The Energy Fix Episode 135 - FINAL.mp3
2025-08-14
Transcript
0:00:13 Tansy Rodgers: Welcome back to the Energy Fix, a podcast dedicated to help you balance your energetic body by diving deep into the sweet world of all things health and spirituality. My name’s Tansy and and I’m an intuitive crystal Reiki energy healer, energetic nutrition and holistic health practitioner, and a crystal jewelry designer. It’s time to talk all things energy. Let’s dive in. The road to creation is never a straight line.
0:00:44 Tansy Rodgers: I want to give you. I want to start this podcast out with just a little bit of an update of what’s been happening over at the Lititz mindbody Studio. And while the vision for the lit, its Mind Body studio has been flowing beautifully and has been expanding and opening and connecting and gaining traction and excitement, well, we’ve recently hit a bit of a roadblock. We were just informed this week that there are some zoning protocols and red tape that need to be addressed and they’re completely, completely out of our control.
0:01:22 Tansy Rodgers: So for now, the grand opening is on pause and the next stages of progress are temporarily on hold while we work through the logistics, while we wait to hear from our property manager what’s going on with the space and how when we can progress and when things can get ironed out. It’s super frustrating. It’s really frustrating. Yeah. But it’s also part of the process and I’m just trying to remember that. I’m trying to sit with that and I just want to thank you for continuing to walk this path with me.
0:01:59 Tansy Rodgers: Sometimes alignment really asks for patience. Sometimes the control is just ripped out of your hands and there’s nothing you can do but step back and just say, okay, being patient. And we’re leaning into that. We’re learning that experience firsthand right now. So as I know more, as things open up, there will be more updates about the lit it’s Mind Body Studio. But as of right now, we’re really just kind of at a standstill and hoping that this really opens up quickly and that we can start to progress forward and have our grand opening.
0:02:40 Tansy Rodgers: Oh yeah. It’s going to be an exciting time when that happens. So I just wanted to start the podcast out with letting you know what’s going on there because I haven’t been talking about too much as we’ve been trying to figure out what the heck is going on. All right, now let’s get into this week’s episode. This week we are diving into episode number two of the end of the summer book tour. This is a last minute series that I wanted to do, a last minute put out that I wanted to do as I’ve been getting so many incredible books coming into my sphere and I thought, how fun would it be? I’m an avid book reader and I thought how fun would it be to have an end of summer book tour to really just highlight and emphasize some of these incredible books that are coming through my awareness.
0:03:34 Tansy Rodgers: And so here we are, we’re in episode number two of that. We’re exploring something that is way more powerful than most people realize and that is your gut. Your gut, my friend. We talk a lot about the gut and gut health here at the Energy Fix because regardless if we are looking at your energetics, your physical health, your mental, your emotional health, and even your spiritual health, your physical gut health is absolutely at the foundation of it all.
0:04:09 Tansy Rodgers: Your energetic gut health is at the foundation of it all. And that’s what we’re stepping into today. My guest today is Anu Sim, a board certified functional health coach and the founder of Nine Arms of Wellness. She’s helped hundreds of women lose weight, keep it off, and get off medications for lifestyle driven illness, not by doing more cardio or counting more calories, but by transforming their gut microbiome.
0:04:42 Tansy Rodgers: The foundation of It All, a news book, Flourish from within, has just been launched. It was launched on July 29, so I feel super excited and super proud to be able to have her on the show and allow you to get your hands onto her book as soon as it’s come out. It is a guide to understanding your gut not just as a digestive system, but as a hormonal hub, an emotional center and a metabolic engine. She’s a plant based chef, a passionate educator, and an advocate for food as medicine.
0:05:23 Tansy Rodgers: And in today’s conversation, you’re going to hear all about what your gut has to do with stubborn weight and chronic stress, how ultra processed foods change your microbiome and how you can reverse it. You’re going to learn about the myths around probiotics and fermented foods and why sleep and stress management are truly non negotiables when it comes to gut healing. And you’re going to also learn some simple ways to start nourishing your metabolism today.
0:05:54 Tansy Rodgers: Like today, if you’ve been feeling stuck in your body, you’ve been battling bloating or fatigue or weight gain despite doing, quote unquote, all the right things, then this episode might just be your invitation to start healing from the inside out. So without further ado, let’s connect into anew and hear all about her journey, her book and her passion around gut health. And gut healing. Let’s dive in.
0:06:32 Tansy Rodgers: Welcome to the Energy Fix podcast. Anu, thank you so much for being here today.
0:06:37 Anu Simh: Thank you, Tansy. It’s a pleasure. Really looking forward to our conversation anew.
0:06:42 Tansy Rodgers: We had a beautiful conversation prior to hitting record today and I got to know just a little bit more about you and I’m excited for the listeners to get to know more about you as well now that we are recording. So let’s just talk about you for a moment. Is there a word or a phrase that you’re really embodying in this season of your life?
0:07:07 Anu Simh: Yeah. Season is so right. Depends on the season or where you are in your life. Right. For me right now it’s I say to myself, this is a mantra that I repeat to myself. I flourish from within. And for me that means flourishing in body, mind, soul. And a big part of it is making sure that all the different partnerships we have who really make the flourishing happen are, are flourishing as well. And for, and for me, that means our microbial partners.
0:07:54 Anu Simh: It may sound a little far fetched, but I’m hoping by the end of the hour that most listeners will agree that they are symbiotic partners, partners for us. And they are our forever guests. And when we take care of them, we flourish from within us. And this is not something that I came about today. It’s something that I’ve always thought, but more than ever I feel it so strongly now, and it’s such a big passion of mine that everybody understands the value of forging that relationship with our.
0:08:34 Tansy Rodgers: Microbial partners and so flourishing within with our microbiome. We’re going to be talking all about that in this conversation today. I guess one of my biggest questions for you though is let’s be real. We live in a toxic world. There is toxins everywhere around us. And so I would love to know how. And I know we’re going to get into a lot with this, but for you personally, what do you do to continue to flourish in your microbiome and help to keep yourself balanced and what’s important for you?
0:09:13 Anu Simh: And I think that’s a very bio individual response. You know, when we talk about toxins, for example, I’m thinking toxins like chemicals and things like that, but also the toxic world. Words can be toxic, relationships can be toxic. So if you really want to thrive and flourish, you have to safeguard every aspect of that, of your being. And for me, that means that I examine what could be potentially toxic for me, what are some toxic things that it’s impossible to Live in this world, Tansy, and say, I’m not going to do anything toxic.
0:09:56 Anu Simh: They’re always there, lurking, bombarding you, because how are you going to know every single chemical, every little thing? And even in relationships there we are all bombarded by relationships that can be toxic, but we don’t know how to get out of it or how to set boundaries and make it less toxic for us. So that is also a big part of flourishing from within, really knowing yourself and knowing your own true power and not giving it away to anyone else.
0:10:29 Anu Simh: And that means all of us. You and I are coaches. We have clients coming to us, and they have probably gone, gone from practitioner to practitioner looking for answers, but they haven’t been able to connect the dots sometimes because we start losing faith in who we are and what we can offer. And my big thing is, let’s get that power back. Let’s just start with us. And I don’t know if I just kind of strayed from your question, but that’s where my mind was going. And.
