Latest / Love Your Gut / Ep. 60: Your guide to prebiotic fiber, gut health and preventing GI symptoms with Shannon Race founder of Bio.me

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Ep. 60: Your guide to prebiotic fiber, gut health and preventing GI symptoms with Shannon Race founder of Bio.me · Love Your Gut

• 0:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast.
• 0:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist.
• 0:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain.
• 0:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues.
• 0:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: And now I'm here to guide you.
• 0:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort.
• 0:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good.
• 0:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back.
• 0:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief.
• 0:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: You are in the right place.
• 0:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: Welcome to the love your gut podcast..............
• 0:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: Welcome back to the next episode of the love your gut podcast.
• 0:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: I am so excited to be here today with Shannon, who is going to share with us all about prebiotic fiber and the company that she owns.
• 1:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: And we're going to get into all the nitty gritty details.
• 1:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: So Shannon, welcome to the show.
• 1:12
  Shannon Race: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:13
  Shannon Race: I'm excited to be here.
• 1:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: Why don't you just start off by telling us your story and a little bit about maybe why you decided to start a prebiotic fiber or gut health brand and kind of get involved in that space.
• 1:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: Would love to just hear your journey and what led you there.
• 1:32
  Shannon Race: Sure.
• 1:33
  Shannon Race: My journey started a very long time ago.
• 1:35
  Shannon Race: I actually started having pretty severe GI issues back in middle school.
• 1:40
  Shannon Race: I was Suffering from IBSD and at the time when I was going to various gastroenterologists and trying to really understand what the root cause was, I feel like we weren't at the, we're, we certainly weren't at the place that we are now in which we are now.
• 1:58
  Shannon Race: have a lot of different tools at our disposal to understand how to mitigate symptoms.
• 2:04
  Shannon Race: And I was basically told you have IBSD, just, good luck.
• 2:10
  Shannon Race: You're essentially going to need to take note of anything that gives you GI distress and, perhaps eliminate that.
• 2:17
  Shannon Race: That's a really tough thing for a middle schooler who's fairly young to have to endure, especially when, much of the time that you spend is not at your home, it's at school and, I was, it really mentally messed with me and in the sense that I started to get really fearful of foods and I started to get really fearful of, is this going to cause me to get sick?
• 2:40
  Shannon Race: And, what if I do, what happens if I get sick at school?
• 2:42
  Shannon Race: And that journey for me started early and really transformed my relationship with food and, truly my social life in a lot of ways.
• 2:51
  Shannon Race: And, as I got a little bit older, a lot of the symptoms that I experienced at a younger age started to subside, but it wasn't fully fixed or healed and then it wasn't until.
• 3:02
  Shannon Race: Beyond college and my 20s, I actually started working at a company called Vital Proteins.
• 3:08
  Shannon Race: I was living in Chicago at the time and even then, Midwest, there's just still not a lot of a holistic approach to nutrition or wellness at your fingertips.
• 3:18
  Shannon Race: And Vital Proteins was this gateway to opening my eyes to a world of, different varying approaches to healing your gut health that are more natural in nature and really understanding kind of that relationship that food plays in the health and balance of your gut.
• 3:36
  Shannon Race: And so that was a really pivotal moment for me.
• 3:40
  Shannon Race: I started to, incorporate.
• 3:42
  Shannon Race: Various foods that I hadn't otherwise thought to incorporate, collagen based foods specifically.
• 3:48
  Shannon Race: I was, researching different supplements like L glutamine and glutathione and like all of these various tools that kind of started me on my path to naturally healing my gut.
• 4:00
  Shannon Race: And really set me on the journey that eventually led me here.
• 4:06
  Shannon Race: One of the things that I thought was really interesting, I pretty much had gotten my symptoms under control.
• 4:12
  Shannon Race: in my late twenties with, some random bouts here and there.
• 4:17
  Shannon Race: But as I was talking to a friend of mine, so I'm a co founder of this company.
• 4:21
  Shannon Race: She has ulcerative colitis.
