whole video about that entire journey on my personal YouTube
00:27channel so definitely check that out after this. Ever since the surgery I've
00:31now gone back to a completely normal diet. My digestive system is functioning
00:35a-okay. But before and just after that surgery you really need to watch what you
00:39eat. Without a functioning gallbladder to produce and store your bile you might
00:43not be able to digest food that well. So ever since that operation I've been
00:46learning a ton more about nutrition and in particular how to take care of my gut.
00:51To start off this episode I'm gonna get a little bit scientific on you. First and
00:55foremost the big question of the day. What is gut health? Your gut is your
01:00entire gastrointestinal system. It's a muscular tube running from your mouth to
01:04your anus. Okay I promise I'm not gonna be silly this is science. And inside of
01:10this digestive tract there are trillions of bacteria or microbes. So when people
01:14use the term gut microbiome they're referring to all of the different
01:18strains of good bacteria that reside in there. Bacteria that can help with your
01:22digestion, your immune systems function, and so much more. Another major component
01:26of gut health is the gastrointestinal barrier or the GI barrier. This is the
01:30mucosal barrier inside of our intestines that needs to simultaneously allow
01:34nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream while still blocking harmful
01:38organisms or pathogens from getting in. There is so much more science that I could
01:42get into up front here but instead I'm gonna show you what I did on Monday.
01:48Remember the little scoby baby that I grew last month during five days of trying
01:52new skills? After letting it grow and grow it was finally time for the second
01:56fermentation process so we're now one step closer to having kombucha. Because of the
02:01fermentation process that takes place when you're drinking kombucha you're
02:05essentially drinking some live bacteria and the good kind. According to a
02:08Refinery29 article there's no great evidence to suggest that kombucha will cure
02:13you of anything but there is some research that suggests getting more of
02:17those bacteria in your diet may be beneficial for your digestion and your
02:21mental health. The first step here was brewing a fresh batch of organic black tea.
02:25I dissolved white sugar in it and then let it cool to room temperature. I poured
02:28that mixture into a gallon sized glass jar. It was large. And then it was time to pull
02:34out my scoby. Side note you have to keep everything squeaky clean throughout this
02:38entire process so I washed my hands multiple times and also sterilized
02:42everything in boiling water. My scoby had been in the cabinet for a couple of
02:46months and it grew so large that it had multiple layers and eventually it got so
02:50heavy that the scoby sunk and another scoby formed on top of that one so when I
02:55ultimately pulled them out I was pulling out three giant slimy scobies. I picked the
02:59one that I liked best and dropped it in the jar and then I set the other two
03:02scobies aside to add to my friend's scoby hotel. I added two cups of the previous
03:06liquid which is known as the starter liquid then I covered the jar with a
03:10kombucha cloth and set it in the dark in the cabinet. Good luck little kombucha.
03:18It's now gonna take at least another week for this big batch to ferment but once
03:22it's ready I'll be adding some flavors bottling it up and finally filling my gut
03:26up with good bacteria. No walk in the park to make your own booch. I started to touch on
03:34fermentation with Monday's kombucha so Tuesday was all about diving deeper into
03:39fermented foods. Mary Carlin the author of Mastering Fermentation defines
03:43fermented foods as foods that go through a chemical change caused by enzymes
03:48produced by bacteria microbes or yeast. Fermentation increases the amount of
03:53certain vitamins in the final food product and also when you eat fermented
03:56foods you're consuming that good bacteria and sending them straight to your gut.
