Latest / The Everyday Awesome Project / 138 : Microbiome 102 | Game Changing Gut Essentials for A Better Body & Energy

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138 : Microbiome 102 | Game Changing Gut Essentials for A Better Body & Energy · The Everyday Awesome Project

• 0:28
  Samantha Pruitt: Hello, beautiful human.
• 0:30
  Samantha Pruitt: Sam Pruitt here for a solo today.
• 0:34
  Samantha Pruitt: My partner in crime, Polly, is out and about taking care of some other things, and I wanted to finish up my conversation with you about the gut microbiome.
• 0:46
  Samantha Pruitt: I did a gut microbiome solo 101, and this is 102.
• 0:53
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm currently studying the gut microbiome, in particular how it's related to perimenopause and menopause, and I'm getting a lot of my knowledge, wit, and wisdom from Cynthia Cynthia.
• 1:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh my goodness.
• 1:08
  Samantha Pruitt: Too much coffee.
• 1:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Cynthia Thurlow, who wrote the book, The Menopause Gut.
• 1:15
  Samantha Pruitt: It's so good.
• 1:16
  Samantha Pruitt: If you haven't picked up this book yet and you are female identified, no matter what your age, I strongly suggest you get it.
• 1:24
  Samantha Pruitt: So I'm gonna be bringing some insights from her book today, and then just my additional thoughts and experience around all of this and sharing it with you because it's so damn important.
• 1:40
  Samantha Pruitt: So important.
• 1:41
  Samantha Pruitt: So last time I basically described what is the microbiome, and then I dove into what is gut microbiome specifically.
• 1:50
  Samantha Pruitt: How does it work?
• 1:51
  Samantha Pruitt: How do you know when you have a healthy or unhealthy microbiome?
• 1:55
  Samantha Pruitt: What are the indicators, symptoms, etc., and then how to clearly identify if yours is working in your favor or not.
• 2:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so today I'm gonna dig in specifically to nutrition, primarily nutrition, which is the biggest.
• 2:13
  Samantha Pruitt: But there are other things that have massive impacts on your gut microbiome.
• 2:17
  Samantha Pruitt: So nutrition, for sure, you know, we think about things we put in our mouth, they travel to our gut.
• 2:22
  Samantha Pruitt: So that makes sense to us, right?
• 2:25
  Samantha Pruitt: Additionally, movement and exercise of the physical body have a massive impact on gut microbiome health or disease.
• 2:34
  Samantha Pruitt: So does sleep or lack thereof, quality of sleep.
• 2:39
  Samantha Pruitt: And many of you're nemesis, stress.
• 2:45
  Samantha Pruitt: The amount of stress that your nervous system is under, your physical body, emotional body, spiritual body, the amount of stress we put ourselves through in this Western society of the year 2026 is total insanity.
• 3:00
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean, come on, actually, even globally.
• 3:03
  Samantha Pruitt: And it's having a huge, huge negative impact on our health as society, as a humanity, as a peoples, as individuals.
• 3:13
  Samantha Pruitt: And we need to be honest about all of these things.
• 3:17
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 3:18
  Samantha Pruitt: How they're not working in our favor.
• 3:20
  Samantha Pruitt: And the great news is no need to be depressed here.
• 3:26
  Samantha Pruitt: There is always a solution.
• 3:28
  Samantha Pruitt: There is always something you can do.
• 3:30
  Samantha Pruitt: There are lots of elements that you have control and power over.
• 3:35
  Samantha Pruitt: And the more you are educated in these areas, the better off you will be because you can make different choices.
• 3:43
  Samantha Pruitt: Right?
• 3:44
  Samantha Pruitt: It boils down to discernment.
• 3:48
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, and you can discern what choices and actions to take when you are knowledgeable and empowered.
• 3:56
  Samantha Pruitt: And obviously, that's what we do here at the Everyday Awesome project, right?
• 4:00
  Samantha Pruitt: We are here to give you insight and wisdom and tips and tricks and fun stories and inspiration and ultimately empowerment to build your own damn body in life the way you want and the way you freaking deserve.
• 4:17
  Samantha Pruitt: And Polly and I have been on these paths for a long ass time, and that's because we started suffering early when we were young in many ways.
• 4:27
  Samantha Pruitt: And so, yeah, we've both been spending the last what 25-30 years plus in this space, evolving ourselves and evolving other humans.
• 4:36
  Samantha Pruitt: And we're here with this podcast to help you, the listener, to do the same.
• 4:43
  Samantha Pruitt: So, however, we can support you, please reach out to us and let us know.
• 4:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Um, today I'm going to talk about microbiome.
• 4:49
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm going to spend a lot of time specifically on nutrition and what you put in your mouth.
• 4:54
  Samantha Pruitt: So, if you have any questions or you want to read more, of course, you can read this book or you can read many books or just go online.
• 5:01
  Samantha Pruitt: There's so many podcasts, so many different places to find information these days.
• 5:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Become knowledgeable, become wise, get to know your own body, how it works, and then ultimately discern and make decisions, have thoughts and actions around change for yourself and improvement for yourself.
• 5:21
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, let's dig in.
• 5:23
  Samantha Pruitt: First of all, what the hell is a healthy microbiome?
• 5:29
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, a healthy diet in particular for a healthy microbiome, okay?
• 5:33
  Samantha Pruitt: The number one priority is what you should do.
• 5:38
  Samantha Pruitt: The number one priority, okay, it's number one for a reason, is how to make your gut as diverse and rich as possible.
• 5:47
  Samantha Pruitt: And that's so you can maximize its efforts in all areas of your body.