• 4:24
  Shannon Race: And one of the things that she told me was essentially the primary tool that helped put her into remission.
• 4:32
  Shannon Race: was incorporating psyllium husks specifically in her diet.
• 4:37
  Shannon Race: And I thought that was so odd because I was thinking, for me, when I recall back to my understanding of fiber and why people take fiber.
• 4:48
  Shannon Race: It was vastly different than what I come have come to understand the importance of fiber being as someone with IBSD thinking about fiber and, seeing fiber one bars in my parents in the cupboards and, my parents home and, people talking about prunes, you take prunes, for fiber when need to go to the bathroom.
• 5:07
  Shannon Race: My association was you take fiber because you cannot go to the bathroom, not fiber is a, as a tool and a resource to help feed the good bacteria to promote a healthy environment in the gut that can then help heal and remedy issues that you experience even when you have IBSD.
• 5:28
  Shannon Race: So that was like a crazy aha moment for me.
• 5:31
  Shannon Race: And so I started to do a lot more research and we talked a lot about.
• 5:35
  Shannon Race: Why if fiber is such an important nutrient and honestly is a macro nutrient, why is no one talking about how important that is and how severely deficient we are in daily intake of that important macronutrient?
• 5:51
  Shannon Race: We talk a lot about protein.
• 5:52
  Shannon Race: We talk a lot about carbs, but we don't talk about fiber and how beneficial it is.
• 5:58
  Shannon Race: And, you look at the shelves Of the of various retailers, grocers, et cetera.
• 6:04
  Shannon Race: And all are these old, brands that have been around forever with very poor fiber sources in them and ingredients that are just frankly could be far more disrupted to your gut in the long term than they can be beneficial in the short term.
• 6:19
  Shannon Race: And so we, really were like, I think it's time that we bring a brand or a product into the world that.
• 6:28
  Shannon Race: is clean, is efficacious and really helps storytell around the benefits of fiber in a way that helps people understand this is not just a reactive tool for wellness.
• 6:39
  Shannon Race: This is a proactive tool.
• 6:42
  Shannon Race: And that has been that's the story and the genesis of bio me, which has been a really fun journey so far.
• 6:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: I love that.
• 6:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: And I love that you said it's a proactive, not a reactive, because I think so much about.
• 6:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: Healthcare is reactive and people are maybe starting to change a little bit and realizing there's so much that we can do to be proactive about our health and fiber for sure is one of those things.
• 7:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: I know I have a similar association with fiber.
• 7:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: I always thought fiber was like that gross powder that your grandma mixes into her orange juice or like those disgusting fiber one bars or just like things that you think Oh, you use this is like desperate times call for desperate measures type of situation versus this is something that's good for my gut to incorporate for all these benefits.
• 7:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: So on that note, for people listening, why don't we break down what actually is prebiotic fiber?
• 7:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: Because it's important to note the difference.
• 7:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: There's a difference between fiber and then prebiotic fiber specifically.
• 7:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then why is prebiotics fiber specifically so important for Gut health.
• 7:56
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 7:56
  Shannon Race: So yes, you're right.
• 7:57
  Shannon Race: There are different sources of fiber.
• 7:59
  Shannon Race: Some of them are prebiotic, meaning that they actually are fermented when they reach a, a source of good bacteria.
• 8:08
  Shannon Race: And which benefits the the colon with short chain fatty acids and metabolites and there are various sources ferment in the gut differently and can have different benefits.
• 8:19
  Shannon Race: I think one of the things that I've always talked to about is there is a distinction as well between prebiotic fiber and prebiotics.
• 8:26
  Shannon Race: So prebiotic fibers are fibers that have prebiotic properties and they're typically found in food sources, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds.
• 8:35
  Shannon Race: And then prebiotics can be, non food based or food source based ingredients that can have prebiotic effects when they enter the gut microbiome.
• 8:47
  Shannon Race: And so I think, a lot of people are like take a caps or a, I take a capsule with prebiotics in it.