0:11:05 Tansy Rodgers: No, I love that. And, you know, getting to know about you and your background and the. The physiological work that you do. I also, I’m loving because I. I can tell, you know, if you’re watching the video of this in the back, you have a beautiful Buddha head. You have amazing selenite that’s so great for pulling away negative energy and helping to clear and balance out the energy of a room. You have what looks like an essential oil diffuser.
0:11:36 Tansy Rodgers: And so what I love about this is that you are really bringing so many components that are important for keeping that microbiome healthy and strong, and you are bringing them into your world and into your life and potentially even into the work that you’re doing with clientele. And that, I think, is so important. And it’s an important part of this conversation.
0:12:00 Anu Simh: Yes. Yeah. And I think it is an important part of any conversation about healing, nourishing, flourishing. Because the one thing I’ve noticed is that we talk about some of us, like, if we are in the spiritual world, for example, we believe in spirituality, or we tend to just do things outside of our body, you know, and I’ve seen this with a lot of my clients who are very, very spiritual, are empaths that care about others.
0:12:36 Anu Simh: But I think for to truly flourish, you need to care for this vehicle, you know, this body, you know, when this is out of sync. And when I say body, I mean body, brain, body, mind, you know, connection. When this is out of sync, it doesn’t matter what Your goals are, what your purpose in life is. You’re not able to completely embody that and go after it because you’re not feeling absolutely the best version of yourself in this body.
0:13:07 Anu Simh: And there’s no, you know, I think we really can’t, you know, we can’t escape that. We just have to start here, flourish from within. And when you’re feeling so good in your body, then you can give the world, then you can give someone, someone else a piece of you, you know, which is not possible when you’re not feeling well. And that’s, that’s the reason I live this mantra of flourishing from within.
0:13:35 Tansy Rodgers: I love that. Well, let’s just, let’s just dive right in. I really want to start this conversation off with a truth bomb. You know, you have a book that’s coming out. By the time this recording comes out, it’ll probably already be out, but you have a book called Coming out that’s called why your gut could be sabotaging your metabolism. And that’s not something that most people hear at the doctor’s office.
0:14:01 Tansy Rodgers: That is definitely not a large part of the conversation. So I would love to hear about you and what happened. What was your personal aha moment that connected the gut with stubborn weight and stalled healing, and how you transformed your own personal experience to bring you to this passion that you’re stepping into now.
0:14:26 Anu Simh: Thank you. And that’s such a great question. And I can answer it like it happened yesterday, but because it was many moons ago. But I still remember the pain, the anxiety, the, the hopelessness that I felt during that period of my life. Like most of us practitioners, it’s our own personal journeys that kind of propel us into this kind of work. It’s not like I, I just woke up one day and said, oh, I’m going to be a coach.
0:14:58 Anu Simh: It didn’t happen like that, of course. And so I think for me, it was my own gut health. I, I grew up in a South Indian family, you know, back home in India, and ate really home cooked meals, all of that, you know, grandma nourishing me, grandfather nourishing me. From a mental aspect, just feeding me, just, you know, just incredible, you know, information, because words and thoughts, those are also food, you know, in my mind, you know, and so I was kind of, you know, embracing all of that. And then when I moved to the States, many, many, many, many years ago, I sort of embraced the American dream, you know, and part of that American dream is to live a life of convenience.
0:15:51 Anu Simh: Because for us, as Americans, we Value, work ethic and hard work, all of that. And so it comes at a cost. And, and we do that by adopting convenient methods. And I was no different. You know, I started eating a little, you know, poorly and none of this was very apparent to me. I just kind of fell into it. And then when the gut stuff started happening, I was like, what’s going on with my body? You know, I’ve never had these problems and my hair started falling and I didn’t have answers then.
0:16:27 Anu Simh: So of course I did what everybody does, go to the doctor, go to every possible practitioner, try to get answers. And I was given, you know, just a variety of answers. It’s your, it’s too much protein or too little protein or too much. I think your labs are great. There’s nothing wrong with you. Or they couldn’t name it. You know, they, they tried but they couldn’t. And really I don’t blame, blame them.
0:16:57 Anu Simh: It’s just the system, you know, there’s a huge gap in the system and we find ourselves as that problem in that gap. And I still remember, and this is something I share on podcasts because it is still resonates. That little shift that happened for me is. It’s like it happened yesterday. I was sitting in my car after another one of these dead end appointments. The doctor, that was a young man who didn’t understand what I was going through and he was laughing and he said, I’m a, I’ve just come out of residency.
0:17:35 Anu Simh: Your problems are something all of us face. A little bit of bloating. What’s the big deal? In other words, suck it up, right? And, and I just sat there thinking, is no one going to give me any answers? I was feeling very hopeless and really crushed and all these chaotic thoughts and emotion. The one thing that was very clearly came a thought that came for me was, listen, if no one is going to give me an answer, if no one’s going to name this, I want to do it, I’m going to do it.
0:18:13 Anu Simh: And I almost think that that was just that moment when I stopped being a patient and became more of a detective and I put my science background to work. We are talking tansi, a time when we didn’t have, we talked about iPhone but it was a time when there’s no Internet or you know, ChatGPT for example. So I sat in the library and really researched the heck out of my symptoms and I thought, what could it be? What could be?
0:18:43 Anu Simh: And that’s how I discovered the microbiome. I fell in love with it. And I thought this could be that missing piece that no one’s really talking about. And so I became an earlier doctor of it and started learning more about it and realized that I was doing some severe damage to my body by adopting these convenient strategies towards life. I took a deep look at my own way of how I was living my life, you know, and, and it was an, it was a revelation. And then from there, healing slowly started and, and I finally healed.
0:19:29 Anu Simh: And so that gave me incredible hope because for the longest time I didn’t have hope. And when I finally felt hopeful, I felt like this is something I need to share with people who don’t have hope. Because by then I was hearing the same stories from so many people, immigrants or people who had adopted the standard American diet, you know, and were eating just things that they were not supposed to be eating, you know, and that changed everything for me.
0:20:02 Tansy Rodgers: Wow.
0:20:03 Tansy Rodgers: I think that that story can relate to so many people. And the sad, the sad. I shouldn’t say sad. The unfortunate, the unfortunate thing is that a lot of general practitioners, a lot of doctors don’t get the education in nutrition. They don’t get the education and how that plays a role in, in our, our overall well being to the, to the level that maybe you have now learned and experience. A lot of them don’t get the education on the connection to the gut microbiome in so many areas of their health.
0:20:43 Anu Simh: And they don’t. And I think doctors are, I heard or there’s some research showing that they’re almost 17 years behind in research.
0:20:50 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:20:51 Anu Simh: And you can’t help it. It is the system they find themselves in. And a GP has maybe about seven to eight minutes with each patient. Where is the time to ask you and how is your microbiome doing?
0:21:04 Tansy Rodgers: There isn’t.
0:21:06 Anu Simh: Brain. Yeah. There’s just no way. And it’s not their fault. It’s the system they find themselves in. And I think any good healthcare system should have allopathic, they should have functional, they should have coaches, they should have a team around a patient. Because ultimately, what do we want? We want the patient to heal. We want the patient to feel the best. And there’s this, you know, continuum. Right. You know, as a nutrition therapist and you probably have heard of John Travis’s Continuum and I loved what he said about it in the 70s. It was so incredible that we, most of us find ourselves in a neutral point in life and we kind of just, we accept it. You know, it’s like, oh, a little bit. We have headaches or we are in pain, we say, okay, maybe this is how it is.
