Latest / Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast / How to Improve Your Gut Health to Support Your Emotional Health

Transcript

How to Improve Your Gut Health to Support Your Emotional Health · Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Stress is no longer just a lifestyle issue. It's a
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: whole person issue affecting the brain, body, emotions, and spiritual well-being.
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  Speaker 2: Many people try to manage stress by changing their schedules,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: their diets, or their thinking patterns, yet they still feel
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: stuck in exhaustion, anxiety, and overwhelm. What if the real
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: key to healing stress isn't found outside of us, but within.
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  Speaker 2: In honor of Women's Health and Fitness Day, today's conversation
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: with Holly Andrews explores how chronic stress impacts the nervous system,
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  Speaker 2: why unresolved emotional stress often shows up as physical symptoms,
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  Speaker 2: and how healing must move beyond surface level coping strategies.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk about what it means to heal stress from
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  Speaker 2: the inside out, addressing stored emotional stress, regulating the body's
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  Speaker 2: stress response, and integrating faith-based practices that restore peace at
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  Speaker 2: a deeper level. If you have ever wondered why stress
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: feels so hard to turn off, why your body stays
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  Speaker 2: on high alert, or how God designed your body to
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  Speaker 2: move from survival mode into rest and restoration, this episode
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: offers insight, hope, and practical tools you can be in
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: using today. Welcome back to your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Michelle Bankson, where it's our goal to restore hope, renew minds,
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  Speaker 2: and empower listeners to live in your God-given identity. I'm
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: delighted you've chosen to spend a few minutes of your
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: week with us. Today, we're going to be talking about
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: how to improve your gut health to support your emotional health.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: We'll dive in right after this brief word from our sponsor.
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  Speaker 2: Have you ever felt like stress is living inside your body,
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  Speaker 2: no matter how much you pray, rest, or try to
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: stay positive? For so many people, stress isn't just emotional
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: or mental. It's actually deeply embedded in the nervous system,
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  Speaker 2: shaping how we respond, react, and even relate to God
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  Speaker 2: and others. In today's episode, we're diving into why stress
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: becomes chronic, how emotional and relational stress can quietly accumulate
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: over time, and what it looks like to heal. Rather
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: than simply cope, we'll explore why willpower isn't enough, how
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: the body remembers stress even when the mind wants to
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: move on, and how a compassionate, faith-informed approach can lead
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  Speaker 2: to lasting freedom. This conversation is especially for you who
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  Speaker 2: feel overwhelmed, emotionally depleted, or stuck in survival mode, yet
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: long for peace that feels real, sustainable, and aligned with
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  Speaker 2: how God designed us to live. In this episode of
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  Speaker 2: Your Hope-Filled Perspective, we will talk about how to improve
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  Speaker 2: your gut health to support your emotional health. And to
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: start off this episode, I just want to remind you
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  Speaker 2: of 3 John 1 verse 2 that says, I pray
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  Speaker 2: that you may enjoy good health and that all may
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: go well with you, even as your soul is getting
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  Speaker 2: along well. I'm excited to introduce to you Today's guest,
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  Speaker 2: Holly Andrews, who was born and raised in Orlando, Florida.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: She holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies from Covenant College
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: and a master's in Russian from Middlebury College. Her early
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: career took her overseas to Russia, where she lived for
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: three years before joining the National Security Agency in 2005.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Over the next 17 years, Holly rose to an executive
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  Speaker 2: leadership role, overseeing cutting edge technology operations, leading high profile
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  Speaker 2: teams and projects until her departure in 2022. But in 2019,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: a personal health crisis became the unexpected turning point that
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: changed everything. As Holly began to heal physically, she rediscovered
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: a deeper sense of purpose that led her to pursue
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  Speaker 2: health coaching. She's now a certified integrative nutrition health coach
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: and the founder of Andrew's Coaching and Transformation, where she
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  Speaker 2: helps others reduce stress, restore balance, and reclaim their well-being.