• 8:52
  Shannon Race: Is it's not fiber?
• 8:54
  Shannon Race: Is that still beneficial?
• 8:55
  Shannon Race: Yes, but obviously, I think that you get the most benefit out of a source that's coming directly from a food based ingredient.
• 9:05
  Shannon Race: That's my preference and what I like, what I try to emphasize to people.
• 9:09
  Shannon Race: And primarily because those food sources have the ability to resist breakdown in the small intestine.
• 9:15
  Shannon Race: So they're reaching your colon and you know that they're feeding the good bacteria and you know that they're producing those short chain fatty acids and various other metabolites that are so beneficial to the health of the gut.
• 9:26
  Shannon Race: And the other thing about prebiotic fiber that, I think people don't realize is they have the ability to distinguish between feeding good bacteria and bad bacteria.
• 9:35
  Shannon Race: So you have gut imbalance.
• 9:38
  Shannon Race: Not, I think a lot of people for whatever reason think, Oh, I should take probiotics.
• 9:43
  Shannon Race: I need more good bacteria in the gut.
• 9:45
  Shannon Race: And you're like, no, you need to feed the good bacteria in the gut and starve the bad bacteria.
• 9:50
  Shannon Race: So feeding the good by the good bacteria through fiber, rich foods, or, fiber supplements.
• 9:57
  Shannon Race: is the way to help recalibrate and rebalance your gut health when you're starting to feel like something's off.
• 10:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 10:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: And you bring up such a good point.
• 10:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: I often get the question I have GI issues, I have SIBO, I have IBS, I have, you name it which probiotic is going to help me.
• 10:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: And I always tell people probiotics are not actually going to make a huge difference for you until we actually focus on prebiotics.
• 10:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: So let's talk about why we have to shift our mindset a little bit away from probiotics first to actually prebiotics, because most people that have GI issues are terrified of fiber because they think, Oh, fiber makes me bloated.
• 10:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: fiber does this fiber, quote unquote feeds the bad bacteria, which you just said is not true.
• 10:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: And yeah, why do we need to focus on prebiotics more than probiotics?
• 10:52
  Shannon Race: Like I was saying, I think it's just whatever reason, we've had this wave of pro probiotics and just general gut health.
• 11:01
  Shannon Race: It seems to be, it seems to become a catch all ingredient for, if you feel, if you're, if your gut feels off or you feel bloated, take probiotics, they will help.
• 11:11
  Shannon Race: If you're putting just more bacteria, good bacteria in your gut, you're not feeding the good bacteria that lives in your gut.
• 11:19
  Shannon Race: And it's not necessarily about, I think there is benefit absolutely to supplementing with probiotics, especially if you're looking to further diversify the bacteria in your microbiome.
• 11:31
  Shannon Race: But if you're not feeding it, You're not establishing, a healthy, balanced environment.
• 11:37
  Shannon Race: And I think that is the distinction that has to be made.
• 11:40
  Shannon Race: It's putting more bacteria in the gut doesn't feed the good bacteria and help create a thriving microbiome.
• 11:46
  Shannon Race: And it doesn't help remedy you of the bad bacteria that's already potentially growing and prospering in your microbiome.
• 11:53
  Shannon Race: And so I think people really understanding that prebiotics are the fuel for your probiotics.
• 11:59
  Shannon Race: You, they need to feed on this fuel so that they can do the things that you want them to do, produce those short chain fatty acids in the colon and the metabolites and the things that actually help your microbiome.
• 12:11
  Shannon Race: Really heal and repair your gut.
• 12:14
  Shannon Race: So I think, I've always it's it's been such an interesting journey with this brand and getting to, go out into the community and talk to people and, It's most people do not truly do not understand the difference between prebiotics and probiotics and oftentimes they them interchangeably and I'm like no, there's a vast distinction and you need to understand why you're doing something or what the end result will be if you do X, Y, and Z, and, if you have to choose between prebiotics and probiotics, I will tell everyone, a hundred percent of the time prebiotics first.
• 12:50
  Shannon Race: Okay.