0:22:02 Anu Simh: And then something really radical, something really terrible happens. Maybe we get a disease, cancer, a stroke or something, and then we, we look to the health care system to fix it. But the doctor’s job is to either fix it, sometimes they can, sometimes they can’t. And if they can, they bring you back to that neutral point. But then it becomes our responsibility to take ourselves from that neutral point to high optimal living.
0:22:32 Anu Simh: So we can’t really outsource that to anyone else. And when we do, we find ourselves blaming systems that are not capable of taking care of us. So instead we empower ourselves and say, okay, what is optimal health for me? And it could mean different things to you or me or someone who’s listening. And then if we can figure that out, then we can take the next steps towards that growth and strength and flourishing from within in a more meaningful and pragmatic way.
0:23:08 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, I love that. I love that. Let’s talk about that just a little bit deeper. Let’s talk about our modern lifestyle. Kind of connecting your story with what you were experiencing when you went to the doctor’s offices. Between the stress, the sleep issues, the process food trap, what actually is happening in the body when these factors start to damage the gut, and why does it often show up as weight gain or fatigue or brain fog or any of these other symptoms that often come up.
0:23:43 Anu Simh: So I think maybe I just, we step back a bit and just maybe even define the microbiome, just so everyone’s on the same page on that. You know, we have microbes on us, in us, every part of us. But for the purpose of this conversation, I will focus on the gut microbiome. That is where we have trillions of gut bugs living within us and we’ve kind of co evolved with them. We have a symbiotic partnership.
0:24:14 Anu Simh: In very simple terms, that means, hey, you’re doing something for me, I’m doing something back for you. So we give them a place to stay, which is the colon, we give them fuel, which is all of the fiber from the foods that we eat. We, we can’t digest it. So the undigested fiber goes to them and they say, well, thank you very much, I have food and I can eat that and I give you something back. So pretty much, I’m of course simplifying this, but this is pretty much what happens.
0:24:45 Anu Simh: And in this symbiotic partnership, if we choose not to feed them what they want, then things can get a little chaotic. So the first thing for anyone who’s listening, who’s new to the microbiome is to say, hey, I have this relationship with my forever guests. They’re not going anywhere. This is part of evolution. They’re within you, they stay with you. This is probably the best heirloom you can pass on to the next generation.
0:25:15 Anu Simh: And so caring for them becomes a collective responsibility because we are fast losing species if we compare ourselves to, let’s see, an ancient Heartsa tribe, they have like 1500 species. And healthy American will have a paltry 350, 400. And I tend to have never seen anything more than 150 species. The lowest I’ve seen is 20. So that’s like a ticking time bomb right there. You know, it’s connected, like you said, to weight gain, to metabolic potential, to inflammation, to blood sugar balance, to immune health.
0:25:56 Anu Simh: It’s connected to so many things. So how is it connected? Well, when we eat fiber and we don’t digest it, they digest it. They are like, thank you so much. I’m able to digest it and produce some very healthy, powerful metabolites called short chain fatty acids. And short chain fatty acids, especially one called butyrate, do incredible work for us. When we think about energy, what do we think about in our body? We think about the mitochondria.
0:26:25 Anu Simh: Mitochondria are like little powerhouses, you know, that produce ATP, keeps us, you know, prevents that afternoon slump, you know, gets us through a workout. All of that’s doing a lot of things behind the scenes, right? So they actually, the mitochondria, when you think about it, actually are originated from a bacteria. It’s called endosymbiosis, and it started from a bacteria. So they appreciate the signals that they get from these short chain fatty acids. So when the fiber is digested, the short chain fatty acids reach the bloodstream, they reach your mitochondria, and they really get that ATP going.
0:27:10 Anu Simh: And so you feel more energy, you feel great. Same thing. The short chain fatty acids. I mean, by the end of this one hour, everybody understands that short chain fatty acids is the metabolite that you get from digesting the fiber. So the, the fuel source is the fiber. And we are in major fiber famine right now. We’re not eating enough fiber. So. And we don’t eat it for us, we eat it for them. So they take care of us.
0:27:42 Anu Simh: Metabolically speaking, when you think about maybe like a friend and you just go out to eat and your friend is completely fine throughout the day and she’s really happy, same Same salad with the lean protein, whole grains, lots of greens, all of that. But you are looking at the pantry in less than half an hour. So is that willpower? Is that what else could be happening? So I just want to propose that it could be your microbial profile that’s preventing you from feeling full, from feeling satiated, that you want food right after eating.
0:28:22 Anu Simh: So that’s a signal. So it has nothing to do with willpower. And then we look into inflammatory markers. You know, inflammation goes up when we don’t have these helpers calming those signals, keeping us calm. So they are doing incredible things behind the scenes for us. So the very first step is how do we feed our forever guests? And I do this personally in my own life because as you know, as a coach, that we all have goals, we want to really go after our goals, but if we don’t have a system in place, the goals just go by the wayside.
0:29:01 Anu Simh: So for me, it’s a part of my ritual at night to say, what am I going to feed my forever guests tomorrow? And I’ve kind of looped my husband into this conversation. And so we usually say, okay, let’s soak some beans, let’s soak some lentils, let’s prep some veggies for tomorrow. Let’s, you know, how many sources, plant sources. And remember, fiber is only coming from the plant kingdom. And when I say this, I’m not saying you should eat only plants.
0:29:37 Anu Simh: I’m just saying you need to eat enough plant sources for your microbiome. Your choice of protein is yours. You do need protein. You need adequate protein to jumpstart your muscle protein synthesis in the morning for that nitrogen fix for so many things. So we can’t be just looking at single nutrients, but from a microbial perspective, the fiber is monumental. We do need fiber.
0:30:04 Tansy Rodgers: You can eat all the greens, you can drink all the smoothies and still feel off. If your gut isn’t absorbing what you’re giving it, then you’re not gonna feel super amazing. That’s why I’m just such a fan of just thrive probiotics. Unlike most probiotics, which die in your stomach acid before they eat, even make it to your gut, Just Thrive is spore based, meaning that it survives the journey and actually gets to work healing your gut lining, supporting your immunity, and even boosting your mood and focus.
0:30:40 Tansy Rodgers: It’s one of the simplest ways to help your gut catch up with the rest of your healing work that you are so diligently doing, especially if you’ve been dealing with Inflammation, brain fog or hormone imbalance. If you jump down into the show notes and click the link for just Thrive probiotics, you can head on over to their store, use code TANSY15 and save 15% off your entire order to try out some of their other products, of course, including their probiotic, and see how your gut starts to really feel the difference.
0:31:19 Tansy Rodgers: Again, click the link down in the show notes and use code TANSY15 to save 15% off your entire order. Here’s to a happy gut. Here’s to a happy you.
0:31:33 Tansy Rodgers: And so when you talk about eating a high plant diet as a great source to help support the gut microbiome, is it just because of the fiber or is it other nutrients within those foods, within those plants that also help to support. Because one thing that I see a lot are for people to go out and say, oh, I’m, but I’m, but I’m eating fiber from this fortified cereal or I’m eating fiber from, you know, this grain.
0:32:05 Tansy Rodgers: So I’m just curious, is it more than just the fiber or what’s the whole story here?