04:01If you've taken antibiotics for any reason while they might have succeeded at
04:04getting rid of the bad bacteria inside of you they also might have wiped out the
04:09good strains of bacteria. So eating fermented foods is a great way to
04:12replenish that good bacteria. On Tuesday I tried making one of the most well-known
04:16fermented foods, sauerkraut. I pulled the outer leaves off of some green cabbage
04:21then I cored the cabbage and shredded it into strips. I added caraway seeds, sea salt,
04:27and grated ginger and then with clean hands I dove right in there and started
04:31massaging the mixture until the cabbage got softer and some juices started coming
04:35out. After about 10 minutes I packed it all into a sterilized mason jar and then I
04:40covered it with those outer leaves just to make sure that it was airtight in there
04:43and I sealed it all with a fermentation lid. There's a lot of science behind
04:46what's happening in that jar but essentially there's natural bacteria on
04:51the cabbage and that bacteria is digesting the natural sugars in the cabbage and as
04:56they digest those sugars they're producing carbon dioxide and organic acids.
05:00Eventually the environment in that jar is going to become too acidic for the bad
05:03bacteria to thrive so good bacteria will develop in its place. I stuck this
05:08jar in another dark place in my cabinet and the fermentation process will take
05:11place over the course of about three days. If you want to try making some
05:14fermented foods at home there are so many options for you out there and there
05:18are recipes on every corner of the internet. Sauerkraut is a quick and easy
05:22one but there's also homemade yogurt, kimchi, sourdough, and so much more.
05:29By Wednesday I realized that I've been exploring many of the food related aspects
05:34of gut health but I hadn't yet checked out some of the lifestyle aspects. Johns
05:38Hopkins University, my school, put out an article about various ways to support your
05:42gut health aside from just eating the right foods. And three of their major players
05:46were get more sleep, move more, and manage your stress. So on Wednesday I spent the
05:51whole day following some idealistic lifestyle rituals that are recommended
05:55for improved gut health. The first thing I did was ditch my morning coffee. I've
05:59actually heard both pros and cons about coffee when it comes to gut health. So on
06:03the one hand many people say it's dehydrating and people tend to feel like
06:06their stomach is gurgling after they drink it but on the other hand coffee is a
06:10fermented drink. So I'm just assuming different people react differently to it but by
06:15all means if you know more please share with the class. So instead of coffee I
06:19made myself a tumeric latte which I thought was perfect because of tumeric's
06:23powerful anti-inflammatory properties. I mixed almond milk, tumeric, honey, fresh
06:28ginger, and ground pepper in a blender and then poured the drink into a saucepan
06:32over the stovetop to steam it. When it was ready I used my electric frother to
06:36make it a little extra foamy like a latte and then I turned my phone off and
06:39began the day with some morning meditation. According to another Refinery29
06:43article studies have shown that meditation can help us build our mental
06:47resilience against stress and it's something that I've actually been
06:50working to include into my life daily. I've heard that staying hydrated is an
06:54important way to keep your gut happy so I filled up a big reusable water bottle
06:58and then got ready for tip number six moving. I did a few quick exercises at home
07:04to get my heart pumping which is a great way to release endorphins and start the
07:08day with a little bit of sweat and in the evening on Wednesday I got into bed nice
07:11and early. I read a little bit of my book about happiness and then I turned the
07:15lights off before 10. One thing I loved about Wednesday is that I really felt
07:18like I was having such a healthy and positive day but when I actually look
07:22back at the things that I did that day I realized that these are pretty easy
07:25activities to include in my everyday life and listen I get that everyone's
07:29schedule is different and you might not be able to live your ideal health day
07:33every single day but you can start slowly by adding some of these things into
07:37your life and eventually it might become second nature to you. Let's talk about
07:43the gut brain connection. A lot of people refer to the gut as the second brain. The
07:48enteric nervous system or the layers of nerve cells that line our GI tract is the
07:53nervous system that regulates our digestion and communicates with our
07:56brains. There have actually been a lot of studies linking gut health to mental
08:00health but the truth is this area is still being heavily studied and it's not
08:04entirely clear to us just yet how the two work together. The director of the Johns
08:08Hopkins Center for Neuro Gastroenterology says that for decades doctors and
08:12researchers have thought that anxiety and depression contributed to issues like
08:17IBS, bloating, diarrhea, constipation and more but he also says that some more
08:22studies might be showing that it's also the other way around and perhaps
08:26digestive issues can contribute to us feeling more anxious or depressed. In a
08:30Refinery29 article they cite a study that shows how the bacteria in your
08:34gut can actually affect the molecules in the area of the brain that is associated
08:38with anxiety and depression. When I started doing research for this episode
08:42one topic that continually came up was bone broth. I've now heard many
08:46nutritionists gush about bone broth explaining how it's packed with minerals
08:50and also with collagen which can help improve your hair, skin, nails and joints.