• 12:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: I agree with you.
• 12:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 12:54
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 12:54
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 12:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: And I think, we always shock our clients when we tell them that I'm like, I really don't care about giving you a probiotic right now.
• 13:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: We have other work to do.
• 13:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: And usually a prebiotic is where we start.
• 13:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: Similar to probiotics, prebiotics are, they all act a little bit differently.
• 13:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so I would love for you to break down just different sources of prebiotics and like why they might be appropriate depending on someone's situation.
• 13:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: And you can share with us the different products that you have and why you put those in.
• 13:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: In your products, you have several really interesting products.
• 13:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: When I looked up what all was in all the different products, I was so interested and I was so excited to talk to you because they're really well formulated and obviously very specific to a very specific individual.
• 13:45
  Dr. Heather Finley: Some of the things that you have included in your products are PHGG, resistant starch psyllium husk like you mentioned earlier, and then you've also included pomegranate husk in one of your products as well.
• 13:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: So let's break down those four specifically and like why somebody might choose PHGG over resistant starch, over psyllium, over pomegranate, or a combination of those as well.
• 14:13
  Shannon Race: Yeah, so just to take it back for a moment, like you said, not all fibers and prebiotic fibers are created equal.
• 14:20
  Shannon Race: And I think one of the things to note in that is that a lot of people have we've had this kind of like renaissance of adding fiber to everything, and you see it in a lot of foods, you see it in a lot of beverages now, and it's created actually, I think, a negative association with fiber because the fiber sources that are typically found in those products are chicory root that have high levels of inulin in them.
• 14:47
  Shannon Race: And, they ferment really quickly in the gut, which causes a lot of gas and bloating.
• 14:51
  Shannon Race: And when formulating these products, it was really important to me to find good sources and, clean sources of fiber that Have a much longer fermenting process and can actually, reach the colon and do all the work and provide all the good health, healthy benefits that you're looking for.
• 15:13
  Shannon Race: So you need, you named all of the different sources that we're using and the daily probiotic fiber is just a 2 ingredient fiber powder, unflavored.
• 15:24
  Shannon Race: We wanted to create something that was really seamless for people to add to their existing routines repertoire.
• 15:32
  Shannon Race: And those two fibers are.
• 15:36
  Shannon Race: soluble fibers.
• 15:36
  Shannon Race: The resistant starch, potato starch, is actually slightly unsoluble.
• 15:41
  Shannon Race: But I'll talk about that in a second.
• 15:43
  Shannon Race: Partially hydrolyzed guar gum is such a, it's been a really funny one to educate people on because there is a huge negative association with guar gum.
• 15:52
  Shannon Race: And I think people need to understand that guar gum is one state of of, Coming from the war being partially hydrolyzed war gum actually goes through an enzymatic fermentation process that helps it break down before you even consume it so that it can resist the small intestine and have those Healthy benefits for the good bacteria in the gut.
• 16:16
  Shannon Race: So it's a really important distinction because war gum is not resistant.
• 16:22
  Shannon Race: It does not.
• 16:23
  Shannon Race: It's digested as any normal food is.
• 16:27
  Shannon Race: It's not reaching your colon and producing those producing that fuel or that nourishment for good bacteria.
• 16:34
  Shannon Race: So that's a huge distinction to know.
• 16:36
  Shannon Race: The resistant potato starch is similar.
• 16:39
  Shannon Race: It's not starch, which would normally be digested by your your GI or your digestive system.
• 16:46
  Shannon Race: Excuse me.
• 16:47
  Shannon Race: It resists the small intestine and makes its way to the large colon where it fuels the good bacteria and helps to produce all of those benefits that you would want out of a prebiotic fiber.
• 17:01
  Shannon Race: And so those two sources were really important to me because they are pretty much neutral in flavor.
• 17:09
  Shannon Race: They dissolve very easily in a variety of foods and drinks and can in, in our product specifically can give you seven grams of additional fiber in your diet from really good sources.
