Did you know whey powder can cause bloating? Or that it can cause poor digestion and even feed harmful bacteria?

It can. And many people using it don’t realize that some of that extra body fat they may be trying to get rid of isn’t body fat at all, but bloating from the whey they’re taking.

Many people use whey protein powders as an easy way to get in more protein to help them build muscle or just to keep their protein levels high.

In fact, it’s become fairly ingrained in the diets of many body builders and fitness trainers.

But does it help as much as most people think?

About 1 in 10 people in the US now suffer from some sort of autoimmune disease. And this level has been rising fast over the last couple of decades.

It’s rising fastest amongst adolescents, where the number has tripled in the last 3 decades.

In 1988-1991 an estimated 22 million people between 12 and 19 years old had an autoimmune disease, and in 2011-2012 it rose to 41 million.

But it affects adults as well, generally manifesting somewhere between the ages of 15-45. And about 75% of those affected are female.

These are conditions such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's disease, Fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, Ulcerative Colitis and a host of some 80 others.

And other conditions, such as Lyme disease, can trigger autoimmune conditions.

These can cause low thyroid, muscle pain or fatigue, stiff or painful joints, and exhaustion and lethargy. Or they can attack specific organs or nerve cells, and even the skin.

But what is an autoimmune disease? What's happening in the body when someone has one?

Perimenopause and Menopause are two parts of a transition a woman goes through when their body comes to the end of its reproductive ability.

It usually occurs sometime in a woman’s 40’s or 50s, but can occur earlier.

Perimenopause is the start of this transition, when her menstrual cycle starts to fluctuate as the amount of eggs she has in her ovaries starts coming to an end.

Then, when she has not had a menstrual cycle in 12 months, we say menopause has begun.

This whole transition is a period of somewhat intense hormonal fluctuations, somewhat different for everyone, that ends with very low production of key hormones, and generally lasts around 7 years. Though it can be as long as 14 years.

During this transition a woman can experience extreme hot flashes and sweats as hormone levels fluctuate erratically, poor sleep, poor mood, brain fog or inability to make decisions, weight gain to one degree or another, headaches, bone loss and muscle loss, reduced libido, low energy and much more.

So understanding exactly what is occurring here, what causes it, what can make it worse and what we can do about it is quite important.

Let’s dive in.

Today, approximately one in three Americans experience skin issues of various sorts: clogged pores, breakouts, redness, and irritation of different kinds.

And while this number has been growing for the last few decades, it’s sped up in recent years.

Even more, accelerated aging of the skin: fine lines, wrinkles, dryness or flakiness, and skin sagging is occurring earlier than normal, with many in their twenties now experiencing it.

While there are several factors involved, and some include the skin care products being used today, there is a much larger factor bringing this on: the health of our gut.

When we have harmful bacteria or candida in our body, or toxins and even gluten coming in, our immune system produces what’s called an inflammatory response.

And this, when it gets to our skin, can cause all sorts of trouble.

It can cause breakouts by increasing oil production and clogging pores.

It breaks down collagen and elastin, the proteins responsible for keeping our skin firm and smooth. 

Then, as these proteins degrade, the skin begins to sag, and wrinkles or fine lines appear.

It also causes skin to lose its ability to retain moisture effectively, leading to dryness, flakiness, and irritation.

But, as much of this is caused by the health of our gut, no amount of skin creams, oils or regimens will be able to fix it as they’re addressing the end result, not the cause.

And the cause, if not itself addressed, will just continue the problem.

If we want healthy, radiant skin that stays clear, soft and firm for the longest amount of time, then we need to address our gut.

So let’s dive in.

As of today, about 42% of Americans are considered clinically obese. This is a large rise from the 1970’s when only about 10% were.

To combat this, recently, many have turned to the medication, Ozempic. This is a medication originally approved for the treatment of diabetes, but which has shown results in lowering appetite and blood sugar levels, and so allowing for loss of body fat.

However, it works by bypassing the body’s natural systems and in some cases lowering the body’s ability to naturally perform these actions as the body gets used to receiving it.

And, for some, it can come with severe side effects to one degree or another: increased risk of heart attack, bowel obstruction, gallstones, thyroid cancer, vision loss, muscle loss and weak or brittle bones especially for those in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and severe stomach paralysis.

Not to mention the possible permanent lowering of digestive ability once off of Ozempic, along the return of the body fat lost, if the situation that originally brought about the obesity has not been addressed.

So understanding this medication, how it works inside our body, what it can and can’t do, its long term side-effects, and what to do if you intend to take it or already are is quite important.

This is the end of the Gut Health 30-Day Challenge. Now it’s time to take a step back and see where we are, and where we go next!