• 5:52
  Samantha Pruitt: So how your gut is, the diversity of your gut microbiome in particular, greatly affects and includes fighting off inflammation, improving your immune system, supporting a healthy metabolism, and maintaining a healthy weight, including limiting and avoiding the accumulation of visceral fat.
• 6:17
  Samantha Pruitt: That's a dangerous fat.
• 6:18
  Samantha Pruitt: That's the kind of fat that is in between your organs, in particular in your midsection, but around your organ systems, fat will pool up and it will actually get into the organs.
• 6:32
  Samantha Pruitt: You've probably heard of fatty liver, for example.
• 6:34
  Samantha Pruitt: This is the most dangerous fat, more so than you know, the flab you might see on my arms or my buttocks right now.
• 6:41
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 6:43
  Samantha Pruitt: It has an impact on that.
• 6:44
  Samantha Pruitt: We want your diet to be rich in macronutrients.
• 6:49
  Samantha Pruitt: Macronutrients are protein, fat, and carbohydrates, as well as fiber.
• 6:58
  Samantha Pruitt: The trifecta of pro, pre- and postbiotics, polyfemoles, and silicon signaling molecules.
• 7:08
  Samantha Pruitt: I'll tell you what those are in a hot minute.
• 7:10
  Samantha Pruitt: So your macros are important, fiber is hugely important, and then these pre pro, pre- and postbiotics.
• 7:20
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's start with macronutrients, okay?
• 7:23
  Samantha Pruitt: And you know, most of you probably are gonna already know what this is, but it's just good for me to revisit anyway.
• 7:29
  Samantha Pruitt: There's three types of macros: protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
• 7:34
  Samantha Pruitt: They strongly influence the gut microbiome and can have massive impacts on the health of your body.
• 7:44
  Samantha Pruitt: And also, of course, your body composition, which is a whole other conversation.
• 7:48
  Samantha Pruitt: And I know a lot of you care about that greatly too.
• 7:51
  Samantha Pruitt: Um, protein.
• 7:52
  Samantha Pruitt: Protein, which breaks down into amino acids, is a building block of hormones.
• 7:59
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, we think of protein as a building block of our muscles and our body and our body composition, but it is a building block of our hormones.
• 8:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh my gosh.
• 8:11
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, it helps to create hormones that support growth and the production of neurotransmitters.
• 8:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Growth on a cellular level, structural level of the body, and the production of neurotransmitters and the whole host of hormones and biochemicals that are floating around in your bloodstream and through your body that are making your body actually operate and function, including your brain.
• 8:41
  Samantha Pruitt: It keeps your energy levels balanced by keeping your blood sugar stable, which in turn keeps your energy stable.
• 8:49
  Samantha Pruitt: That includes your mental focus, people.
• 8:51
  Samantha Pruitt: It also strengthens your immunity, supports lean muscle mass, and promotes bone health.
• 9:00
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, this is why protein is so damn important.
• 9:03
  Samantha Pruitt: And yes, there's lots of new science in the world of protein right now, and how much protein and timing of protein, etc.
• 9:12
  Samantha Pruitt: If you're into that stuff, you know, ping me, I'll tell you all about it.
• 9:15
  Samantha Pruitt: But go ahead and do some research on your own.
• 9:17
  Samantha Pruitt: As we age, our protein requirements actually increase.
• 9:21
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, some people think that our needs decrease because we think, oh, we're less active, we're aging, the body is slowing down and aging.
• 9:29
  Samantha Pruitt: That is complete bullshit.
• 9:31
  Samantha Pruitt: Our protein requirements actually increase because our skeletal muscles require more stimulus to grow, both from adequate protein intake and from strength training.
• 9:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Hello.
• 9:47
  Samantha Pruitt: It's important to grow and maintain your muscles as we age because we lose muscle mass, and then we are more likely to become insulin resistant.
• 9:57
  Samantha Pruitt: If you look around at society, about 50% of the populace is insulin resistant.
• 10:04
  Samantha Pruitt: That isn't just somebody who is diabetic.
• 10:08
  Samantha Pruitt: Insulin resistance has a host, a host of associated symptoms.
• 10:12
  Samantha Pruitt: It's not just about our body composition, it is about our metabolic health.
• 10:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Our cellular metabolic health.
• 10:21
  Samantha Pruitt: Last time I checked, our body is made of trillions of cells.
• 10:25
  Samantha Pruitt: We might want to know how they work and we might want to feed them.
• 10:30
  Samantha Pruitt: If you eat enough protein-rich foods like beef, eggs, chicken, fish, beans, nuts, you'll feel satisfied sooner and you'll tend not to overeat.
• 10:42
  Samantha Pruitt: You should aim for 30 to 50 grams of protein per meal.
• 10:47
  Samantha Pruitt: I tell people 15 to 20 grams of protein per snack.
• 10:52
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, because some of you are snack peoples, or if that is related to your pre- or post-workout snack.
• 11:00
  Samantha Pruitt: And then in a meal, seated in a meal, depending on the size of your body, male or female, 30 to 50 grams of protein per meal to keep yourself not only satisfied, but to keep activating this system, this pathway in the body, if you will, that tells your body, hey dude, make bones, make muscles, be strong.
• 11:23
  Samantha Pruitt: If you have a higher protein intake, you will not only preserve, but you will build lean muscle mass and facilitate body fat loss.
• 11:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Whereas if you don't eat enough protein and you're trying to restrict calories, lean mass is the first thing to go very quickly, followed by quality of bone and bone density.
• 11:49
  Samantha Pruitt: This is a hell no of a slippery slope for all of us.
• 11:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, I'm no longer a young person, and I used to get away with murder in the area of nutrition, frankly.