• 17:22
  Shannon Race: And that are really intended to mitigate any sort of GI discomfort that you would have due to the length of the.
• 17:30
  Shannon Race: They like fibers have different chain links and that's how you determine if something is going to potentially cause GI distress is how quickly does it ferment in the gut.
• 17:39
  Shannon Race: Some of these fibers like chicory root, very short chains, ferment really quickly.
• 17:44
  Shannon Race: really quickly, which is why a lot of people experience gas and bloating after they have, a beverage that contains that.
• 17:52
  Shannon Race: And so we wanted, to make sure that we were using sources that really help to mitigate GI distress and feed the gut in a way that helps to provide all those benefits like bowel regularity and rebalancing of the gut and bloating relief and some of the symptoms that most people hopefully come to fiber to, to get.
• 18:14
  Shannon Race: And then on the other hand, we have a product called Fiber Rescue, which is a psyllium husk based product.
• 18:21
  Shannon Race: Psyllium husk is very different than the other two that I spoke about because it is Both soluble and insoluble.
• 18:28
  Shannon Race: So I like to explain to people.
• 18:30
  Shannon Race: Think of it like a chia seed.
• 18:31
  Shannon Race: It is going to absorb water, but it's not going to fully dissipate in a solution.
• 18:38
  Shannon Race: So it starts to bring water in.
• 18:40
  Shannon Race: And that's the actual mechanism of action.
• 18:43
  Shannon Race: That's so important about it because it's not going to fully dissolve.
• 18:47
  Shannon Race: And it's going to absorb water.
• 18:48
  Shannon Race: And as it's moving through your GI tract, it's going to start pulling water in from your organs and creating almost like a gel, like scrubby brush.
• 18:57
  Shannon Race: So as it's moving through your GI tract and in through your intestines, it's actually scrubbing out a lot of the bad bacteria that's living in there.
• 19:09
  Shannon Race: And it's a really good tool for people who A have constipation issues and B just need to really detox and clean out that GI tract.
• 19:19
  Shannon Race: And so that one is, probably most closely associated with a brand on the market that's been around for a very long time that our grandmothers may have taken.
• 19:29
  Shannon Race: But it's a much cleaner source really leveraging specifically selenium husk as that fiber source to feed and clean out the digestive system.
• 19:41
  Shannon Race: And then the last one that you mentioned are PAMA plus is a it's, that is, that's what I was talking about earlier, the difference between prebiotic fiber and then prebiotics.
• 19:51
  Shannon Race: So it is not a fiber source.
• 19:54
  Shannon Race: It is a prebiotic.
• 19:56
  Shannon Race: That has essentially bypasses a small intestine goes into the colon and has a prebiotic effect.
• 20:04
  Shannon Race: So it's able to feed the good bacteria.
• 20:06
  Shannon Race: And so that 1 specifically.
• 20:10
  Shannon Race: Is coupled with a variety of different probiotic strains and a post biotic.
• 20:15
  Shannon Race: To have that all in one almost like this, the, a full circle kind of cycle of what happens when a probiotic feeds on a prebiotic and creates a postbiotic and that's an all in one and yeah, that one's it was a really exciting ingredient for us to find that worked really well in this formula that we created.
• 20:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'm interrupting this episode really quick to tell you about our sponsor LMNT.
• 20:40
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• 20:42
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• 20:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Minerals are the spark plugs of our body and help us to maintain adequate hydration.
• 20:55
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• 20:59
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• 21:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's like giving your gut the fuel it needs to thrive.
• 21:16
  Dr. Heather Finley: So here's the exciting part.
• 21:17
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• 21:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: co backslash LMNT L M N T, or you can visit the link in the show notes.
• 21:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: Now back to the episode.
• 21:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: No, it's really great.
• 21:34
  Dr. Heather Finley: And I think I can see the progression at least if I were looking at your products from You know what I would recommend to a client.
• 21:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's very easy to see okay someone who's super sensitive might start with the resistant starch partially hard to hydrolyze guar gum and They could slowly progress through your product suite Or, maybe someone who's not as sensitive could try one of the other two products.