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  Speaker 2: Holly is author of the book, Heal Your Stress from
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  Speaker 2: the Inside Out, a guide to addressing stress through a
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  Speaker 2: holistic and root cause approach. She's passionate about empowering others
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: to transform their health from the inside out. And I'm
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: welcoming Holly to the program today. Thank you, Holly, for
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: coming on the show.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having me, Michelle. It's an honor
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: to be here.
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  Speaker 2: I heard you on another friend's podcast and thought, this
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  Speaker 2: is what I've been working on since my health took
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: a drastic turn a couple years ago. A lot of
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: my listeners know that I was traveling across country and
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: had a ruptured gangrene appendix and had to have an
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: emergency appendectomy, which unfortunately turned septic. And that completely destroyed
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: my gut. So for the last two years, my focus
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  Speaker 2: has really been on gut health so that I can
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  Speaker 2: experience health in every aspect of my life. So when
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I heard you on that program, I thought we have
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: got to talk. So I'm so grateful that you've come
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  Speaker 2: on the program. But what I know, Holly, after interviewing
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  Speaker 2: people here for seven years and in my private practice
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  Speaker 2: for over 20, is that frequently our books and our
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: ministries and our resources come out of our own pain
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  Speaker 2: or our own experiences or our own needs. So would
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  Speaker 2: you share with our audience how that has been true
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  Speaker 2: for you as well?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be happy to. So as you mentioned, I
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  Speaker 1: had a 17 year career at the National Security Agency,
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  Speaker 1: which I loved. I loved what I did. I love
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  Speaker 1: the people that I worked with. But as you can imagine,
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  Speaker 1: it was very high intensity, very high stress. And that
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  Speaker 1: just it built up over time. I mean, I had
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: two little kids. My husband is an airline pilot. So
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: he's gone half the time. And I am a very
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: driven person. So I needed to be the best. I
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  Speaker 1: needed to prove myself. I needed to get all these
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: awards that you see behind me. And so that built up,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: built up, built up. My physical health was not well.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: I was over 350 pounds at one point. And that was,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: as you can imagine, impacting... my emotional state, my mental state,
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  Speaker 1: my spiritual state. I mean, it just, all of it
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  Speaker 1: impacted everything. And so 2019, I had this realization that,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: On spring break, you want to talk about a trip.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: We took the kids to London for spring break that year.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm no stranger to travel. As you mentioned, I
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  Speaker 1: lived in Russia. I've been all over. But just that
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: normal walking around doing touristy things had me coming back
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  Speaker 1: to the hotel in tears. And I looked at my husband.
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  Speaker 1: I was like, I can't do this anymore. Something's got
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  Speaker 1: to give. I cannot continue to live the way that
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: we've been living. And so I reached out to a
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  Speaker 1: friend of mine who was a health coach at the time.
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  Speaker 1: And I said, I just need help. I need somebody
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: to tell me exactly what to do. And when to
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: do it. And so that became a turning point of
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: getting my physical health under control. And as I started
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: to lose the weight and I gained the energy back
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  Speaker 1: and I started to sleep better, I realized I suddenly...
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: was able to think clearly, whereas I knew I hadn't
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  Speaker 1: been thinking clearly, especially relationally. Like work, I was giving everything.
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  Speaker 1: I was giving 150% at work, but even at work,
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  Speaker 1: I knew I wasn't necessarily really 150%. So the brain
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: fog cleared up. The energy came back. The desire to
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: actually seek God came back. And so... That's that led
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: eventually to me realizing that I could not continue in
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: my career as it was because I just I didn't
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  Speaker 1: have the capacity to do it anymore. And so we
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: decided that I was going to resign and I was
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: going to move into full time health coaching because I
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  Speaker 1: wanted other people to be able to have the same
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: kind of aha moments that I had experienced.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting that you said that your desire to seek God returned.
