How amazing would it be to eat wherever you want, not plan your trips out based on where the loos are, and go on holidays (remember those!??) without a suitcase full of Buscopan and Fybogel?! 

Well in just 90 days, I can help you go from feeling bloated and windy, to feeling like you again! Banish the uncomfortable feelings, get your energy back and start living your life again!
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Working with me 1-2-1, you'll begin to understand your gut and have the support you need to get the results you want and deserve. Here's how it works!

Stellar Health's 90 days to better gut health is for any one who's got tummy issues. This can look different for lots of my clients. Sometimes the problem might show up as you feeling lethargic and having low energy. Or it might be that you have chronic digestive troubles or chronic pain. Often my clients have been diagnosed with IBS and told that they just need to live with it, or they're advised to try a Low-Fodmap diet. 

All of these issues require more than a quick fix, which is why I only work 1-2-1 with people over a period of 3 months. I want you to start feeling better and living the life you deserve, not one you think you have to put up with. And to do that, we've got to investigate what's really going on and make changes - which takes time if you want to see long-lasting results.

If I sat with you for a whole day on Zoom, sent you a massive binder full of all the information you need to help you investigate your gut health, posted you a load of supplements, and a generic meal plan to follow, the chances are you'd leave the call feeling overwhelmed and confused. And you'd give up within a week or two.

After years of working with hundreds of clients, trying different strategies and methods of working, I've found that getting results takes time. Not only does it take time to see results, it takes you time to get used to changes and get into new routines. 

Working with me over 90 days gives you ongoing support, follow through and accountability for a journey that isn't always easy.  During our time together, we'll make tweaks and look at how they impact your gut, and adjust things as we go. If I only see you once, how can we know if the plan we've put in place is working?

When you book onto 90 Days to Better Gut Health with me, you have to know that this isn't just any old nutritional therapy programme.  This is a whole other level.  Stellar level, if you will!  Over the three months, you get a monthly call with me on Zoom and phone calls in between to help you stay on track.  You get a comprehensive stool test and one month of tailored supplements (included) so there are no hidden surprises, only the best possible results. You get email and messaging support too, so you're never alone on this nutritional journey.  Consider me your gut health wing woman!

Having the chance to chat things through, to be open about how you're feeling as we get into discovering what's really going on in your gut is a super-important part of this experience.  You need to feel comfortable talking to me about your poo, wind, mojo...all sorts! And we can't develop our working relationship in a couple of weeks.  90 days helping you means I get to know what you need, and how it's impacting your well-being.

As a 1-2-1 client, you'll receive a bespoke nutrition protocol clearly outlining our aims, goals and timeframe for our time together.  For me it's important to get the results you want.

Not everyone experiences gut health issues the same, sometimes it's impacting a client's sleep, other times it is causing them huge embarrassment at work. Whatever your goals, we'll figure out a plan of action!

As we work together, we'll keep referring back to this, checking in on your progress towards the goals. And by the end of the 90 days, you'll have achieved improvements in your digestive symptoms and be experiencing renewed health, energy and wellbeing.

When you're on my 90 day programme, you get amazing tailored recipe bundles with images and recipes to help you on this journey.  These take into account your nutritional needs and aren't just a one-size-fits-all PDF!  

Not only do we cover what you're eating, I give each of my 1-2-1 clients a detailed supplement plan. Again, this is not a bog-standard approach. Each plan includes tailored therapeutic doses of the supplements your body needs so you can start to feel better. I run a full nutrient and drug analysis to ensure that the supplements you're taking compliment each other and won't interfere with any medication you may be taking.

Your first month of supplements is included at no additional fee! Your supplements will be delivered straight to your door so you won't need to worry about ordering the right ones or where to find them online. 

Another benefit of this 90 Days to Better Gut Health is that you can access a range of clinical tests.  

Your comprehensive stool test is included as standard when you sign up so we can get to work right away! 

As an experienced nutritional therapist, I'm able to provide a vast range of clinical health tests by reputable laboratories you can rely on.