• 22:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: Another thing that I found really interesting, I talk tons on my page and podcast, etc.
• 22:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: about minerals, and what I noticed was your psyllium husk, for example, product has minerals in it.
• 22:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: So let's walk through maybe why, what the mindset was behind that.
• 22:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: I think it's super genius and how that helps the kind of water process that you were talking about, drawing water in, why that's important and how those two things, the fiber and then the electrolytes slash minerals can work together.
• 22:35
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 22:35
  Shannon Race: When we were formulating the product, one of the things that we talked a lot about is how do we properly educate people on the best ways to use psyllium husk?
• 22:43
  Shannon Race: I feel like when people oftentimes have a bad experience taking psyllium husk, it's often because they're extremely dehydrated and they're not realizing, like I said, that mechanism of action of how it's actually working in the body.
• 22:59
  Shannon Race: And why it's so important to ensure that you are drinking a lot of fluids throughout the day, keeping yourself hydrated so that you can actually make that process work better.
• 23:09
  Shannon Race: Because otherwise it's almost dehydrating you from the inside.
• 23:13
  Shannon Race: And the electrolytes were our response to that thinking, why wouldn't you want, why wouldn't you put electrolytes in a formula like this in order to help, increase that that process of water creation in the body and keep people hydrated and make sure that.
• 23:28
  Shannon Race: As it's working its way through your intestines, it's not creating a blockage or getting stuck or, it's almost mitigating this negative side effect that people sometimes associate with that particular type of fiber.
• 23:41
  Shannon Race: So that was really important to us.
• 23:42
  Shannon Race: It was just, it's one of those things where, you know, as you're like, Your formula, you're like, why hasn't anyone thought of this?
• 23:47
  Shannon Race: This feels like this is a, like a duh,
• 23:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: no, it really is.
• 23:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 23:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: Cause you're right.
• 23:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: The dehydration, so many people have such negative experiences with psyllium mask and the dehydration piece is the biggest thing.
• 24:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: Like you have to have, you have to have a hydrated colon to tolerate that.
• 24:07
  Shannon Race: Absolutely.
• 24:07
  Shannon Race: And I think, and that was the, it was just, Psyllium husk is such an amazing ingredient.
• 24:13
  Shannon Race: And if there's any way to mitigate, some of the negative symptoms or side effects people might experience if they aren't properly using the product, that's that was the goal with that.
• 24:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 24:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: So dehydration, like you mentioned, can be a huge mistake or reason for people to have symptoms with fiber.
• 24:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: Are there any other things that you see that, is a common kind of malpractice or just mistake that someone might make when they're introducing fiber?
• 24:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: I know I can think of several, but.
• 24:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: What are some things that you see that, might shy someone away Oh, that didn't work for me.
• 24:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: Or that made me super bloated.
• 24:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: That made things worse.
• 24:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Why does that happen?
• 24:53
  Shannon Race: I think the number one thing people do is they try to add too much fiber too quickly.
• 25:00
  Shannon Race: And that is something, over and over again, I tell people, if you are not, if you do, if you're not sure how much fiber you're just naturally in your diet on a daily basis.
• 25:10
  Shannon Race: And you're not supplementing with fiber in any other way, please start with half of a dose of fiber and work your way up over the course of, a week and a half.
• 25:23
  Shannon Race: Don't add multiple sources of fiber at once, give your body time.
• 25:28
  Shannon Race: To adjust to the process of that from that fermentation process, the process of breaking down the fiber that you're introducing, I think a lot of people, they it's like they think it's going to be a miracle cure all and it's a quick fix and then just, go too much too quickly.
• 25:44
  Shannon Race: And then they have a really bad.
• 25:47
  Shannon Race: Side effect from doing that.
• 25:48
  Shannon Race: And it's one of the medical advisors that we work with was like, Think of it like running a marathon.
• 25:55
  Shannon Race: You're not going to put on your running shoes one day without any training and run 26.
• 26:01
  Shannon Race: 2 miles.