• 11:58
  Samantha Pruitt: It's borderline criminal, some of the shit I've done to my body, and I'm sure many of you can relate.
• 12:04
  Samantha Pruitt: That is not how it needs to go, and none of us should be doing that.
• 12:09
  Samantha Pruitt: If you've got some challenges around nutrition for yourself, whether they're mental, emotional, or just in terms of thought process and making good choices or understanding it all, Jesus, you know, lean lean into somebody who can help you in this area.
• 12:25
  Samantha Pruitt: It can be us, obviously, but it can be anybody who is specializing in the latest science around nutrition and exercise.
• 12:36
  Samantha Pruitt: Overall evolving evidence supports the concept that lean body mass can better be maintained if protein is consumed at a higher level than recommended by the RDA.
• 12:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, the RDA, what they're suggesting basically is the bare minimum to keep the human alive.
• 12:55
  Samantha Pruitt: You know, they call that there's a there's a very thin line between health and disease when it comes to Western medicine and the RDA.
• 13:03
  Samantha Pruitt: So they're just gonna tell you the basics, okay, people.
• 13:07
  Samantha Pruitt: I last time I checked, and anybody who associates with us, listens to this podcast, is not a basic human.
• 13:13
  Samantha Pruitt: They're looking for an exceptional life, they want to reach their full potential, they want to maximize their experience on this planet so they can maximize their impact on humanity.
• 13:26
  Samantha Pruitt: So we don't do the basics, we do what's best for us.
• 13:30
  Samantha Pruitt: Optimal recommendations, okay?
• 13:32
  Samantha Pruitt: So again, optimal recommendations.
• 13:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Daily intake would be 15 to 20 grams per snack, 30 to 50 grams per meal.
• 13:41
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, that depends if you're male, female, size of your body, what kind of activity you're doing, etc.
• 13:47
  Samantha Pruitt: You can get this protein, these proteins, wherever you want, but they have to be full proteins.
• 13:57
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 13:58
  Samantha Pruitt: Essential amino acids.
• 14:01
  Samantha Pruitt: Google that, look it up.
• 14:02
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, you can obviously use meat products if that's what you're into.
• 14:06
  Samantha Pruitt: If you're not, that's fine.
• 14:08
  Samantha Pruitt: Legumes, etc., nuts.
• 14:09
  Samantha Pruitt: There's a whole category of other non-meat for you, vegans and vegetarians out there.
• 14:16
  Samantha Pruitt: And if you're into dairy, dairy is a great resource as well.
• 14:19
  Samantha Pruitt: That can be super helpful.
• 14:21
  Samantha Pruitt: I do do a little bit of dairy because it really helps me get my numbers up.
• 14:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, it's totally personal.
• 14:26
  Samantha Pruitt: And if you need someone to help you figure this out, then there are tons of resources available for this.
• 14:34
  Samantha Pruitt: That's protein.
• 14:36
  Samantha Pruitt: The next macro would be fat.
• 14:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Now, unfortunately, I grew up in the 80s and everything was like low fat, antifat, fat, fat, fat.
• 14:46
  Samantha Pruitt: And we made all fats bad, which is complete BS.
• 14:49
  Samantha Pruitt: First of all, we need fat.
• 14:52
  Samantha Pruitt: There are such things as good fats.
• 14:55
  Samantha Pruitt: This macro is instrumental in supporting the healthy blood sugar regulation, helps us absorb fat soluble soluble vitamins that are critical to our body's function, A, D, E, K, and it supports the composition of our cellular membranes.
• 15:17
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, we are made up of cells, trillions of them, and our body needs fat for the membranes of those cells to be healthy.
• 15:26
  Samantha Pruitt: It also helps support growth and development for the human body and all of its infrastructure.
• 15:32
  Samantha Pruitt: Provides energy.
• 15:34
  Samantha Pruitt: It's actually our primary energy fuel.
• 15:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Most of us spend time in lower heart rates and in a lower heart rate, moving or just functioning at a relatively relaxed low level, fuel is the primary fuel, fat is the primary fuel source, fat.
• 15:54
  Samantha Pruitt: And it helps us feel full longer and of course enhances the flavor of food.
• 16:00
  Samantha Pruitt: Fats are classified based on their saturation, a term that refers to the number of hydrogen atoms, hydrogen atoms, atoms, in their chains of fatty acids.
• 16:14
  Samantha Pruitt: When a fatty acid carries the maximum number of hydrogen atoms, it is said to be saturated.
• 16:22
  Samantha Pruitt: The more saturated a fat is, the more stable it is at room temperature.
• 16:28
  Samantha Pruitt: You know when you cook something that has fat in it and then the fat left in the pan or whatever in the dish coagulates, gets like solid.
• 16:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Examples, of course, are beef, dairy products, butter, and some vegetables like coconut.
• 16:47
  Samantha Pruitt: If there are one or more places in the chain where the hydrogens are missing, then the fatty acid is considered unsaturated.
• 16:57
  Samantha Pruitt: These are divided into mono saturated and polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
• 17:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Monounsaturated fats are found in foods like olives, yummy, olive oil, avocados, avocado oil, nuts, and seeds.
• 17:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Polyunsaturated fats are found in walnuts, flaxseed, salmon, and can be further divided into omega-3 versus omega-6 fatty acids.
• 17:28
  Samantha Pruitt: Choose foods with good healthy fats and avoid unhealthy polyunsaturated fats.
• 17:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, choose healthy fats and avoid unhealthy polyunsaturated fats, like soybean, canola, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and seed oils.
• 17:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Soybean oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower, and seed oils.