0:32:11 Anu Simh: Fabulous. I think we, we all tend to focus more on macros and, and less on micros. So we need to start looking at the micronutrients that we get from plant sources. We are not able to make them, we need to get them from, from our diet. So when you’re having a micronutrient rich diet, let’s say it’s high in polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamins, minerals, they, your body gets a jump start. You know, your bugs are able to really see that as food.
0:32:47 Anu Simh: And I think, you know, I always use this analogy, you know, like your microbiome has evolved with you to recognize a few things as food. But what we are doing with this whole fiber famine is really taking them to, let’s see, if you and I went to Home Depot and said, I’m going to eat something here, it’s really something, it’s relevant. It’s just pretty much that because they don’t recognize the ultra processed foods, all the things that we’re eating today as food.
0:33:18 Anu Simh: And protein sort of falls in that category because if you, when we eat protein, what happens? Most of it is digested in the upper parts of digestion, right? But if you’re eating a lot of protein and you’re not supporting your body with enough fiber or plant sources, some of that protein. And of course we, our body makes protein too, and enzymes and all of that and it goes into the colon and there are Certain bacteria that have evolved to metabolize protein.
0:33:51 Anu Simh: But when they metabolize a protein, when they break it down, they produce some toxic metabolites like ammonia, like hydrogen sulfide, like pre, prezole, you know, polyamines, which are not really healthy for us, long run, you know, you just don’t want to have too many of those metabolites. So that’s why it’s a good idea to look at your plate as this is for me. I can’t live without my steak, or I can’t live without my chicken, or I can’t live without my tofu, whatever.
0:34:27 Anu Simh: And then all of this is for my microbes. So you’re looking at, you’re looking at a system that’s easy to follow rather than saying, I’m going to chase the single nutrient and get some information about it. I’ve done this long enough to know that no one ever remembers. After about two weeks, the tallow is forgotten, the seed oil is forgotten. When you’re hungry and you’re going somewhere to eat, are you going to sit and say, what is in this? But if you have good rules, like most of the time, 80, 70 to 80% of the time, I’m eating whole, unprocessed foods. And they’re coming from both kingdoms, animal and plant.
0:35:14 Anu Simh: Let me have like a variety and a diversity of sources that give me all of these micronutrients, polyphenols, fiber, prebiotic fibers, functional foods, you know, that really help them, help our bodies. Then you don’t have to really, it’s. It becomes simpler, I think, to live. And that’s the life that I live. That’s the life that I tell my clients is the easiest way to live. Rather than learning about so many different things that we’re not going to remember. Our brain is not, you know, it doesn’t adopt because they’re not procedural. That’s what I mean. It’s not like brushing your teeth, right? That’s a procedural habit. And you’ll do that every single day.
0:35:55 Anu Simh: But until and unless all of these food habits become procedural, you’ll keep changing and, and you’ll have that fatigue because that same part of your brain that’s making like an insane amount of decisions, oh, my boss is calling me, there’s a meeting. I really need to show up with this. That same part of the brain is also thinking about, what should I eat for lunch, what should I eat for dinner, and who wins. Finally, it’s that immediate, oh, my gosh, I need to put food on the table. Let Me go to work, let me listen to my boss.
0:36:30 Anu Simh: That’s always going to win and we are going to take second place. So what I’m suggesting is don’t give your body that chance to make you less important. Have a system that’s going to help you and guide you regardless of a shitty day. Oh, can I say that?
0:36:49 Tansy Rodgers: You can, yeah, sorry.
0:36:52 Anu Simh: It’s one of those days I just slipped out and you know, then, then you’re, you’re more apt to handle the stress that comes you.
0:37:04 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, well, let’s talk about that ultra processed food. I love everything that you just said here, but I do know there’s times where people get stuck in that loop and they’re like, I just, I don’t have time. I don’t have the capacity, the brain power to even think about anything outside of just running to the fast food drive through. Or maybe, maybe they haven’t took enough time to eat so now they’re just trying to grab whatever it is that they can.
0:37:35 Tansy Rodgers: Does ultra processed foods retrain the gut micro, microbiome in any kind of a way? And if so, how, how is that? What happens?
0:37:46 Anu Simh: Wonderful, great question. Very few people actually ask me this and I’m so glad you asked me that. Ultra processed foods. When we say ultra processed, there’s just different stages of a food being processed. Like you, you are processing it in your mouth, that gets processed a little bit. That’s natural process of a food. But when you think about food, food that’s ultra processed, I think of a food that has chemically changed so much that is impossible to recognize.
0:38:18 Anu Simh: The main source of that fruit, let’s say Doritos, for example. I mean, what is the main source of nutrition and Doritos, is it made with corn, but it’s unrecognizable. Right. The last step of this thing that we put into our mouth is maybe orange in color. It has a lot of emulsifiers, probably has preservatives because how long can you leave burritos out there, you know, unopened stay. It’s because of all the preservatives, colors and colors that are added.
0:38:49 Anu Simh: Our gut microbiome does not recognize that as food. So more of the, I don’t like to call them good or bad bacteria, but basically it becomes more pathogenic because even pathogenic bacteria in small amounts can be good for us. So I don’t think we are at a point where we can classify them, you know, as this is exceptionally bad for you. I, I believe more in just having some balance in the gut, right?
0:39:22 Anu Simh: So with ultra process foods like it can cause that imbalance. It can cause more of these bad bacteria, for lack of a better word, grow and cause imbalance in the system. So because they don’t recognize that as food. But for that person who does not have the time, who is saying, I’m just going to grab something at McDonald’s, you know, or I think the way to protect yourself is to always have. Even if you, if you do buy something at McDonald’s or if you buy it something at In n Out, there’s always some greens that you can add.
0:40:05 Anu Simh: You can add an apple. Apple is high in pectin. Most of us love apples. You know, it’s an easy shoe and you know, just, you just need to prep a little bit for those really hard moments when you don’t have time to cook. I’m going to add an apple, I’m going to get some, take some nuts and seeds with me. I’m going to, along with my In N Out burger. I’m going to add some salad greens, some cucumbers, maybe have some pickles.
0:40:34 Anu Simh: Just be prepared for those difficult moments. And yes, life requires planning. Nothing happens without planning, you know, but it doesn’t have to. It doesn’t mean that you have to spend 7, 6 to 7 hours in the kitchen slaving, building all these gourmet meals. No, the gut could care less. You know, it’s really wanting diversity. So as long as you’re able to change up your fruits, change up your veggies. Like all of us love vegetable fruits.
0:41:06 Anu Simh: Great thing. If you’re constipated, look for certain fruits that are high impactin. It’s a great prebiotic fiber, you know, that’s a great way to start. And even veggies, you know, when people start with me when I ask them, what kind of vegetables do you eat? And it’s usually two or three, you know, they’re mono eating potatoes, carrots, corn, you know, that’s about it. And sometimes cucumber. And of course when the whole craze about celery, a lot of them said celery juice, but that’s forgotten now.
0:41:37 Anu Simh: That’s what I mean. It’s so hard to keep up with these things. But yeah, so if you kind of really, you’re starting there, it doesn’t matter, you know, you’ll still be able to get some good sources. Everyone needs to start somewhere. But if you’re really cognizant of it and say, I need to, I need to feed my gut I need to feed my forever guests. That becomes a responsibility. Then you’re not thinking just about your palate. You’re also thinking about them.