• 26:03
  Shannon Race: You have to, every single day, a little bit more, and increase your fiber intake at a slow pace to give your digestive system the ability to really get used to it and be able to get the benefit out of it.
• 26:16
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 26:17
  Dr. Heather Finley: A hundred percent.
• 26:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 26:19
  Dr. Heather Finley: And if you're having side effects, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, whatever it might be, that's not necessarily a sign that your body's not tolerating it.
• 26:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's just a sign to slow down.
• 26:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: So cut it in half or cut it in a quarter.
• 26:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: We've had clients go like super slow, adding in fiber sources because everybody's tolerance is going to be different.
• 26:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: But.
• 26:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: Yeah.
• 26:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: More doesn't necessarily make it better.
• 26:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: You could do that and you could just fight through the symptoms until they go away, but there's really no need to do that.
• 26:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: When there's an easy way to do it.
• 26:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: I know.
• 26:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: And
• 26:52
  Shannon Race: I think it's, I think again, that also calls into question.
• 26:56
  Shannon Race: Why are we so deficient in fiber that a small amount of fibers?
• 27:00
  Shannon Race: So hard for us to tolerate and goes back to my point earlier about, we are so incredibly deficient as a population and The fact that this is such a key nutrient to just general well being is mind blowing to me that for so long it's been so negatively stigmatized and not discussed.
• 27:22
  Shannon Race: And oftentimes people are like, it's because it's not sexy.
• 27:25
  Shannon Race: It should be sexy because it's keeping you feeling your best.
• 27:29
  Shannon Race: And so it's just been, it's been interesting to, to be out in the world, talking to people, helping educate them and seeing them have these light bulb moments of Oh my God, I have no idea,
• 27:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: yeah, no, you're right.
• 27:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: Like it should be sexy because it helps you go to the bathroom and decrease this bloat.
• 27:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: And, it does all the things that you're trying to get your probiotic to do that.
• 27:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's not actually doing.
• 27:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: And usually for a much lower cost as well.
• 27:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: Is there anything else that you'd like to share about prebiotic fiber?
• 28:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: gut health in general, just your journey through seeing clients or buyers use your products, just success stories, things that you've seen on the market, et cetera.
• 28:11
  Shannon Race: It's, I think the thing that's also been really interesting is it's opened up this this Almost a storytelling landscape.
• 28:19
  Shannon Race: I feel like my friends now come to me and talk to me about their problem.
• 28:24
  Shannon Race: Same.
• 28:24
  Shannon Race: And I'm learning a lot about what is normal for people and what is not and helping them distinguish like that.
• 28:32
  Shannon Race: You haven't gone to the bathroom and How many days that's not normal and helping them understand why it's so important to have why regularity is important to your body is trying to rid itself of toxins and bad things that it is not beneficial to your body.
• 28:51
  Shannon Race: If it's just sitting in there, can you imagine what it's doing?
• 28:54
  Shannon Race: And yeah, I just, I feel like everyone's gut health journey is so individual and you have to take the things with you that work and leave behind things that don't.
• 29:04
  Shannon Race: And just because they worked for one person, they may not work for another, but, as it relates to fiber, to me, you know, all I ask people is just get more fiber in your diet.
• 29:15
  Shannon Race: If it's not by using my products.
• 29:18
  Shannon Race: And you can just use food and vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, a variety of different types of fiber sources as your tool, but get more fiber, you will feel so much better.
• 29:29
  Shannon Race: And it's just, it's shocking to me as someone who has struggled so long in life with varying degrees of IBS that it took me this long to find this as one of the most pivotal.
• 29:43
  Shannon Race: Tools in my gut health toolkit.
• 29:45
  Shannon Race: I find that to be wild.
• 29:47
  Shannon Race: And so I guess I'm just always trying to help people understand, it's so important.
• 29:53
  Shannon Race: I don't care where you get it from, you should make sure that you're getting enough of it.
• 29:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's so easy to chase the shiny object syndrome of the newest fat or the newest this or that.