• 18:01
  Samantha Pruitt: They are all highly adulterated and rancid or exposed to toxic solvents.
• 18:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Yikes! Yikes! For years, honestly, this is what we cooked with, many of us, baked with, etc.
• 18:20
  Samantha Pruitt: And then unfortunately, additionally, the low-cost foods, shelf stable foods, junky foods that generally a lot of us have been hooked on for a lifetime, often, use these as a key nutrient ingredient.
• 18:37
  Samantha Pruitt: It's not a nutrient.
• 18:38
  Samantha Pruitt: There's no nutrition there, it's an ingredient.
• 18:41
  Samantha Pruitt: Also, avoid trans fats, please, which are out loud in the US.
• 18:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Hallelujah.
• 18:48
  Samantha Pruitt: Trans fats, avoid at all costs.
• 18:52
  Samantha Pruitt: Good unsaturated fats, which are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, reduce disease risk.
• 19:04
  Samantha Pruitt: So that's what's going on with fats.
• 19:07
  Samantha Pruitt: It's complicated, it's not simple.
• 19:09
  Samantha Pruitt: It's not like everybody should be on a low-fat diet.
• 19:12
  Samantha Pruitt: That is B to the S.
• 19:13
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 19:14
  Samantha Pruitt: There are so many good fats we need.
• 19:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Our brain uses fat all day long to function.
• 19:24
  Samantha Pruitt: All day long.
• 19:26
  Samantha Pruitt: It also uses carbohydrates all day long to function.
• 19:30
  Samantha Pruitt: So people who are doing low-fat and low carb diets, their brain function is disrupted.
• 19:37
  Samantha Pruitt: That will also impact their hormones, and then there's a whole other downstream effect of those really restricted low-fat, low carbohydrate diets.
• 19:46
  Samantha Pruitt: So that's why this stuff is so important to discuss, huh?
• 19:49
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's get into carbs.
• 19:51
  Samantha Pruitt: Hello, carbs are good.
• 19:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Now there are different types of carbs.
• 19:56
  Samantha Pruitt: So we should not be demonizing carbohydrates.
• 20:01
  Samantha Pruitt: I've totally done this.
• 20:12
  Samantha Pruitt: And mainstream media and even science, modern-day science, has the pendulum swings all the damn time on this.
• 20:21
  Samantha Pruitt: Nowadays, there is just so much more knowledge, wisdom, and real science out there.
• 20:26
  Samantha Pruitt: Like we now have access to real science.
• 20:29
  Samantha Pruitt: I know that sounds weird, but it's a thing.
• 20:32
  Samantha Pruitt: And so most of us in this space are educated in a very different way if we've stayed on top of it.
• 20:38
  Samantha Pruitt: And the old school way of thinking is long gone.
• 20:41
  Samantha Pruitt: So do not demonize carbohydrates.
• 20:43
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 20:44
  Samantha Pruitt: Some people will claim that carbs are the root of all health issues.
• 20:48
  Samantha Pruitt: I prefer to take people individually and determine their own like threshold of carb tolerance.
• 20:54
  Samantha Pruitt: And that is really based on their own unique goals, okay?
• 21:00
  Samantha Pruitt: And additionally, how do they use their body?
• 21:02
  Samantha Pruitt: So, what is the functionality of their body on a daily basis and what kind of requirements might they need if they are a sedentary person versus an active person?
• 21:13
  Samantha Pruitt: And then there's many other nuances in between all of that, okay?
• 21:17
  Samantha Pruitt: But whole nutrient dense carbohydrates are healthy.
• 21:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Whole nutrient-dense carbohydrates are healthy.
• 21:26
  Samantha Pruitt: When I say whole, I mean whole food.
• 21:28
  Samantha Pruitt: And processed carbohydrates generally are not.
• 21:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Plain and simple.
• 21:35
  Samantha Pruitt: How was this carbohydrate made?
• 21:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Did it come from the earth?
• 21:40
  Samantha Pruitt: Is it a whole food?
• 21:42
  Samantha Pruitt: Or is it something that was contrived in a laboratory somewhere and turned into a food product, put in a plastic container or a box or a whatever all and stuck on the shelf for a year?
• 21:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 21:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Twinkies are an extreme example of this, but you know where I'm going with this.
• 21:58
  Samantha Pruitt: How do you tell the difference?
• 22:00
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, if it is in a box or a bag or a can and it has a long list of ingredients, it's probably processed.
• 22:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, people.
• 22:12
  Samantha Pruitt: So how we look at carbs is refined, or I call them simple carbohydrates.
• 22:17
  Samantha Pruitt: So there are simple carbohydrates.
• 22:19
  Samantha Pruitt: And there are complex carbohydrates.
• 22:22
  Samantha Pruitt: A simple carbohydrate is a short molecule chain.
• 22:27
  Samantha Pruitt: Simple carbohydrates are easy for your body to break down.
• 22:31
  Samantha Pruitt: Think of a sports drink.
• 22:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Think of a cookie.
• 22:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Think of anything that's fast and easy to digest and immediately gets into the bloodstream.
• 22:41
  Samantha Pruitt: You know, it's it's a nutritional crack, basically.
• 22:45
  Samantha Pruitt: As the name suggests, they have a very, very basic chemical structure.
• 22:51
  Samantha Pruitt: They may be compromised of a single sugar molecule like glucose, or they may have two simple sugar molecules linked together.
• 23:04
  Samantha Pruitt: An example would be table sugar, which is sucrose, jam, candy syrup, and processed foods.
• 23:12
  Samantha Pruitt: So those are like one or two molecules, very simple molecules that are linked together to create that carbohydrate chain.