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  Speaker 2: And I would love for you to talk a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more about how tending to your physical health opens
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  Speaker 2: space for emotional and spiritual healing because they are interrelated.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they absolutely are. And I didn't know, like I
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  Speaker 1: didn't realize that they were interrelated until I started walking
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  Speaker 1: through this. And then as I learned more and more,
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  Speaker 1: it just kind of clicked, right? And I was like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: that's That is exactly what happened. So when I worked
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  Speaker 1: on my physical health, I started to clear up things
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  Speaker 1: like my gut health. I started working on my gut
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: health without even necessarily realizing I was working on my
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: gut health at the time. I was just eating better. Yeah.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Just eating better. I was drinking water instead of like
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: three venti Starbucks locos a day that I used to do.
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  Speaker 1: that helped clear up some of the inflammation. It helped
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: clear up some of the brain fog. And that allowed
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: things like my neurotransmitters, like serotonin and dopamine and melatonin
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  Speaker 1: and all of those things to actually start functioning properly again,
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  Speaker 1: helping my emotional state, giving my brain the fuel and
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the energy that it needed to think. And I think
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: as those things came along, I started to have that
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: kind of spiritual wake up where I say I went
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  Speaker 1: through like a 10 year spiritual desert where pretty much
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: my only prayer was Jesus help me to get through,
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  Speaker 1: to try to get through and try to cope. But
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  Speaker 1: I started and there were lots of times and I
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  Speaker 1: talk about this in the book where we didn't go
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  Speaker 1: to church because either I didn't have the energy to go,
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  Speaker 1: I didn't have the want to. And so those things
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  Speaker 1: started coming back as well. Like I started having the
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  Speaker 1: thoughts like, I can do this. I can get the
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  Speaker 1: kids out of the house and dressed and we can
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  Speaker 1: go to church. And I want to do this because
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  Speaker 1: I knew, I think I finally realized how badly I'd
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  Speaker 1: been missing that community, that time with the Lord. And
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: so that is what eventually led to kind of the
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  Speaker 1: spiritual renewal that I've experienced.
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  Speaker 2: How do you explain for clients that you coach the
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: connection between chronic stress, the body and our spiritual life?
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  Speaker 1: Chronic stress, I'm sure your listeners have heard, you have
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  Speaker 1: fight or flight. right? Or you have rest and digest,
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  Speaker 1: or some people call it various things, but the two
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  Speaker 1: different nervous systems. And the chronic stress comes where you're
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: stuck in fight or flight constantly, and your body almost
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: becomes addicted to it, where it doesn't know how to relax.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't know how to stop. And even when we
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: do try to relax or try to stop, it's very uncomfortable.
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  Speaker 1: It becomes very, very uncomfortable to stop. And so when
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: we are in that state and chronic stress, it can
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: be caused by external factors like a really intense job.
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  Speaker 1: It can be caused by internal factors like a poor diet, inflammation,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: things like that. So they both play a role. And
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: more often than not, they are both playing a role.
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  Speaker 1: And so that chronic stress, it becomes that vicious cycle.
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  Speaker 1: And you're not able to stop. Or if you do stop,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: it's a complete and total zone out. I remember I
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: used to just lay on the couch and watch Hallmark
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: movies because that's what I could do. And so I
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: zoned out from life. I zoned out from kids, unfortunately.
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  Speaker 1: There's no way to be still with the Lord in
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  Speaker 1: that kind of situation, right? He wants us to be still,
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  Speaker 1: but to be still with a purpose. And when your
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: body literally cannot stop or your brain cannot stop and
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: be still, then it's very, very difficult to have any
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: kind of spiritual connection or intentional time with the Lord.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think of it in terms of when he
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: calls us to be still, he wants us to be
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  Speaker 2: still and be connected.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: But when we're in that state of chronic stress, it's
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: almost like when we get still, we're just numb. I
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: can't think we've got the brain frog. Like you mentioned,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I had that after sepsis. I remember sitting on my
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: deck and just staring with no thoughts. And so I
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: can relate to so much of your story and your personality.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: I think if we lived closer, you and I would
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: be really good friends because we'd get each other. But
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: I remember just staring. with no thoughts. And I thought,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: this is just not like me. Usually my thoughts were
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: going and I couldn't stop them. But what he wanted
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: was to be still, to be connected to him. Will
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: you talk about what's the gut-brain connection and why is
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: it so important for managing stress?