0:42:07 Anu Simh: And you need to think about them in a very selfish way. Because if I take care of them, things are going to be great for me. It doesn’t have to be an altruistic thought. You know, I don’t spend every night soaking my beans because I’m just such an amazing person. I love my microbes. I just said, holy crap, if I don’t do that, I’m gonna have. I’m gonna pay for it, so I better take care of them. So.
0:42:37 Tansy Rodgers: Well, when we talk about the gut microbiome, I think it’s important to remind the listener that there’s different phases. I mean, first you really need to look at replacing the foods, right? To replace with more prebiotic and probiotic foods, which is what you’re talking about here. I guess that’s the building up of the good bacteria, but replacing the foods, eliminating the ones that are doing some of the harm.
0:43:05 Tansy Rodgers: So before we move on and talk about how to really rebuild and what kind of behaviors to eliminate, I want to first talk about what are some of the biggest offenders that really break down the gut microbiome. This could be food. This could be behaviors, whatever you find as the biggest offenders that cause the biggest slashes in the gut microbiome.
0:43:30 Anu Simh: Okay. Yeah, Another great question. Well, first of all, I’m pretty sure the listeners are thinking, what is a healthy microbiome? We don’t really have an answer for that. It’s so individual, unique to you because there’s so many species, and a lot of these species could be doing the same function behind the scenes. And just because I have one species that takes care of my weight gain and there’s another one in yours, this does not mean anything.
0:44:02 Anu Simh: Ultimately, we want species. So the better way to perhaps define a healthy microbiome is calling it a resilient microbiome. A resilient microbiome is a microbiome that bounces back after an illness, after you’ve taken a bout of antibiotics for your UTI or something like that, or an infection, or you go to Mexico and you have some food poisoning, or, you know, you come back with traveler’s diarrhea, but your gut is so strong, you have so many players there that you rebound.
0:44:41 Anu Simh: That’s a good sign when you rebound from. From these kind of situations. So for a resilient microbiome, you want species richness, and you need species evenness. You don’t want 1M or bacteria to grow so much that there’s no room for others to participate in the conversation. So it’s almost like if you take a garden analogy, you don’t want like 100 tomato plants and one zucchini plant. You want species evenness.
0:45:15 Anu Simh: And if you have species evenness and species richness, you have a good chance to have a resilient microbiome. So what happens that makes this go, make it go from a resilient microbiome to an imbalanced microbiome. When you think about, you think about toxins, you think about antibiotics, they completely wipe out both the good and bad, bad bacteria. A lot of these ultra processed foods can cause leakiness in the gut. You know, I’m sure the listeners have heard of the term leaky gut.
0:45:51 Anu Simh: It’s basically the, your intestinal barrier not being tight enough has these junction junctions open up and a lot of these bacterial debris can go into the bloodstream and your immune system is like, whoa, I don’t recognize this. What is this? I’m going to fight it. So we have to remember that our microbiome is like the training ground for our immune system. 70% of the immune system is in the gut and our microbes are the trainers.
0:46:25 Anu Simh: They say, hey, immune system, this is a friend, treat her like a friend. This is an enemy or a foe, treat her like that. Or this is neutral party. Don’t react when that is not happening. That’s when we end up with so many food intolerances. Our immune system is like, oh, really uptight and it starts reacting to so many things. And that’s one of the reasons today that we have so many food sensitivities growing up. Tanzi, I think you and I, that we didn’t have, we didn’t see this in schools and but now there’s like an EpiPen in every school. There are so many allergies. Our children are struggling.
0:47:07 Anu Simh: If we can connect that to what we are feeding them, gosh, job done today. You know, I think mothers especially really need this information. You know, if they are able to vary from the get go from when the children are young. Zero to three years is just such a crucial time in a child’s life. You know, you feed them the right sources of fiber and micronutrients, their microbiome is healthy and it pays off dividends throughout their life.
0:47:42 Anu Simh: And you can’t do anything better or greater for your child than getting giving them that little jump start. And even if your children are older, always Reminding them about diversity. Broccoli shouldn’t be, you know, like a punishment or oh, if you eat your broccoli, I will give you a candy. We need to stop with that. We have to just say broccoli. It’s its own treatment. And if we have that conversation with our children very early on and tell them just the impact it has on their life, kids absorb information like no one else does.
0:48:23 Anu Simh: They love the idea that they are partnering for their health. And I have young children come into my practice through mothers and it’s incredible the, the beautiful questions that children ask. And sometimes as adults, we don’t think so deeply. They have this incredible curiosity that really makes you question a lot of things that you thought you knew, but you don’t really know to the, to the depth that you should, you should know about a subject. And I love that about working with children.
0:48:58 Tansy Rodgers: So, yeah, I’m over here giggling to myself because I remember when I was in elementary school, even middle school, I mean, there was peanut desserts flying all over the place.
0:49:11 Tansy Rodgers: People would bring stuff in that was never a concern.
0:49:14 Tansy Rodgers: Dairy, not even a concern. Of course there were those who had some of those allergies, of course. But as for it to be an epidemic where it is something that is just known that you have to ask about, that didn’t exist back in the 80s and the early 90s, you know.
0:49:35 Anu Simh: And so, and that is multifactorial too. It’s monocropping, all of that. The soil. But yeah. And yeah, also our response to it as well. Yeah, yeah.
0:49:47 Tansy Rodgers: And there’s, there’s so many factors that play into that for sure. But I guess also as you were talking, I was thinking to myself, you talked about broccoli being at an early age, talked about it being a treat of itself, being something that nourishes the body and that children will absorb that like a sponge. One thing too, and I’m sure you see this a lot, is that there’s a lot of parents who just don’t know that.
0:50:16 Anu Simh: Yeah.
0:50:17 Tansy Rodgers: Or, or they, they themselves were brought up believing that it was a punishment food, that it was only if you wanted to be healthy. And I say that with air quotes. If you wanted to be healthy, that was a health food. And so, and so I feel like it really starts with changing the mentality of our, of our parents and of our, our, our adults that are influencing our kids because of the trickle down effect.
0:50:49 Anu Simh: Yeah. Well, it’s everyone who’s in, you know, parents, teachers, you know, neighborhoods, you know, community is important you know, we. We are the five people we surround ourselves with so you don’t have to go and change the world. But if your own community, you say, you know what? I really don’t want all this crap coming into my life, into my world, into my home. I choose to respect that when I live like this, my children are going to be healthier, I am going to be healthier.
0:51:25 Anu Simh: And this is. This is my core value right now. This is how I live my life. And then when you stick to that plan, a friend is going to be so impressed with your changes, she’s going to follow suit. And mothers are the CEOs of families, you know, and moms change. The whole family changes. You know, this is what I see. I don’t know if you agree with me or not, but I see this so much in families. And you told. This does not mean that children should grow up not eating a candy or. No, it’s all about the Goldilocks principle, right? You know, just, let’s all go. Go overboard. You know, if you kind of really deprive them of everything, that may not be a great thing either.
0:52:16 Anu Simh: But just having a balance that works for you, and that could be very different from what works for me or for someone else. But you will find your own balance. You will find what works for your family. You have a family meeting and you say, kids, this is what I’m learning about the microbiome. This is what I’m learning about how to take care of ourselves. I care so deeply about your health that this is what I’m proposing.
0:52:40 Anu Simh: I mean, that’s a simple conversation, right? And they may not be on board if all along they’ve been eating Twinkies or something like that. They need to retrain their palate. But you. You go about doing your own thing, which is what my clients do think. Well, I’m welcoming you on this journey. If that is not something you want to do right now, I completely respect that. But this is what I’m making in the house.