Clinical tests help assess the underlying causes of any imbalances in your body. This valuable information may help determine a more targeted nutritional plan for you. Using a variety of methods including saliva, stool, blood tests, dried urine, with samples analysed at reputable clinical laboratories, we will get to the bottom of the problem.

Working with me on this 90 day programme is the only way you can get a full scope of clinical tests done with me, through the trusted labs I use. 

My 90 Days to Better Gut Health is a personalised and structured approach to tackling the imbalances that are contributing to your digestive problems. ​IBS is simply an umbrella term for gut health issues. I help you identify which gut health imbalance could be causing your uncomfortable, sometimes embarrassing symptoms so you can return to a life you love and worry less about food triggers. 

Over 90 days, you'll get the follow through and support you need to achieve your desired goals. Because we've got time together, and we can tweak things as we go, you will get the results you've been dreaming of.  

If you're ready to quit Googling new diets that might help (from people who might not actually know what they're doing) and instead invest in expert advice that will help you figure out your various ailments, then it's time to take action! Working with me, you'll be safe in the knowledge that I'm a fully qualified and experienced nutritional therapist whose practice is based in scientific fact. 

You've probably found this blog post because you're struggling with constipation and it's making your life really miserable. The pain from being backed up can include back ache, cramps, bloating and it can impact on your mood. You want to get to the bottom of the problem and feel better, right? 

Many of the people I've worked with over the years have come to me with painful constipation and have been offered laxatives as a solution. Sadly, it's a temporary fix and unlikely to solve the root issues at play. 

In this post, I'm going to share the 3 main causes of constipation and I'll explain what you can do to start to feel better. Sound good? Let's go!

Something we've grown up hearing is that you should eat bran when you're constipated. Don't do it! It's actually really difficult to digest and possibly going to make things down there worse. 

So what should you actually be eating? 

• I recommend switching to gentle wholegrains - brown rice, oats, buckwheat and brown rice pasta. 
• Soak nuts, seeds and oats overnight to make them easier to digest. 
• Eat more legumes (if tolerated) and mash your root vegetables so your gut doesn't have to work as hard to break them down. 
• You could try the 3 Ps - pears prunes and peas - to get things moving. 
• Slippery elm can be added to smoothies (read more about that here!).
• Don't forget to increase your hydration.

Not many of us are aware of how our bodies work and how in sync our brains are with our digestive system. There is something called the "gut-brain-axis (GBA)" which is a two-way communication between our brain and our enteric nervous system, (neurons in our gut that control the function of our gastrointestinal tract). Basically what this means is that when you're stressed, your digestive system reacts. 

You might not think you're stressed right now, but your body has been living in fight or flight mode for a year during the pandemic. You might be working from home and trying to juggle home schooling, but if you're a key worker and have been on the front lines, that is a whole other level of stress. 

And what happens is the body "holds on to" waste because of the stress (the bowel is unable to relax fully) and we risk the reabsorption of toxins from the colon back into circulation in the body.​

So what can you do to reduce stress in the gut?

• Drink green tea - contains l-theanine, an amino acid shown to reduce stress
• Up your Vitamin B foods 
• Take magnesium baths and eat foods rich in magnesium (nuts and seeds are great, but soak them first!)
• Breathing exercises can help you calm your nervous system (watch my IGTV chat with Katy Wakefield about yoga nidra, breath and stress here.)

Try the above strategies, which can all be used together, and I bet you'll feel calmer and see a change in you gut sooner than you might think.

If you keep getting constipated or you've had life long constipation, and haven't found a solution yet, it could be that you have a particular bacteria (Methanobrevibacter smithii) taking up too much real estate in your large intestine. It's associated with IBS-constipation (IBS-C) because it produces methane, which delays gut transit time. This can be investigated by completing a comprehensive stool test.

Stool tests can be carried out through a qualified nutritional therapist (like me!) and then after a thorough analysis, we'd work on addressing the balance of bacteria in your gut. This would be through dietary changes and tailored supplementation advice.