08:54But there's also been some evidence that collagen can positively impact your gut
08:58health. I began exploring bone broth a bit this summer and I first started by
09:02visiting some of those bone broth shops that have been popping up around New York.
09:05But one thing I hadn't tried yet was making my own bone broth at home from
09:09scratch. So on Thursday I followed Wellness Mama's recipe for a homemade bone
09:13broth. I found the beef bones really easily at Whole Foods and I first roasted
09:17them to bring out the flavor. Then I let them sit in water and apple cider
09:21vinegar for 30 minutes before I added the chopped up vegetables and spices. I
09:25brought the mixture to a boil and then I let it simmer on low heat for about eight
09:29hours. When it was done I skimmed the impurities off the top. I set some aside
09:33in a glass container to put in the freezer for later and I used the rest of
09:37it to make soup for dinner. So I sauteed some vegetables and mixed them in with the
09:40bone broth. Then I added a heaping serving of ramen noodles and a couple of
09:44hard-boiled eggs to the top. I don't know if it looks as amazing as it tasted but it
09:48was a giant bowl of dinner and it was delicious.
09:53The final lesson of the week is understanding probiotics versus prebiotics.
09:58Probiotics are live bacteria found in certain foods and supplements that help
10:02add to the good bacteria in your gut microbiome. You've likely heard of people
10:06taking a probiotic supplement before and essentially they're just hoping to add to
10:11the good bacteria that's already in there. And prebiotics however are non
10:14digestible food ingredients that act as the food for the good bacteria in your gut.
10:19You can find prebiotics in foods that have fiber like garlic, onion, whole
10:23wheat pasta, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. So one is the bacteria themselves and the
10:28other is the food that feeds the bacteria. The wider range of plant foods that you
10:32eat the more types of bacteria you're feeding and the more diverse your gut
10:36microbiome will be. I found a few recipes online for probiotic smoothies and I
10:40made one of them on Friday. I chose a peanut butter berry recipe which called for
10:44blueberries, peanut butter, flax seeds, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and the big
10:49ticket item, kefir. Kefir is a fermented yogurt like drink that's filled with probiotics.
10:55It's kind of sour tasting but if you like the taste of Greek yogurt you'll
10:58probably like this too. Probiotics are a very interesting topic because supposedly
11:02many of the probiotics on the market right now are made with strains of
11:05bacteria that just can't withstand the heat of your stomach acid. So that means
11:09they would die in your stomach before they even get to your intestines. Some
11:13people believe that spore forming probiotics are a better choice because
11:16they're hardier and they can supposedly withstand that heat. So if you're
11:20interested in learning more about this I would highly recommend you do some
11:22research into a brand called Silver Fern. They're definitely on the expensive
11:26side but they claim that their bacteria can survive and thrive in your gut and
11:30it's gotten great reviews from many of the health and wellness bloggers that I
11:33follow. I love this week because I feel like I got to try so many new things but
11:37I also learned so much that I'm so excited to share with you all. If you
11:41already have some gut health issues there are so many things out there that you can do
11:45to try to help heal your gut and even if your gut is totally fine and it's
11:48already functioning pretty well it's still great to learn how to maintain
11:51that health. If you have any more tips and insights related to gut health please
11:55share them in the comments section below and let me know what you want to see me
11:58try next time on Try Living with Lucy. See you next year!
12:01Hey YouTube, thanks for watching this episode. Click here to watch another five-day
12:05challenge video, here to subscribe to Refinery29 on YouTube, and right here for my
12:10personal YouTube channel. Happy New Year everyone!
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