0:53:07 Anu Simh: This is what I’m bringing to the table. This is what we are having at dinner. That’s it. They’re children. They will follow suit. They are not in charge. You’re in charge. And you have that responsibility of raising them to eat that way, you know, And I think it is a responsibility, and I Absolutely.
0:53:29 Tansy Rodgers: Oh, sorry. Go ahead.
0:53:30 Anu Simh: No, but I. And again, it’s moderation, right? I mean, that doesn’t mean that you are. I always say this with a lot of trepidation because I don’t want people to misconstrue that. This is like, oh my gosh, like with an iron. No, of course not. It’s about having discussions, conversations that are enlightening to the whole family that you democratically say this may be the best step. But sometimes democracy does not work in the beginning.
0:54:01 Anu Simh: You know, if you have always brought in a lot of candies or what is it? It’s a cereal that kids like. It’s those little, like, it’s like Cheerios but with all those different colors. Or Fruit Loops.
0:54:16 Tansy Rodgers: And Fruit Loops.
0:54:17 Anu Simh: Yeah, yeah. You can’t really ask your child to say, oh no, we’re not going to eat that. You know, you’ve been giving this to her every day and you expect her to change. It’s not going to happen in a couple of days. It didn’t happen for us in a couple of days. Right. So we have to be patient. We have to. We have to kind of maybe say Monday is the day that we eat only plants or plant sources. You know, come up with a system that works for your family and that requires a little bit of planning and that really comes from the parent.
0:54:48 Tansy Rodgers: I think there’s something so sacred about putting on a piece of jewelry that doesn’t come just look beautiful, but it feels like it was made for your personal journey. That’s exactly why I created Beu Crystals. They’re handcrafted reiki infused jewelry made with therapeutic grade crystals, intention and pure soul. These pieces are designed to support your energy whether you’re working on grounding, courage, boundaries, intuition, or even transformation.
0:55:25 Tansy Rodgers: Each bracelet, earring or necklace is more than a style statement, it’s a spiritual tool. And because your energy is unique, I offer custom pieces that are created specifically for where you are right now at this point in your journey and where you’re ready to go next. Head down to the Show Notes. Click the link for beocrystals.com and you can explore the latest pieces or you can request a custom creation right there on the website.
0:56:00 Tansy Rodgers: Because your energy deserves to be seen. You deserve to be seen and your healing deserves to be held. Head on down to the Show Notes. Click the link, explore what’s there and reach out to me to either find out more information, more custom pieces, or create a custom piece for yourself.
0:56:24 Tansy Rodgers: Anu, I love that. I love that concept of systems to not only help the kids shift, but help the family shift. I 100% agree with you that mom can be that CEO of the family. I mean, I feel like that is seen over and over and over again. And I love too how you emphasize that this is not just about food, that it’s about sleep, it’s about stress. It’s so much more. And as mom comes in as that CEO and when she is aware, and let’s say dad too, if it is, if it is a dad only home, right.
0:57:04 Tansy Rodgers: If dad comes in or if mom comes in. And we have this message of microbiome understanding and that it goes beyond food now, we can create this shift and this change by creating these systems in a more supportive way.
0:57:22 Anu Simh: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s why, you know, even though diet is probably the biggest needle mover when it comes to health, especially your microbial health. Well, I would say lifelong health. There’s so many other players. And that’s the reason I created nine arms. Because it’s not just one arm that does all the heavy lifting, it’s all of it. Right? Hydration is important. Hydrating your body is important.
0:57:48 Anu Simh: Sleep is monumental. Thank God. Thank God. Finally sleep is getting the due that it deserves. You know, if even one night of bad sleep can have you searching for 500 more calories the next day. Day. And those calories are not coming from broccoli. I promise you that. Because I’ve gone through it myself. You know, when I was writing the book, I mean, there were days when I, I put all nighters in the morning.
0:58:15 Anu Simh: My brain was looking for the crappiest, most processed food I could find in my home. You know, usually don’t have any of that. So if that’s how your brain is, that’s that dopamine response, that downregulation that happens. So protecting your home from, from these assaults is very important. You talked earlier about toxins. Think of them as toxins. You know, everything is like an acute toxin. You know, we choose what toxins we want to partake in, you know, and we do that knowing that they’re toxins.
0:58:56 Anu Simh: Alcohol is a toxin. It’s an acute toxin. Totally mess up your liver and everything. Like I color my hair, like 5 days ago my hair was completely gray and now it’s sort of darkish. Something that’s a choice I made. And I’m making that knowing that this is a toxin. I kind of picked the least offender, looking for all the, the fewest chemicals and all that. But who’s will be kidding? It’s still a toxin.
0:59:29 Anu Simh: Then I decide, okay, if I’m gonna do this, and this is so darn important to me, so I look good on a podcast or whatever, you know, then I’m Just going to do less damage to the rest of me. That means maybe not painting my nails, you know, or. Or doing things like that, or maybe not drinking alcohol, or maybe not partaking in junk food, maybe exercising more, making sure my sleep is good. One day of poor sleep can decrease your microbial diversity because we have a circadian rhythm, and we respect our circadian rhythm, and we go to bed on time, and we. They have a circadian rhythm very similar to us.
1:00:10 Anu Simh: So. So going to bed on time, having a routine, like in Ayurvedic, which is Eastern medicine, routines are important. Seasonal eating is important. And I think the microbiome responds to all of those things.
1:00:28 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
1:00:28 Tansy Rodgers: And so that those are perfect examples of that gut stress, weight connection, the metabolism connection, and how that all plays. Plays together. What are some real world ways that you have found, really help to start to calm the nervous system, to help support the gut in a. In a. I guess I should say in a way that you see most necessary, either maybe according to yourself or to clients that come through your door.
1:01:04 Anu Simh: Okay. Yeah. One of the things that my clients always say is, what would you like as a goal? They say, well, I want to be more like you. And I don’t think they. I think what they mean is they want to be calm, they want to be centered, they want to be present. And this did not happen overnight. I mean, it takes time to re. Recognize your own weaknesses. It recognizes examining them and saying, what are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? How do I get this better so my body’s aligned. That takes a little bit of deep thinking and introspection. Right.
1:01:42 Anu Simh: But when a client comes to me, even before they talk about gut issues or their problems, I see it in how they. How they show up. They chittery, they’re anxious, they’re all over the place. They’re not able to sit still. That gives me an immediate clue. There’s a gut brain imbalance going on. You should be able to sit, have a conversation. You should be able to. But that’s not possible because the gut brain is completely. There’s an imbalance. So what’s happening there?
1:02:16 Anu Simh: So, for example, our gut is called the second brain. It’s making a lot of neurotransmitters, you know, like serotonin, like gaba, all of these wonderful things that are also happening in the brain, the gut. Almost 90% of serotonin is made in the gut. I say this all the time, and I’m still amazed. Wow. You know, and some people call it the happy hormone, but I think of it as more as a centered hormone, really keeps you focused. And gaba is you more of a chilled out, calm, calming hormones. All of these are made and thanks to the 10th cranial nerve, your vagus nerve, these messages from the gut are taken to your brain.