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. So the gut-brain connection, also called your HPA axis,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: and I'm not going to go into what the HPA
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: stands for because most people can't pronounce it. But it
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: is that two way highway between your brain and your gut.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: And I think what most people don't realize is that
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: the majority of your neurotransmitters for your emotional state are
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: produced in your gut and not your brain. And most
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: people don't realize that. So if one is not functioning properly,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the other is not going to function properly either. And
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: so that's why when you've got chronic stress that causes
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: inflammation in your body, and your gut is not able
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: to produce those neurotransmitters to go to your brain, then
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: you wind up with things like anxiety and depression, strictly
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: from a physiological standpoint, regardless of whatever else might be
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: going on. So having that healthy gut-brain connection, that gut-brain axis,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: is critical to healing stress, resilience, emotional, mental health, all
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: of it.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: So then how does chronic stress impact digestion and our
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: gut microbiome?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Right. So the chronic stress causes, first of all, it
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: causes inflammation, right? And it causes that internal low-grade constant inflammation.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: You know, when you, like I burned myself the other day, right?
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And so it's red and inflamed, but it's healing and
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: it's going away. And that's what is supposed to happen.
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  Speaker 1: That's how our bodies are designed to work. If there's
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: an injury, it gets inflamed because that's what the body does.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: And that's part of the healing process. But what happens
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: in chronic stress is that that inflammation just never goes away.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: And so it prevents your gut. It prevents your digestive
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: system from actually functioning properly. So your body doesn't produce
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: as much stomach acid to digest your food. It slows
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: digestion because in that fight or flight state, your body
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: is giving all of its resources to survival.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Your body is giving all of its resources to where's
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the lion? How far do I have to run? You know,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: that kind of thing. And it's, you're not able to
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: get into that rest and digest state. So your body
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: is not able to do that. So that is why
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: gut health becomes compromised when you're in that chronic state,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: chronic stress state. So the inflammation, the reduced stomach acid,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: you're not able to absorb the nutrients that that you
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: do consume and you're not able to absorb them properly
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: or well, maybe not at all.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Which includes supplements and medication.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Which includes supplements, right? So you may be spending hundreds
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: of dollars on these super high-powered supplements, but if your
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: body's not absorbing them, it's not doing any good.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: So all of that impacts digestion.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: I think were starting to come around, but I was
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: very disappointed. Once I started learning about this and learning
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: about the gut brain access and about how stress impacts
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: our body, it became so clear to me that so
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: many of our medical conditions, including things like dementia, can
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: be traced back to excessive inflammation.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: And like you were talking about, inflammation can be good
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: in that emergency where your body is trying to repair
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: an injury, but it's not meant to stay inflamed chronically.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: But unfortunately, a lot of our... general medical practitioners don't
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: give a lot of conversation to that. And that's why
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I wanted so badly to have you on the program
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: because I've come to realize what an important part of
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing this is. Absolutely. Friends,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: we're going to take a real short break for a
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, but I want you to stick
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: with us to hear Holly share more about how to
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: improve your gut health to support your emotional health.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Holly, what are the common signs that your gut may
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: be affecting your mood or your emotional well-being?