The goals for this program were:

• Digestion significantly improved and heartburn should be gone or noticeably lessened.
• Bowel movements will have normalized.
• Cravings for sugar or junk food should be gone or severely diminished.
• Any extra inches around the waste caused by bloating from gas should be fully or mostly gone (this is a bigger deal than most people realize).
• Hormones will be in much better balance.
• Mood and energy levels will be much higher and stress levels will be lower.
• It will be easier to relax, to fall asleep and to stay asleep.
• Skin health will have improved, quite visibly in some cases.
• Mental ability will have improved for some.
• Longevity will have increased.
• It will be much easier to lose fat on a diet and get through the “cravings hurdle.”
• It will be easier to add muscle, especially for those in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
• And, if HRV levels were measured at the beginning of the challenge, these should now be higher.

The Gut Health Protocol & 30-Day Challenge starts today!

On this protocol we address Acid Reflux, GERD, IBS, Candida, H. Pylori, C. Diff, Leaky Gut, SIBO, Gluten Reactions & Much More.

We address hormone and energy levels, mood, the ability to burn body fat and increase muscle gains.

We address sleep, stress levels and overall mood.

We address cravings for sugar that derail our diets or fat loss attempts.

We address bloating and a protruding stomach.

And we improve overall health and longevity.

This is probably the most important protocol we have released, because it truly affects every aspect of our overall health.

Our gut is the chief entrance to our body.

And its ability to break down foods into nutrients our cells need to function, to balance our hormones, to provide key neurotransmitters for our brain and nervous system, and to prevent harmful toxins and microorganisms from making it into our bloodstream is more important than any other aspect of our body to ensure our overall health, energy levels, and longevity.

But let’s go a little deeper.

Our digestive tract’s ability to fully digest and absorb protein determines, in large part, our body's ability to build muscle and lose body fat.

It affects our energy levels, hormones, inflammatory responses, and overall health.

It affects our gut and our ability to repair intestinal lining that has been damaged by toxins and harmful bacteria.

And when protein isn’t properly digested, this triggers a sequence of actions involving our immune system that leads to higher levels of cortisol, the hormone that prevents fat loss and breaks down muscle.

It leads to lower energy and mood, hormone issues, Leaky Gut, and even to our immune system mistaking our own cells for harmful bacteria and toxins, and so attacking them.

Even more, without full digestion, our body receives less of the protein we consume in a form it can actually use.

So we get less protein for muscle, properly balanced hormones, cellular repair and upkeep, and overall health and energy, while at the same time we’re eating more that goes to waste.

This is a big deal. Due to processed foods and sugars, many of our digestive tracts don’t function at optimal levels, preventing a significant amount of the food we eat from being fully broken down so our body can use it.

Beyond this, improper digestion leads to not only heart burn, acid reflux, GERD, gas and a bloated stomach, but also allows for harmful bacteria, parasites, and fungi to take root, further causing us trouble.

Everything hinges on protein. Or, more specifically, the essential amino acids protein provides, which is what our body actually uses.

So, understanding exactly how digestion works and how to keep or get it working properly is very important.

Here is your very short, very simple schedule for use on the Gut Health 30-Day Challenge.

You can print this out and keep it with you or put it on the refrigerator to run your day.

Our digestive tract is very important for our overall health.

When it’s running smoothly we have good digestion without discomfort where the foods we eat are fully broken down into useable nutrients for our body.

Our stomach kills off most harmful microbes entering it, and if they aren’t killed off there, then they are in our small intestine where 80% of our immune system exists for this exact reason.

Once any of these microbes are neutralized, our intestine opens what are called tight junctions to let the nutrients from our food through and into our bloodstream.

Further down we have our colon, where trillions of bacteria live, consuming left over food and producing vitamins, amino acids, and neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin which are then absorbed through the wall of our colon and sent to our brain or elsewhere. This is our microbiome.

And how well our digestive tract is doing, our gut, parallels fairly closely how well we are doing, both physically and mentally.

However, if harmful microbes do make it in and take root, evading our immune cells, along with toxins, these can cause real trouble.

This protocol aims to address these harmful microbes, ridding our digestive tract of them, while at the same time building all aspects of our digestive tract back up to optimal levels.

This is the third article in the Autoimmune series.

In the last two articles we covered what autoimmunity is and what causes it.

And in this article we’re going to talk about how to address it.

When we look at addressing some kind of physical condition, we can look at it from two different angles: addressing the symptoms and working to suppress those, or locating the root cause that is creating the condition, and keeping it created on a daily basis, and address that so that it is no longer being continually created.