1:03:02 Anu Simh: More messages from the gut is transported to the brain than the other way around. So when that bidirectional pathway through the vagus nerve is compromised, maybe your vagal tone is not strong enough, then just that can have some of these messages to be scrambled, have some garble instead of real messages. And that can lead to anxiety, mood, up and down, all of those things, right. So a quick fix for someone who’s listening is start taking care of your bagel tone. Such easy thing to do.
1:03:40 Anu Simh: You know, you wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth, right? That’s something we’ve all been taught is very important. Brush your teeth and, and gargle, right? Right after you brush your teeth, gargle. And when I say gargle, it’s not no gargle. So your neighbors can hear you. Really the vibrations, everything gets you your, you know, bagel tone going really helps you with that. And then doing some breath. Breath, breath is available to us all the time.
1:04:13 Anu Simh: A breath that I love and I teach my clients is the bee breath. Basically you take a breath, inhale, and you excel. You hum like a bee and do that about eight to nine times. That can become your, you’re brushing your teeth. Then you anchor another habit to it and that becomes your morning system. You’ve taken care of your vagal tone. You sing, if you like to sing, sing on your way to work. I sing all the time.
1:04:43 Anu Simh: No one else wants to hear it, but I sing it. Sing because it really helps my, my, my vagal tone, my throat, my throat chakra, all of that. So find things that you can really connect with already present habits. Then you have a better chance of following through on it. So that’s the vagus nerve, you know. And then start feeding your, your, your body foods that really improve that gut brain axis. You know, like a lot of polyphenolic foods, blueberries, flax, walnuts. Easy things that most of us love, right. You know, it’s not a hard pill to swallow.
1:05:23 Anu Simh: So that really helps a lot. Even with stress and things like that.
1:05:29 Tansy Rodgers: So.
1:05:30 Anu Simh: And when you connect that to let’s say weight gain, a lot of women connect struggle with weight gain. A lot of them are on glp. One think that your body fiber is actually a, a natural glp. One producing source for you. It keeps you satiated, keeps you full. So if you eat more fibrous foods, you’re going to be satiated longer, and your brain is going to look less and less for that insatiable hunger. Foods.
1:06:04 Anu Simh: That’s what’s happening after a heavy meal. If you’re still looking for food, that is exactly what’s happening. So we can cut that down. That’s right There so many calories that you’re not even paying attention to.
1:06:18 Tansy Rodgers: And so there’s so many ways just that you talk. There’s so many ways to support the gut that are even outside of nutrition.
1:06:24 Anu Simh: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:06:26 Tansy Rodgers: And. And I. I feel like there’s one more component to that that I want you just to maybe talk a little bit about, and that, because this is a hot topic, this is fermented foods and probiotics. Right. And so I would. I would love. I would love to hear maybe what you think about some of the biggest myths around probiotics or fermented foods and maybe clear up a little bit of the confusion around them.
1:06:54 Tansy Rodgers: Because it can be really misleading when people think, oh, I can just eat a little bit of sauerkraut, or maybe I can just have some yogurt and I’ll be fine. That might not necessarily be the case. So I would love to hear your input on that.
1:07:08 Anu Simh: Yeah, well, probiotics, first of all, the definition of a probiotic is something that confers some kind of benefit to you, the host. So that’s just like the basic definition of a probiotic. So probiotics could be supplements, they could be food, it could be in your yogurt. But how do you, how do you find a probiotic that works for you? Well, let’s say you’re looking for a yogurt and you say, oh, I had yogurt. I’m feeling really healthy.
1:07:35 Anu Simh: First thing you do is look at the label. And you look at the label and say, what does this yogurt contain? I mean, of course, there are other damaging things like sugar and artificial sweetness and what do they call it? Natural flavors. I don’t even know what that means. So if you go beyond that, there’ll be a little thing that says contains cultures. If it says contains cultures, but doesn’t tell you what strain or what, what does that culture mean?
1:08:09 Anu Simh: I would say, put that yogurt back on the shelf. I mean, that is, if you’re looking at it from a health perspective, you’re looking at it like, oh, I love this yogurt tastes so good. That’s a completely different story. But if you’re looking at it as like, I’m going to buy this because I want my gut to heal, then you’re wasting your seven or ten bucks on a product that’s not going to help you. Because if they haven’t even taken the time to say, this is the strain that will help you with it, why bother buying a product?
1:08:40 Anu Simh: Right? So look for strains that have been actually studied. Lactobacillus, Reuteri, BB, Lactose, 12. Some good strains that have been well studied. That would be, that would be my recommendation when you’re looking at food. Same thing goes with probiotics as supplements. Some of these supplements can be. These strains of bacteria can be transient in nature. They may not really take to your, you know, the inside of your gut. So as long as you’re taking it, you may get some benefit when you stop taking, may stop helping you, you. So you have to find out, what do I need? What am I struggling with? Do I have ibs? Do I have sibo?
1:09:26 Anu Simh: Do I have fatigue? Do I have. What is my big. What is my weakest link? Why do I need this probiotic? I see so many people taking so many supplements, and when you really ask them, why are you taking the supplement? They have no idea. Oh, someone, I heard somewhere that it’s good for you, but that doesn’t help. But if you stop for a second and ask yourself, why am I taking it? Can I track this for a week and see if this really helps me?
1:09:55 Anu Simh: Oh my gosh, we could stop. So much of that garbage that goes into our, you know, and I’m not saying all supplements, I take supplements too. But it’s very. With a lot of intention. You know, there are certain supplements that I will take because I know that I’m not getting enough of it in my diet. Or maybe I have a genetic propensity to a certain disease and I want to make sure that I don’t, you know, have, have that weakness.
1:10:24 Anu Simh: So that becomes a very individual response, I think for, for supplements and probiotics. Prebiotics, on the other hand, are things that feed your probiotics or your bacteria. So that comes from that system that I talk about. So in fact, in my book, if I can mention my book, it’s. That’s what it’s all about is the, you know, the first section of the book is all about microbiome and very simple language.
1:10:50 Anu Simh: Section two is a framework. That framework that I offer, which is not a diet for you, but for Your microbes, you know, you eat your protein, your fats that you like, but choose all of these different fibers so your body is thankful, you know, and so that’s the system I speak about. And it’s really three steps. First, you start with foundational layers. You cannot just go jump into phase three. You need to start with phase one.
1:11:20 Anu Simh: And phase one is, let’s increase diversity in our foundational layers. That means, let’s say, Tanzi, you’re eating amazing organic veggies from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. You want to change things up a bit, go the next week to a Chinese market or an Indian market, get some diversity in that way. So you have different plant sources feeding your gut. That is all that your microbes are looking for variety. They don’t, they don’t really look for quantity. It’s just the quality of fibers.
1:11:55 Anu Simh: So you start with functional, I mean, with foundational layers, you could stay there for as long as you want, two, three months, then add some enhancers in. It enhances all your spices and good fats and fermented foods. I would say anyone who has any kind of gut issue, like Sibo or ibs, it may not be the perfect mix to add fermented foods from the get go because your body’s already, your gut is already fermenting and at a different spot.
1:12:26 Anu Simh: So you want to make sure that you’re, you’re able to handle the fermented foods. And then when, once you add that, you start saying, gosh, I want to really increase my microbial diversity. Let me add some functional foods. And functional foods are things that have a specific goal, like beta glucans, that’s coming from your mushrooms or your oats or your barley, and then polyphenols, that’s coming from your purple vegetables, things like that, dark green tea, dark chocolate, all of that. So you start adding those with intention.