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: So there are many, many signs in terms of whether
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: your gut is not in a great state. Specifically to
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: your mental and emotional state, you can think of persistent fatigue,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: brain fog, irritability, anxiety without a clear cause. I remember
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: being constantly on edge. constantly snapping at my kids, constantly
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: snapping at my husband, and I didn't know why. I
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: didn't know why. And so that irritability, anxiety, just constantly
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: on edge, that is almost a surefire sign for me.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: If you're craving sugar and caffeine, that can be another sign.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: If you hit that slump and you want the carbs,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: you want the sugar, you want the caffeine, and nothing's
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: going to satiate that, that's another surefire sign that there's
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: something going on.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Which then increases the inflammation.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Which then increases the inflammation. Yes, vicious cycle. If you're
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: having sleep issues, particularly if you're waking up at 2
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: and 3 a.m., that's a sure sign that something's wrong
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: with cortisol, which is probably linked to a gut issue
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: as well. So multiple signs. And then you can also
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: have the frequent bloating or the IBS symptoms. type symptoms,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: digestive issues like that, that is a very common sign
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: that gut health needs to be worked on. And all
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: of that impacts mental and emotional state.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Why is healing the gut so essential for healing stress
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: from the inside out?
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: So when you're healing your gut, you're healing that, helping
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: to heal that inflammation, right, internally, which then allows your
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: body to go into that rest and digest state so
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: that Absorbing your nutrients, you're actually getting the vitamins, the
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: minerals that your body needs to fully function, right? You're
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: creating space for those neurotransmitters to be made that, again,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: that serotonin, that 90% of serotonin is made in our gut,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: and that's a happy hormone.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: If we don't have those neurotransmitters, and there's many of them,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: as I'm sure you well know, that the dopamine, the serotonin,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the GABA, all of that, if they're not being made,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: then there's no way for your body to build or
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: develop stress resilience. So in order to do that, you
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: have to have those neurotransmitters. But if they're not being
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: made because your gut's messed up, then your body just
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: doesn't have the capacity to actually do that, to build
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: that stress resilience and to handle the little stressors as
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: they come, much less the built-up big kind of stress.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: So how do diet, stress, and emotional trauma interact within
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: the gut?
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Trauma, the chronic stress... they can actually alter your gut bacteria.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: There's all kinds of analogies, but think about good soil.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: We want good soil for our flowers and our vegetables
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: with lots of good bugs. Some people call them good bacteria,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the good gut bugs. We want a lot of that,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and we want a really good variety. Think of a
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: wildflower field that is just completely full of a variety
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: of flowers instead of one single, maybe rose field or
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: tulip field, right? You want a really good variety of
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: that good gut bacteria and you want it to be
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: the majority of what's in your gut as opposed to
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the harmful bacteria. So when we're stressed that in that
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: gut is inflamed, you're actually changing your gut bacteria. So
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: in the poor diet amplifies that it just, it's, it's
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: removing a poor diet is going to create more harmful
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: bacteria than good bacteria. So you wind up with an
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: imbalance of the bad bacteria, which then take over causing
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: more inflammation. And again, the cycle just repeats itself. That
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: diet is, is very important so that you are having
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: a variety of the good gut bacteria to help reduce
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: and minimize the bad gut bacteria.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: From your perspective, what are the most common gut health
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: mistakes that people make when they're trying to reduce stress?
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest things I see is not, again,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: not focusing on diet, right? So you're wanting to reduce stress,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: but you're stressed, okay? So you're running to those carbs,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: you're running to the sugar, and that is going to
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: make your blood sugar spike. So, you know, it does
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the spike and then you have to crash. And that
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: in and of itself causes cortisol to spike, right? That
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: is what we don't want. And so if you can
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: eat in such a way to help your blood sugar
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: stay balanced and do this nice little gentle rolling hill
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: type thing throughout the day, that's going to help your gut,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: help your inflammation, keep your cortisol levels regulated from that perspective.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: And so I think that's one of the biggest mistakes
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: I see is you're stressed, you're doing all your deep
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: breathing exercises, you're doing all of the other things, but
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: you're eating a donut for breakfast or not having breakfast
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: at all and having caffeine on an empty stomach when
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: you're already got adrenaline and cortisol going and you just
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: pump your body full of more caffeine and adrenaline. So
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I think that's one thing that people really don't understand
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: is that nutrition absolutely plays a big role in helping
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: regulate cortisol, helping it stay normal and level. And so
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: that is one of the biggest things I work on
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: with people.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: I think so many people, I would venture to say
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: the majority, have been running on high cortisol for a
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: very long time. And like you said at the very beginning,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: when you get used to that, you almost can't not.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: So are there one or two simple things that you
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: can recommend that we could incorporate to start reducing our
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: cortisol levels?