• 23:23
  Samantha Pruitt: Easy to digest, fast to spike the bloodstream versus whole, or I like to say complex carbohydrates.
• 23:34
  Samantha Pruitt: So the simple carbohydrate versus the complex carbohydrate.
• 23:38
  Samantha Pruitt: These are starches made from multiple sugar molecules.
• 23:41
  Samantha Pruitt: They eventually slowly get broken down into glucose during digestion, not quickly.
• 23:49
  Samantha Pruitt: They are complex carbohydrates that take longer to digest than simples, as I said, and that means they do not immediately spike your blood sugar.
• 23:59
  Samantha Pruitt: They will cause it to rise, but much more slowly and gradually.
• 24:04
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, here, even with complex carbs, which are good for you and serve a huge role in our physical performance, our mental focus, our body's functionality, portions are still important here.
• 24:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Aim to have a serving size of a quarter to a half cup.
• 24:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so again, you don't need to eat the whole bowl of rice or the whole sweet potato or the whole, you know, fill in the blank.
• 24:32
  Samantha Pruitt: You still need to do some portion control around here.
• 24:34
  Samantha Pruitt: Some options for a complex carb would be beans, winter squash, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
• 24:44
  Samantha Pruitt: And then ancient grains are great.
• 24:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Amaranth, millet, spelt buckwheat, whole grains.
• 24:52
  Samantha Pruitt: If you're gonna do grains, it's the whole grain you're looking for that includes the fiber, not a processed grain or a bleached grain.
• 25:00
  Samantha Pruitt: An easy way to remember is refined carbs, look what let's call them simple.
• 25:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Simple carbs have been processed with the natural fiber and key nutrients being removed or changed.
• 25:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Yikes.
• 25:17
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so a simple carb is they took an actual carbohydrate with all of its complexities and beauty, and they stripped it of its natural fiber and nutrients.
• 25:32
  Samantha Pruitt: What the hell?
• 25:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Versus you know, whole but complex carbohydrates are unprocessed.
• 25:40
  Samantha Pruitt: They have not been refined.
• 25:42
  Samantha Pruitt: They still have their fiber found naturally in the food, and they have their nutrients.
• 25:49
  Samantha Pruitt: That's one reason to eat the skin of these things, right?
• 25:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Like there's a reason that food evolved a certain way for us humans to eat.
• 26:02
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, let's get into, and I'm gluten-free.
• 26:06
  Samantha Pruitt: So for me, celiac disease, autoimmune, since the age of 30 was 29, 30 was my diagnosis.
• 26:15
  Samantha Pruitt: I still eat carbs.
• 26:17
  Samantha Pruitt: I need them.
• 26:18
  Samantha Pruitt: I love carbs.
• 26:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Carbs are not bad.
• 26:20
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm also an athlete.
• 26:22
  Samantha Pruitt: I need to perform daily in my workouts to reach my goals in full potential as an athlete.
• 26:30
  Samantha Pruitt: Additionally, I am a self-employed and a business person and a podcaster and all these things that I do, a writer.
• 26:38
  Samantha Pruitt: My brain needs to function.
• 26:39
  Samantha Pruitt: So carbs are my friend, but it's quantity, quality, and timing.
• 26:45
  Samantha Pruitt: Quantity, quality, and timing.
• 26:48
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, let's get into fiber.
• 26:49
  Samantha Pruitt: Fiber is the non-digestible plant-based carbohydrate.
• 26:55
  Samantha Pruitt: It is naturally found in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains, and seeds.
• 27:02
  Samantha Pruitt: You want a lot of variety in this to help balance your hormones, support gut health, reduce inflammation, and of course, boost your mood.
• 27:11
  Samantha Pruitt: There's tons of different ways to get more fiber into your diet, and the microbiome need it.
• 27:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Ideally, we want to aim for 30 plant varieties over the course of a week, okay?
• 27:23
  Samantha Pruitt: 30.
• 27:24
  Samantha Pruitt: 30 plant varieties over the course of a week.
• 27:28
  Samantha Pruitt: There is a clear link, clear proven link between low fiber and low microbiome diversity that leads to obesity.
• 27:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Let me say that again.
• 27:40
  Samantha Pruitt: There is a clear scientific link proven that low fiber leads to low microbiome diversity, and that leads to obesity.
• 27:50
  Samantha Pruitt: Obesity.
• 27:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Fiber, fiber, fiber.
• 27:56
  Samantha Pruitt: Daily intake goal for the fiber is 20 to 25 grams.
• 28:03
  Samantha Pruitt: 20 to 25 grams a day.
• 28:06
  Samantha Pruitt: If you don't have a lot of fiber in your diet now, I know some of these people, it's gonna take a minute for your gut to understand what to do with the fiber.
• 28:16
  Samantha Pruitt: So go easy, go slowly, and introduce fiber gently over time.
• 28:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Initially, you might see some gas and bloating, a little bit of digestive upset, while your body is trying to figure out what the heck is this and what should I do with it.
• 28:32
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, don't give up.
• 28:34
  Samantha Pruitt: You need it.
• 28:36
  Samantha Pruitt: Hey, colon cancer is deadly, people.
• 28:40
  Samantha Pruitt: I lost a good friend of colon cancer.
• 28:42
  Samantha Pruitt: Many, many people have had colon cancer.
• 28:44
  Samantha Pruitt: It's just growing by leaps and bounds again because of our crap-ass Western diet and the lack of fiber people are getting.
• 28:52
  Samantha Pruitt: That is a big reason that the colon isn't functioning well because, again, there's a lack of fiber in that area as well.