1:13:04 Anu Simh: So growing your microbes, taking care of your microbiome is a process, but it needs to fit with your lifestyle. And so if you have a system that can adapt and grow with you, I think there’s a better chance of you sticking to it. And that was the main reason I wrote the book, because I see so many clients have all these wonderful great plans and ideas of adding more fiber, adding more, but it, you can’t stick to it. It’s really hard because habits are habits.
1:13:40 Anu Simh: We have mono eaten for so long to suddenly tell yourself that I’m gonna now add 10, or what is it, 30 plants per week, how is that gonna happen? You if someone has figured this out, please tell me. It may happen for a week or two weeks. You could do the whole 30 or whatever, you know, but then will it last? Is it sustainable? Will you still be doing this next year? When I have a conversation with you, that’s the bigger question.
1:14:09 Anu Simh: And you need to figure out for yourself, what does sustainability look like for you? This is 70%, 80%. For me it’s like maybe 80 to 90%, depending on the month, birthday, months, it’s probably 80%. I go out, eat, party, have fun and come back to my life, you know, after that, whatever that is, you know. And so everybody needs to figure out their own sustainable, sustainable percentage so they, they have a clear idea.
1:14:39 Anu Simh: This is it for me. So I’m going to stick to this. Yeah, sorry, that was a lot.
1:14:46 Tansy Rodgers: No, I love that. I’m glad you brought up your book because that was going to be my next question for you. First of all, for the listener, the official name of the book is Flourish from within, Feed your gut for lifelong Health. And I will have the links down in the show notes for, for you to grab that. I love that you broke down the system because I really wanted to know why yours was a little bit different in comparison to what maybe somebody may read in other Gut Health or microbiome books.
1:15:14 Tansy Rodgers: I would love also to know as we’re wrapping this up is how does your book specifically help those who are looking to maybe lose weight or that are struggling with the weight gain, that are struggling, struggling with the metabolism that just won’t seem to budge, especially as we start getting older and we’re getting into some of those perimenopause menopausal ages that can be a little bit persnickety when it comes to managing the metabolism.
1:15:43 Anu Simh: Yeah, yeah. Just even connecting the meta, your metabolic health with your microbial health is the first step. In my practice. I through, through working with many clients, I have come up with a system I call mb, HR M standing for microbiome. B is for brain, your nervous system. H is for hormones. That’s, you know, estrogen, testosterone, your insulin, cortisol, all of them play a big role. And finally, R is reframing your mindset.
1:16:17 Anu Simh: Because without reframing that mindset, even if you grow from an education standpoint, you understand all of the things that you’re supposed to do, that brain and creating that different shift in your brain. That’s what most of the work is. You know, I’ve seen that. You know, that’s the reason most people are not able to stick to their goals, and then they resort to medications or whatever because they feel like such a failure.
1:16:46 Anu Simh: You know, it doesn’t have to be, it needs to be to understand that habits, habits, systems are so important for habits, you know, and I think James Clear said that in, in his book and I, I hundred percent see that, you know, when you have a system, you’re able to follow through and you’re able to figure out how to do it. So with metabolic health, with gut health, everything starts with the gut. That’s my premise.
1:17:19 Anu Simh: So from day one, if a client comes to me and is struggling with weight, weight gain, the first thing I tell them is you’ve been on restrictive diets for so long, you’ve starved your bacteria and it’s no fault of theirs. They’ve been told calories in, calories out, or whatever, so they are afraid to eat. So they’ve kind of really cut out so many food groups and they’re mono eating. The first thing is to get them to eat again and eat in a way that’s volumetric so they get enough nourishment. Their micronutrients are alive and kicking. They have more energy.
1:17:57 Anu Simh: You know, your podcast is aptly called Energy Fix because it is, you know, I mean, once they start eating this way, they feel nourished, they feel, feel more energy, they feel. They don’t experience that afternoon slump. And then we go into, okay, now we fix the system. We have a pretty good idea what’s happening at a brain level, hormone level, at a micro, microbial level. Now we’ll go into phase two and really look at how are you eating?
1:18:29 Anu Simh: How much are you eating? What are you eating? And that’s all over the place kind of question. Some people say, oh, I’m very intuitive in writing. But that intuition hasn’t really helped you, has it? Because intuition doesn’t, doesn’t mean that it’s right. You could be hearing the wrong messages. So really understanding what intuition means for you is important. And I’m a big believer of intuitive living.
1:18:54 Anu Simh: But you’ve got to first know, is it saying the right thing to your intuition? We figure that out. And then finally, the last phase is maintenance. So a client could lose anywhere from 20 to 25, 30 pounds in the three months. And then they have a system and they keep using the same system to get to their ideal weight. And for me, it’s not important that they get to their ideal weight. You could starve and get to your ideal weight. You can use Weight Watchers and get your Ideal weight.
1:19:27 Anu Simh: Weight. You could do so many different things. I have nothing amazing to offer. That’s like, wow, this is my magic bullet. No, all I’m offering is a system that you have for life. So if you fix your health and you fix all of these parameters, then you’re not looking for the next diet. You’re not looking for the next shiny object to fix what is really happening inside of you. That is where the flourishing really begins.
1:19:57 Tansy Rodgers: Thank you. This has been so much wisdom. This has been fabulous because it does. It all starts at the gut level. Where can people find you anew? Where can they get your book? And remember, I will have all of the links down in the show notes for easy reference.
1:20:16 Anu Simh: My. My book is sold where all books are sold. Amazon. It’s just dropping on the 29th. I. I will also have it on my website, I think, and you can follow me on Instagram @9Arms of Wellness. My website is called 9Arms of Wellness.com. that is just my philosophy and my business.
1:20:38 Tansy Rodgers: Do you have any last words that you would like to lay on the hearts of the listeners for today?
1:20:45 Anu Simh: Well, I would say to listeners wherever you are in the journey, really, the first step matters. Take that first step. Believe in yourself. Have faith and hope. You will heal. Optimal health is or is our birthright. Don’t outsource that to anyone else.
1:21:09 Tansy Rodgers: Thank you so much, so much for being here. Thank you so much for the work that you’re doing. And thank you for the influence that you’re bringing to the listeners of this podcast.
1:21:19 Anu Simh: Thank you so much.
1:21:23 Tansy Rodgers: So what if your gut isn’t just about digestion? What if it’s your body’s deepest communicator? What if healing it changed not just your health, but your whole sense of self and how you felt anew reminded us that the body doesn’t lie, that when your metabolism slows, your energy crashes or your hormones shift. It’s not about willpower. It’s a signal, a request to go so much deeper. So as you move through your week, let’s try these questions to help guide you.
1:21:59 Tansy Rodgers: What’s one food you keep repeating, reaching for that you know your body doesn’t love? And how might you gently shift that habit? Are you treating your gut like a partner in healing or like something to fix? And what would it feel like to make nourishment, not punishment, your baseline? If this episode sparked something in you, please share, share it out, text it to a friend, leave a review. Let the ripple reach someone else who really is ready to flourish from within and help this podcast grow.
1:22:39 Tansy Rodgers: Because you subscribing, leaving a review, checking some stars is exactly the way that that happens. And until next time, honor your body, trust your gut, give yourself permission to evolve and keep spreading that beautiful energy you were born to share.