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. I'd say from a dietary perspective, don't have caffeine
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. right?
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Get some food in you. And I'm a coffee lover.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: So don't take my coffee away from me. I'm never
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: going to do that. I'm never going to do that
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to anybody, but don't have it without something else because
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: that's going to help keep your adrenaline first thing in
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the morning low, which is going to help with the cortisol.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Also in the morning, getting some morning sunlight, step outside,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: then leave your phone in the house, step outside for
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: five minutes to get some morning sunlight. Even if it's
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: not sun, just morning light is going to help with
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: your sleep issues. It's going to help with your circadian rhythm,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: balance out, gain your cortisol levels, help with that. And
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: so those are a couple of things you can do
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: really easily in the morning. There are some other things
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: that you can do. Just start super small. Take a
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: five-minute break during your work, during your morning. for every
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: 90 minutes you're working, take a five to 10 minute break.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Your body truly needs that. It's called, we know about
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: circadian rhythms, but most people don't know about ultradian rhythms.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: And so that's your body and your brain about every
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: 90 minutes, they need a mental break. So get up,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: go to the bathroom, go outside, take a water break,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: whatever it is, just give yourself five minutes for your
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: brain to just file all the things that it's been
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: doing and come back. So That's another really simple thing
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: people can do.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: I love that those are simple and practical because I
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: think we tend to get overwhelmed with feeling like we
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: have to do everything all at once. When we find
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: out that we're doing something wrong, it's like, okay, tell
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: me all the things. And then that can be so
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: overwhelming and we can't keep up with it.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: We can't do it.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: But if we would start incorporating some of these things,
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: like I also recommend to people, get out for that
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: morning sunlight as soon as you can.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Take a 10 minute walk after you eat. Research is
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: showing that 10 minute walk after each meal is better
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: than a 30 minute walk during the day. So these
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: are simple things that make it feel more doable.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Right. And I, I like to tell people pick one,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: pick one thing, just one small thing, do that for
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: two weeks. And if you can do that for two
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: weeks and you know, you find something that works for you.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: And if it doesn't, then we'll find something else. But
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: you have to be able to do it for at
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: least two weeks to know that that is something that
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: you can incorporate into your lifestyle.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: I like that. That seems very manageable. Friends, we're going
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: to take a real short break for a brief word
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: from our sponsor. But stick with us to hear Holly
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: share a hope-filled perspective about improving your gut health to
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: support your emotional health. We'll be right back. Holly, what's
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: one step that you typically encourage overwhelmed women to take
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: when really everything just feels like too much?
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: When everything feels like just too much, I often encourage
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: women to go sit in the bathroom, go sit in
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the car and breathe. Doing those breathing exercises helps. I
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: used to think that it was just a bunch of
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: malarkey or whatever you want to call it, but it's physiology.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: It really does activate what we call the parasympathetic nervous system,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the rest and digest. It triggers that vagus nerve, which
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: is the nerve that controls the nervous system. And so
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: that breathing... And there's all kinds of breathing techniques, but
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: out there, right? But just the sheer act of sitting
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: there and breathing. So if the bathroom is the only
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: place a woman can go to get some peace and quiet,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: go and shut that door and set a timer for
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: four minutes or whatever, however much time you have and
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: just sit there and breathe. Or if you're coming home
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: from a long day and you pull into the garage,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: sit there for three minutes and breathe before you get
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: out of the car. I do that a lot. even still,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: because I just, I want to have that transition between
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: whatever I was running around doing and coming in the house.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: So breathing, I think is, it's very popular, but I
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: also think it's underrated if that makes, if that makes sense.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: So that is one really small thing that you can do.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Set a timer for three minutes, go somewhere where you
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: can just be alone and breathe.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: I like that you suggested that friends in other episodes
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: earlier this year, we've talked about how to manage chronic stress.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: And if you'll go back and listen to those, I
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: go over and walk you through some good breathing exercises
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: that immediately reduce anxiety, reduce stress and increase peace. So
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I'd encourage you to go back and check those out. Holly,
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: how does anchoring our identity in Christ change the way
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: we approach health, stress and success?