• 29:00
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, let me talk about a couple other things here.
• 29:03
  Samantha Pruitt: Probiotics.
• 29:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so maybe you've already heard about probiotics.
• 29:08
  Samantha Pruitt: Probiotics are a live microorganism, typically a bacteria or a yeast that provides health benefits when consumed in adequate amounts.
• 29:16
  Samantha Pruitt: They're often referred to as the good or friendly bacteria of the gut because they maintain and restore a healthy balance in the gut microbiome.
• 29:26
  Samantha Pruitt: They also are known to improve metabolism, support your immune system, aid in blood sugar regulation, and reduce inflammation.
• 29:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Examples of probiotics, fermented foods, that would be yogurt, kefir, kombucha.
• 29:44
  Samantha Pruitt: Look for the low sugar version of kombucha, please.
• 29:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Fermented veggies, miso, specific types of cheese like provolone and parmesan.
• 29:55
  Samantha Pruitt: They have to be aged but not heated.
• 29:58
  Samantha Pruitt: And apple cider vinegar.
• 30:00
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, at a starting point, just try and consume one or two servings of this a day.
• 30:17
  Samantha Pruitt: And in turn, they make them more effective to get more prebiotics into your system, eat yams, potatoes, other tubers like ginger, leeks, onions, flax seeds, beans, chickpeas, fibrous fruits like berries and vegetables.
• 30:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Prebiotic fibers are resistant to digestion in the upper GI tract, allowing them to reach the colon, again, back to the colon, fully intact, which is kind of amazing.
• 30:48
  Samantha Pruitt: Once in the colon, they are fermented.
• 30:50
  Samantha Pruitt: So they basically, the prebiotics, you know, go to the next layer of gut, the colon.
• 30:56
  Samantha Pruitt: And once in the colon, they are fermented by the gut bacteria.
• 30:59
  Samantha Pruitt: They then produce short-chain fatty acids, which are incredible.
• 31:06
  Samantha Pruitt: If you don't know about short-chain fatty acids, be a nerd, look it up, you're gonna be like, what?
• 31:12
  Samantha Pruitt: Butyrate, acetate, propionate.
• 31:16
  Samantha Pruitt: They have so many freaking health benefits.
• 31:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Our body needs short-chain fatty acids, really just to function.
• 31:23
  Samantha Pruitt: So include prebiotic rich foods in your diet daily.
• 31:27
  Samantha Pruitt: Three to four options, I would say throughout the week, maybe up to five throughout the week.
• 31:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Examples would be artichokes, green bananas, so not those overripe mushy bananas, but a green banana, onions, leeks, asparagus, garlic, apples, chicory root, and by the way, there's coffee made out of chicory root if you've ever been to New Orleans, dandelion greens, which are amazing, mushrooms, love, cocoa powder, uh, and flaxseed.
• 32:01
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so there's some tips on that.
• 32:05
  Samantha Pruitt: And then just to move on to another category, again, around food, etc., is signal signaling molecules.
• 32:14
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so let's talk about signaling molecules.
• 32:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Wow, it's a mouthful.
• 32:20
  Samantha Pruitt: It might be a new term for you.
• 32:21
  Samantha Pruitt: It's kind of a new term for me, also, but they're so important.
• 32:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Uh, specifically, nitric oxide, polyphenols, which we've been hearing about forever in wine, polyphenols, nitric oxide, polyphenols, and your lithinin A, urolithinin A.
• 32:41
  Samantha Pruitt: They also affect the microbiome in a very, very positive way.
• 32:44
  Samantha Pruitt: These are signaling molecules which give instructions to tell the worker bees, which are your cells, what to do.
• 32:54
  Samantha Pruitt: These signaling molecules play a critical role in promoting anti-inflammatory responses, antioxidant and metabolic responses.
• 33:04
  Samantha Pruitt: They impact longevity, which is particularly important during aging.
• 33:11
  Samantha Pruitt: What a trip, right?
• 33:13
  Samantha Pruitt: Look at all these things going on in your body.
• 33:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Who are the signal signal?
• 33:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh my gosh, I don't know why I can't pronounce that word.
• 33:21
  Samantha Pruitt: Who are these signaling molecules?
• 33:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, nitric oxide, it's naturally produced in the body, and it's most important in getting the blood nutrients and oxygen to travel efficiently through the body.
• 33:37
  Samantha Pruitt: It also significantly influences the gut microbiome by alternating its composition and function, primarily through its antibacterial properties, impacting the gut barrier integrity and impacting inflammation.
• 33:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Damn! Nitric oxide is importante, okay?
• 33:59
  Samantha Pruitt: Polyphenols, polyphenols, these are a favorite food source for the gut microbiome.
• 34:06
  Samantha Pruitt: The gut microbiome metabolizes them into smaller, more easily absorbed molecules and then makes them more bioactive so they can nourish your beneficial gut bacteria, fostering a robust environment that helps to outnumber the bad bacteria.
• 34:24
  Samantha Pruitt: So basically, they're warriors.
• 34:26
  Samantha Pruitt: Polyfemiles may act in the gut microbiome to favor the increased beneficial bacteria and hamper or kill off the bad pathogenic bacteria.
• 34:41
  Samantha Pruitt: They can also potentially lower blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and lower blood pressure.
• 34:47
  Samantha Pruitt: What that's polythenols.
• 34:52
  Samantha Pruitt: And then urolithin A, a naturally occurring compound derived from the metabolism of the gut microbiota itself.
• 35:02
  Samantha Pruitt: So it naturally occurs and is released from the metabolism of the gut microbiota.
• 35:09
  Samantha Pruitt: It does double duty as a postbiotic and a signaling molecule.