I hope you've found this blog post helpful and there's some things in here that you've not tried yet. It can be so hard to see the wood for the trees when you're in pain and no one is listening to you. But I urge you to try some of the options I've listed, because they will help heal your gut for good rather just than temporarily easing your suffering. 

If you're suffering from constipation, there is light at the end of the tunnel!  “Ease your gut, beat the bloat” is my new 5 week programme where we work towards your optimal gut health. Email me to join the waiting list for the next start date.

​Need a little more support? Get in touch with me about working 1-2-1 over 90 days or book in for comprehensive digestive stool testing.

Living with tummy pain shouldn't be considered normal. I want to change the way we look at our digestive health. Find out more about my work and passion for helping you feel better over on Instagram! 

Did you know that hidden in the walls of our digestive system, we have a second brain called the gut-brain-axis and it is transforming our understanding of the links between good gut health and mood?

​​The gut-brain-axis (GBA) consists of a two-way communication between our brain and our enteric nervous system, (neurons in our gut that control the function of our gastrointestinal tract).

This system of nerves in our gastrointestinal system has over 100 million neurons!!! This system has so many nerves our gut has earned the nickname “the gut brain” or “the second brain”.

​Our “gut brain” is influenced by our sympathetic (“fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) modes and sends signals along the vagus nerve (an information highway) to our brain, relaying important messages about what’s going on.

This can influence how well our gut functions and helps explain why during times of worry, anxiety and stress (fight or flight) we may experience:

• Constipation
• Sudden unexpected evacuations
• A flare-up of IBS 
• Bloating, pain and cramping 

This two-way communication between our brain and our gut brain influences how we feel and think on a daily basis. A prime example of this in action is the feeling of butterflies in our stomach when we feel nervous or anxious before an important meeting or exam. 

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The balance of our gut bacteria matter when it comes to mental health. ​Recent advances in gut health research has highlighted the importance of certain gut bacteria in this bi-directional communication.

The health of our gut and the variety of our gut microbes influence how we think and how we feel.

Addressing leaky gut or any other gut imbalances is an essential step when it comes to supporting mental wellbeing, such as: 

• Inflammation in the gut
• Excessive gas
• Bloating
• Bacterial, yeast or parasitic infections
• IBS symptoms 

Our gut bacteria chat with our brain and vice versa and use different modes of communication, including:

1. They're physically connected by the Vagus Nerve. Think of this as an information highway between your brain and your gut. Like a telephone wire connecting microbes in the gut with messengers in the brain. 
2. Wirelessly through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers which are produced in the gut and send messages to the brain, influencing how we feel. An example of this is serotonin, the happy hormone, which is predominantly produced in our gut (regulated by our gut bacteria) and communicates with our brain. 

The health of our gut has an effect on our brain and how we feel from day to day. Inflammation, a lack of microbial diversity and even specific species of gut bacteria have been linked with poor mental health including anxiety, low mood and depression. Research shows that altering bacteria in the gut through specific dietary changes may help to treat stress-related mood disorders and anxiety.

Contact me now to find out more about my 90-day personalised 1:1 support package to nail your nutrition and solve your anxiety and gut symptoms for good.

If you test positive for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, (SIBO), it means you may have bacteria in the small intestine which may be addressed medically (with antibiotics) or naturally (with anti-microbial supplements).

A SIBO friendly diet should also be introduced (more on that to come) and steps taken to support your general gut health. SIBO can be chronic in some people which suggests it may not be the root cause and further support and gut healing may be necessary. 

If you test negative for SIBO, other causes of excessive bloating and gas could be food intolerance, digestive enzyme deficiency, bile insufficiency and/or bacterial imbalance in the large intestine. A comprehensive stool test may be helpful as it includes many of these markers. You may also enjoy reading my top five tips to prevent bloating. 

Find out more about how we can work together to find the best approach for you here. If you'd like to arrange a time to chat we can discuss the best way forward for you here.