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: So, As I mentioned, I'm a very driven person. And
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: a large part of the reason that I became so
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: chronically stressed was because I wasn't looking to my identity
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: in Christ. I was looking to white knuckle it. I
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: was looking to prove myself, prove my worth, show everybody
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: that I was valuable through my work and not who
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I was in Christ. And so that led to the meltdown.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: It led to the breakdown, the distress because I thought
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I needed all of that to, to, to show people
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: that I am worthy of love, that I am worthy
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: of acceptance, that I am worthy of whatever it was
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: I needed that day. And so when I finally, you know,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: came awake spiritually again, and I, I started to realize like,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: come on girl, you know, you know what the word
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: says about identity in Christ. And It was a slow undoing, right?
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: It was a slow undoing of the lies that I
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: had been telling myself to reclaiming that truth that in
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Christ that he tells us that our identity is in him.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: And as that process happened, that helped reduce the stress
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: even more because it's not on me. I don't have
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: to prove anything, right? He tells us that we are worthy,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: that we are loved, that we are accepted because we
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: are his children. And that is enough and nothing else
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: is needed. So when you can fully embrace that and
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: really know that your identity is in him, then you
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: stop the striving and you stop the pushing. And that
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I think for me, at least was when I could
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: finally be still.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: I very much relate to your story and I'm glad
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: you brought it back to be still because for many
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: years I just thought I needed to do more to
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: even prove to God that I was worthy of love.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: But I don't read in the scriptures where God says, do, do, do.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: He says, be still. He doesn't need us to do anything.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: But so often we get wrapped up in what culture
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: says will prove our worth. How can faith-based practices support
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: gut health and emotional healing?
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: So when we do faith-based practices like prayer or meditation,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: it is actually activating our our parasympathetic nervous system is
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: activating that rest and digest. It's triggering the vagus nerve.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: So all of that, you know, the Lord built that in.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: He built that in to naturally happen when we pray,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: when we meditate. And for anybody that's listening, like I
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: got wrapped around meditate in a very wrong way, but
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the Lord calls us to meditate on scripture. And so
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: when we do that, even if it's just repeating Psalm 23,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: because that's the only scripture you don't, you know, or
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: John 3 16, whatever it is, right. And you can
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: meditate on, on, on that. And even if it's just
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: repeating that to yourself several times in a row and,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: and really trying to hone in on what those verses
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: are telling you, that is triggering your parasympathetic nervous system
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: and helping your body go into a state of rest
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: and digest. So any kind of prayer, meditation, scripture, journaling,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: writing the scriptures, anything like that, those spiritual practices, God
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: designed to trigger that system in our bodies.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: And what a beautiful system that is. We did an
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: episode earlier this year on taking a social media fast.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: And we talked about how those constant notifications and pings
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: and doom scrolling are had the opposite effect. It brought
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: us down. It never left us feeling uplifted and joyful.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: But if we would take a break from that and
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: spend more time in his word, praying, meditating, singing, worshiping,
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: it had the positive effect. And that's how God designed it. Holly,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: if a listener is resonating with our conversation today and
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: feeling discouraged, maybe after trying many different approaches to heal
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: stress and emotions, what hope-filled perspective do you want to
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: leave them with?