• 35:16
  Samantha Pruitt: It is derived from egalactic acid, which is found in many foods, including berries, pomegranates, love, nuts and spices.
• 35:28
  Samantha Pruitt: The gut microbiota breaks down these foods, releases it as a postbiotic.
• 35:34
  Samantha Pruitt: Urolithin A has a potential to enhance muscle health and performance by improving mitochondrial function.
• 35:43
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 35:43
  Samantha Pruitt: Mitochondrial are inside the cells, and they are the energy powerhouse inside the cells, and they help regulate autophagy during fasting, which is the dying off of bad cells.
• 35:57
  Samantha Pruitt: But it can also be activated with certain types of exercise and heat and cold exposure, which are all good things as well.
• 36:04
  Samantha Pruitt: Foods to use to stimulate your lithene, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, and nuts like walnuts and almonds.
• 36:17
  Samantha Pruitt: I also want to talk about water, just super brief.
• 36:20
  Samantha Pruitt: Like if you're not drinking half of your body weight in fluid ounces of water a day, you are dehydrated.
• 36:28
  Samantha Pruitt: Let me say it again.
• 36:30
  Samantha Pruitt: How much water do I need to drink?
• 36:32
  Samantha Pruitt: Blah blah blah.
• 36:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 36:33
  Samantha Pruitt: Your body is made of water.
• 36:37
  Samantha Pruitt: If you are not consuming half of your body weight in fluid ounces of water a day, you are dehydrated.
• 36:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Don't make me rant on more than that.
• 36:49
  Samantha Pruitt: Foods to avoid, these foods are problematic to the gut microbiome.
• 36:55
  Samantha Pruitt: Gluten.
• 36:57
  Samantha Pruitt: Don't have to have celiacs to know that gluten is problematic.
• 37:02
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, people.
• 37:03
  Samantha Pruitt: Processed sugars, again, don't have to be a scientist to know that you know processed sugars are not good for you or your gut microbiome.
• 37:14
  Samantha Pruitt: Seed oils, problematic, pro-inflammatory.
• 37:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Alcohol, yes, this is a tad controversial.
• 37:24
  Samantha Pruitt: But it does damage the microbiome.
• 37:25
  Samantha Pruitt: There's a histamine response that happens when alcohol enters the system and the gut, and it actually can very quickly lead to leaky gut.
• 37:34
  Samantha Pruitt: So alcohol, problematic.
• 37:37
  Samantha Pruitt: Antibiotics, hugely problematic.
• 37:42
  Samantha Pruitt: And unfortunately, most of society is medicated in some way, shape, or form.
• 37:48
  Samantha Pruitt: And unfortunately, over medicated, if we want to call it that.
• 37:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Like some people literally have seven to ten prescriptions that they're taking a day.
• 38:00
  Samantha Pruitt: And actually, let's see.
• 38:02
  Samantha Pruitt: And a survey done in 2022, 236 million, 236 million people were having seven to ten prescriptions a day.
• 38:15
  Samantha Pruitt: Wow, that's 28%.
• 38:18
  Samantha Pruitt: That's crazy.
• 38:19
  Samantha Pruitt: So that antibiotics, there's a time and a place for those to happen.
• 38:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Yes, they are a great advent to Western medical, you know, saving lives and curing diseases and all kinds of stuff.
• 38:32
  Samantha Pruitt: But, you know, temporarily, they get used temporarily while there is some crisis happening in the body.
• 38:37
  Samantha Pruitt: But then many of us stay on them forever, or we consume foods that have antibiotics in them, like particular farm animals and things like that.
• 38:47
  Samantha Pruitt: So again, that tears down the walls of the intestine if you have a saturation of those or prolonged use of those.
• 38:54
  Samantha Pruitt: And additionally, it kills off the good microbiome.
• 39:02
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's see.
• 39:02
  Samantha Pruitt: So, what else do I want to say about this?
• 39:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Timing of when you eat is a thing.
• 39:08
  Samantha Pruitt: I know.
• 39:09
  Samantha Pruitt: Really?
• 39:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Also, actually, there's just a lot of new research on this, and it's just getting really, really interesting.
• 39:15
  Samantha Pruitt: If you're want to find out more about it, you can check that out.
• 39:18
  Samantha Pruitt: But I'll just say at the basic level of timing, that I personally am not into fasting for lots of reasons, and especially as a menopausal-aged female.
• 39:33
  Samantha Pruitt: But contact me more if you want to talk about that, about why I feel that way.
• 39:38
  Samantha Pruitt: But it doesn't mean that our body doesn't need rest and that our gut and our microbiome do not need rest.
• 39:45
  Samantha Pruitt: Our digestive tract needs rest, also.
• 39:47
  Samantha Pruitt: So when I say digestive tract needs rest, I am saying the 12 to 13 hours you do not eat and you give your body a break while you are resting.
• 40:01
  Samantha Pruitt: So you are resting, getting ready for bed, and then sleeping.
• 40:06
  Samantha Pruitt: And so your gut should also be resting.
• 40:08
  Samantha Pruitt: So you don't want to eat too close to going to bed.
• 40:11
  Samantha Pruitt: And you want to give yourself, no matter who you are, no matter what age you are, no matter what sex you are, etc.
• 40:17
  Samantha Pruitt: etc., you want to give your gut time to rest and allow these microbiome to do the really critical work of repairing the body and of stabilizing hormones and all of the cool shit that's going on in your body, just you know, while you're literally sleeping and dreaming.
• 40:38
  Samantha Pruitt: And it's about a 12 to 13 hour window.
