5 Days Of Better Gut Health | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

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This week on Try Living With Lucie, our host, Lucie Fink takes on 5 days of trying to improve her gut health. From fermented foods to turmeric lattes and bone broth, she tests out ways to regulate her gastrointestinal system. Watch this episode of Try Living With Lucie to get motivated on bettering your health!  Check out the recipes Lucie used here:  https://allrecipes.com/recipe/105179/spicy-cabbage-kimchi/ https://mindbodygreen.com/0-12580/load-up-on-probiotics-with-this-homemade-sauerkraut.html http://eatingwell.com/recipe/258547/turmeric-latte/ https://wellnessmama.com/5888/bone-broth/  ABOUT SERIES Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!   ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/  RELATED CONTENT 5 Days Of A Capsule Wardrobe https://youtube.com/watch?v=Di9Bjf_OPj4 5 Days Of Meal Prep https://youtube.com/watch?v=DWaU47V3rMU&t=521s 5 Days Of Sleeping On The Floor https://youtube.com/watch?v=HsV_cwDY4l4  SEE MORE REFINERY29 VIDEOS http://refinery29.com/video  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29 For the latest trends and videos, visit: http://refinery29.com Like Refinery29 on Facebook: https://facebook.com/refinery29 Follow Refinery29 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/refinery29 Heart Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/  TALENT Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/ Follow OnHerTurf on Instagram: https://instagram.com/onherturf/ Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/

Transcript

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!

5 Days Of Better Gut Health | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29

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