By Matthew Rhodes
February 28, 2024 at 09:02 am EDT
It all made so much sense once my naturopath explained to me why I was getting these issues
For the vast majority of gym goers, it's hard to resist a protein shake (or bar) after the gym. They are convenient, often taste delicious, and make you feel like you are doing the right thing for your body. Let's be real, they taste like dessert. Despite the debates on when you should consume your protein after a workout, I always thought they were doing me good.
As an avid gym goer, I consumed a lot of them because they were convenient, fit my macros, and I was focused on hitting my protein goals. Little did I know the effect they were having on my gut.
As a kid, I never really had any gut issues. I could eat what I wanted and was pretty carefree with my diet.
Along my fitness journey, my gut started developing some issues. I didn't think much of it at first. I just thought it was actually from having too much protein and that seemed worth it to me, given I was getting good results. However, they kept getting worse and worse. My gut became an absolute mess.
I was starting to get really bloated and uncomfortable and had very irregular bowel movements. Fast forward a while, I noticed my skin was breaking out, my energy was low, and my performance was dropping. I was also finding it much harder to shift my weight up and down than I ever had previously.
With now daily gut issues, I was at the point where it was really starting to affect my life. I was becoming more intolerant to other foods, like dairy and gluten, and had to start going on elimination diets just to keep my symptoms at bay. Enough was enough, and I decided to seek some help.
I'm very grateful that I came across a fantastic naturopath after my GP provided no help at all. I have heard some horror stories of people being dismissed by numerous healthcare professionals for a long time before getting any help when it comes to their gut.
It all made so much sense once my naturopath explained to me why I was getting these issues and why consuming products like protein shakes with artificial sugars and other things (like my beloved protein bars and sugar-free products) over a long period of time, can cause the gut to enter such a state of dysbiosis.
She explained that although I couldn't get the calories from all the artificial sugar (making protein powers/bars and sugar-free things lower in calories) my gut bacteria sure could. When regularly exposed to these products, they can use them as fuel to grow and grow and grow.. in a very unnatural way. That can seriously mess up the delicate balance of your gut. The "bloating" we see is actually them reacting to foods and creating gas in our gut.
I obviously discontinued the use of these products and ate... well, real food. However, I still had issues because the bacteria imbalance was still present. Sadly, you can't turn back the clock after feeding unhelpful bacteria for so long. They are now dominant, and they will just adapt. Like any organism, they are built to survive... You can't try and “starve” them off.
My naturopath recommended that I take a systematic approach to repair my gut health without introducing any new bacteria strains that might worsen my now-overactive gut.
We used a strategy that focused on influencing the existing good gut bacteria populations to thrive while also recognising that I needed to target the unwanted imbalance of bacteria and do some restorative work.
She recommended the FixBIOME system because it doesn't introduce new bacteria strains and strongly focuses on restorative and detoxification mechanisms. She'd seen it work best for other people in similar situations over stand-alone products. She actually said she saw many people in the fitness industry with gut issues, and it is apparently a common problem. It's not just "protein farts", and it can actually be really hard to recover from.
The system she used on me includes natural and clinically studied ingredients proven to enhance good bacteria and push the gut back into a state of balance. The FIxBIOME three-part system was the product that changed everything for me and returned my gut health to where it initially was. I have actually managed to do body recop with much more ease, and I am progressing faster than ever again. My acne has completely cleared up, too. I didn't even know your gut affected your weight and metabolism, let alone your skin.
I encourage anyone with gut issues who can relate to my story to try the FixBIOME system if you've messed up your gut. I'm so grateful I got on top of mine because it was actually so debilitating.
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