• 40:42
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 40:44
  Samantha Pruitt: However, that slice is for you, my friend.
• 40:47
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, I also talked about exercise out of the gate.
• 40:50
  Samantha Pruitt: So exercise increases the diversity of the good guys, the good microbiome.
• 40:57
  Samantha Pruitt: It elevates your short chain fatty acids, which are critical compounds to the human body and all of its structure and development and growth, cellular health.
• 41:08
  Samantha Pruitt: It increases the motility of the entire digestive tract from front to back.
• 41:13
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so that's not just pooping, but it's like, is are the nutrients moving through my body, are the fluids moving through my body well?
• 41:23
  Samantha Pruitt: Motility, it's a thing.
• 41:26
  Samantha Pruitt: It also strengthens the gut walls.
• 41:29
  Samantha Pruitt: So again, helping to heal leaky gut, and then it strengthens the gut brain axis.
• 41:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Wha that incredible pathway, the gut brain axis.
• 41:40
  Samantha Pruitt: Exercise does all of these things related to the gut microbiome and the quality of it.
• 41:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Sleep, I mentioned.
• 41:48
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, getting quality, deep, sound sleep increases the diversity and the rhythm of the gut microbiome.
• 41:58
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, everything has a rhythm to it in the body.
• 42:02
  Samantha Pruitt: It also strengthens the gut brain access and the barrier of the gut itself, the integrity of the gut, if you will.
• 42:10
  Samantha Pruitt: That happens at rest.
• 42:13
  Samantha Pruitt: It helps to regulate your food hormones, so your hunger, your satiation, your cravings.
• 42:19
  Samantha Pruitt: If you're not sleeping, I guarantee you are eating too much because your regulation of those particular hormones will not be functioning well.
• 42:29
  Samantha Pruitt: And it will cause you to crave food, in particular, salty, sweet stuff.
• 42:34
  Samantha Pruitt: It will crave and drive you to overeat because of sleep deprivation.
• 42:39
  Samantha Pruitt: That's very, very common.
• 42:42
  Samantha Pruitt: And what else?
• 42:44
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, basically, again, the short chain fatty acids are elevated while you're sleeping, which those are the good guys, you know, going to do the work of repairing the body.
• 42:52
  Samantha Pruitt: So sleep is critical.
• 42:54
  Samantha Pruitt: And then lastly, I do want to just point out stress.
• 42:58
  Samantha Pruitt: Are any of you stressed?
• 43:01
  Samantha Pruitt: Reduce your damn stress however you need to do it.
• 43:04
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay.
• 43:04
  Samantha Pruitt: And I'm not being cavalier about it, even though I'm making a joke.
• 43:08
  Samantha Pruitt: I totally get that life is so stressful.
• 43:11
  Samantha Pruitt: And we have a choice on how we will manage that or handle that or perceive that or process that.
• 43:23
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean, I've had a year of stress.
• 43:25
  Samantha Pruitt: Let me tell you, like so many things have happened in my life and family and in my body, et cetera, et cetera, in the last year.
• 43:34
  Samantha Pruitt: But how I have thought about it and dealt with it and found resolution and forward movement movement through it, it has really been a game changer for me.
• 43:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Like it's it's huge.
• 43:48
  Samantha Pruitt: And it does take work and it does take commitment.
• 43:53
  Samantha Pruitt: But these resources are out there for you.
• 43:55
  Samantha Pruitt: These this type of support is out there for you as well.
• 43:58
  Samantha Pruitt: And if you can reduce your stress, it will bring cortisol down.
• 44:01
  Samantha Pruitt: And cortisone not just makes you fluffy and full of anxiety or pendulum swinging depression, but cortisol is a really inflammation-inducing hormone.
• 44:12
  Samantha Pruitt: So we got to get our cortisol down.
• 44:15
  Samantha Pruitt: Again, we got to get our motility.
• 44:18
  Samantha Pruitt: So that's the movement of everything going through your digestive tracts, system, gut, and out the other end.
• 44:28
  Samantha Pruitt: Strengthens again the barrier of the gut wall, which is so important to avoid leaky gut syndrome.
• 44:36
  Samantha Pruitt: Decreases inflammation that leads to bad pathogens taking over and overgrowth of bad pathogens.
• 44:43
  Samantha Pruitt: And it improves those neurotransmitters, the production of those neurotransmitters.
• 44:50
  Samantha Pruitt: The happy brain chemicals.
• 44:52
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, if cortisol isn't running the show because you are working with your stress and bringing it down, then the happy chemicals show up to party.
• 45:06
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, I know that's a lot.
• 45:07
  Samantha Pruitt: And I've gone on and on and on.
• 45:09
  Samantha Pruitt: So I think it's time I wrap this pod.
• 45:11
  Samantha Pruitt: But I'm so stoked, you guys, if you have made it all the way through.
• 45:14
  Samantha Pruitt: It tells me what kind of person you are, and it makes me really proud to be part of this podcast and part of this project because people like you are listening because you care about your physical health, your emotional and mental and spiritual health, and you want to do something about it.
• 45:37
  Samantha Pruitt: So congrats to you for making it all the way to the end.
• 45:40
  Samantha Pruitt: And I look forward to continuing this conversation because there's a lot more to be said about the gut microbiome and the microbiome in general.
• 45:49
  Samantha Pruitt: But I think for today, it's a lot to digest.
• 45:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Ah, no pun intended.
• 45:55
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, my beautiful humans.
• 45:57
  Samantha Pruitt: So good to be with you all.
• 45:58
  Samantha Pruitt: And remember how your life feels is more important than how it looks.
• 46:05
  Samantha Pruitt: I'll see you next time.