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: I want to let them know that first of all,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: they're not broken, right? There's nothing wrong with you. You're
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: not broken. You're not, you haven't failed, right? There's nothing there.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: I want them to really take that to heart because
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: so often I felt broken and like a failure and
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: that was just the enemy's lies and not true. So
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: just realize that those are lies and that there is
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: hope because God created our bodies to do exactly what
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: we need them to do. And there is a physiological
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: reason to what you're experiencing. And so there is a
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: physiological answer as well. And so there are things that
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: we can change. There are things that we can work
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: on that will impact. our mental health, our emotional health,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: our spiritual health. And so there is no reason to
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: feel broken or like a failure.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: And I would go so far as to say, friends,
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: if you would do one or two or three of
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: those simple tasks that Holly shared with us a few
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: minutes ago, taking a few minutes and going into your
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: bathroom or your closet or in the car and just breathing,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: getting outside for 10 minutes of light, taking a short walk,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: That will help change your perspective. That will bring peace
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: back to a chaotic system. And as you start doing that,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: that's the beauty of neuroplasticity is that God created our
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: minds and our bodies to change.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: I want to encourage you friends to get a copy
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: of Holly's book, Heal Your Stress from the Inside Out.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: And we will put all the information about Holly and
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: her book in the show notes that you can find
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: at drmichelleb.com. Holly, I am not grateful that you had
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: to go through the health crisis, but I am so
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: grateful that out of that, you are now being used
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: by the Lord to help others find hope and healing
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: from the inside out. So thank you so much for
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: sharing of your time and your wisdom and your expertise
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: to encourage our listeners and our viewers.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: My pleasure, Michelle. Thank you so much.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: Friends, I just want to leave you with Proverbs 14,
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: verse 30, that says, A heart at peace gives life
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: to the body. You too can heal from the gut
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: and heal from the inside out. So make sure that
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: you pick up a copy of Holly's book. Go back
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: and listen to our other podcast episodes about managing chronic stress.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: We share more from a neuroscience and faith perspective. And
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: just know that we're cheering you on. But more importantly,
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: so is God. Friends, if something in today's episode has
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: encouraged you or challenged you, maybe made you think a
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: little bit differently about the importance of your gut health,
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: consider sharing this episode with a friend because we all
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: want to be healthier from the inside out. It's been
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: a pleasure to be with you and Holly today. I
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: look forward to being with you next week for another
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: episode of your Hope-Filled Perspective. Until then, it's my prayer
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: for you that you have a hope-filled week.
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: Are you or your group looking for a speaker for
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: your next event or gathering? Nothing delights Dr. Michelle Bankson
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: more than connecting with her audiences and sharing from her
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: professional expertise and personal experience to champion others in their journey.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: She has spoken on a wide variety of topics, including
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: Hope Prevails, Living the Abundant Life, Christ came to give.
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: The hem of his garment, reaching out to God when
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: pain overwhelms. Victor, not a victim, rid yourself of the
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: poisonous shame and self-defeat in your life. Walking in the
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: truth of our identity, hope for the silent epidemic, understanding
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: depression in children and teens, and breaking anxiety's grip. How
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: to Reclaim the Peace God Promises. Dr. Bankson is willing
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: to tailor a message specifically to your group or event.
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: Past audiences have included 100 Huntley Street, Life Today, the
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: American Association of Christian Counselors, Gateway Church, Roaring Lambs, and
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: Fellowship of Professional Women, to name a few. Dr. Bankson
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: is now accepting invitations for speaking engagements. For more information
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: or to contact Dr. Bankson to speak at your event,
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: Reach out to our staff at info at drmichelleb.com.
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: Thank you for joining Dr. Bankson for your hope-filled perspective.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: We hope you were encouraged by her authenticity, vulnerability, and
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: biblical truths. If you enjoyed today's conversation, why don't you
• 36:13
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• 36:17
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• 36:28
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• 36:34
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• 36:39
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• 36:44
  Speaker 4: contact her to speak at your next event, please visit drmichelleb.com.
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: Until next time, May you have a hope-filled week.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: I'd like to take just a second to thank the
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, you'll find dozens
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