• 30:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: But the reality is like fiber has been and always will be the probably number one thing that you can do to improve the health of your colon specifically.
• 30:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: But overall GI tract from a short chain fatty acid and function perspective.
• 30:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: And it's like you said, it's not the sexy thing, but it's the most.
• 30:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's a really stable reliable thing that you can do and whether it's from a product, food sources, a combination of both, it really is, you're going to see benefits beyond gut health.
• 30:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: You're going to see benefits in your cholesterol, your blood sugar, your sleep, your mood it's all connected.
• 30:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it's a really easy lift for large rewards.
• 30:50
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 30:51
  Shannon Race: I think a lot of what we try to do as well is.
• 30:55
  Shannon Race: Demystify what is happening in the gut when you're, eating by fiber rich foods or you're taking fiber supplements.
• 31:03
  Shannon Race: I think, we've had this massive wave of gut health trends to your point.
• 31:08
  Shannon Race: So many different products out there saying, this is going to help you, cure this, or this is going to help repair this or whatever.
• 31:15
  Shannon Race: And, I feel like at the core of what we're trying to do is just help people understand why a macronutrient that has seemingly been forgotten is so critical to putting you on the right path.
• 31:28
  Shannon Race: To restoring your gut health and feeling your best.
• 31:32
  Shannon Race: And that's honestly that's every day.
• 31:35
  Shannon Race: That's the message that I'm trying to get out there.
• 31:38
  Dr. Heather Finley: I love it.
• 31:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is probably a really obvious answer, but I'm going to ask you it anyways.
• 31:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: So since this is the love your gut podcast, what is your favorite way to love your gut?
• 31:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then please share with us where people can find you learn about your products, all that kind of stuff as well.
• 31:55
  Shannon Race: Yeah.
• 31:55
  Shannon Race: Yes, it comes as no surprise that fiber is probably involved.
• 32:00
  Shannon Race: But honestly though it's really been about.
• 32:02
  Shannon Race: Yup.
• 32:03
  Shannon Race: My relationship with food and making sure that I'm getting the right sources of nutrients in my diet and a lot of that is related to fiber and I, go into every day thinking about when I'm having my meals, what's my fiber source?
• 32:17
  Shannon Race: What is, how am I ensuring that I'm getting?
• 32:20
  Shannon Race: The right amount of protein.
• 32:22
  Shannon Race: And, there is no one thing that will cure all, but I think for me, the way that I really, truly love my gut is by feeding it with the right nutrients and ensuring that I'm giving it what it needs on a daily basis.
• 32:37
  Shannon Race: So that's what I'm doing.
• 32:38
  Shannon Race: And if anybody wants to check out, bio me, they can visit us on our website bio.
• 32:45
  Shannon Race: me and then we're also on Instagram and we post a lot of great videos and content and educational pieces and recipes if you're looking for ways to incorporate.
• 32:57
  Shannon Race: The products into your routine.
• 32:59
  Shannon Race: And we're also on Amazon, so yeah.
• 33:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: Awesome.
• 33:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'll put all those links in the show notes so people can check them out, but thank you so much for joining.
• 33:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: This was so informative and I hope people feel really inspired that fiber doesn't have to be scary.
• 33:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's can be a really easy, a powerful thing to add into your daily routine for optimal gut health.
• 33:20
  Dr. Heather Finley: So thanks for joining me today.
• 33:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: You so much for
• 33:22
  Shannon Race: having me.
• 33:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'm giving your gut a thumbs up because you just finished another episode of the love your gut podcast.
• 33:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: You know that in order to live a life free from uncomfortable bloating, you need to figure out why you're actually bloated, right?
• 33:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: The best way to do that is by taking my free quiz.
• 33:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: Take the next steps towards determining your root causes by visiting drheatherfinley.
• 33:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: co backslash quiz and learn what it is that's causing your bloating.
• 33:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: Soon enough, you'll be transforming your gut issues and I can't wait to help you.
• 33:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: Be sure to tune in next week for the next episode of the Love Your Gut podcast.