About Hello Gut Health
This website aims to be an helpful guide for anyone looking to improve their gut health. I hope in time it grows into a community of people keen to share the benefits of having a healthy gut.
Hi, I’m Travis
My gut health journey started a decade ago. At that time I had very poor gut health and I didn’t even really acknowledge it or know it was a problem that I should fix.
I’d often have an upset stomach and between meals I’d become incredibly hangry. I couldn’t focus on anything when I was in that state. It was a profound irritation which would spill over into other aspects of my life.
I also had little concept that what I was eating was causing me ill health. When I ate too much meat or fried foods, I had no concept it would result in me feeling poorly afterwards.
My lovely girlfriend at the time said to me, “You need to listen to your gut.” At first I didn’t really understand what she meant. But what she was saying was that what I was putting into it, was then having an affect on my wellbeing. And at the time I had no understanding of the connection.
The turnaround
Soon she took it upon herself to cook me healthier meals and reduce things like meat, cured meat and simple carbs. At first the nasty bacteria inhabiting my gut were unhappy and told me so through their usual cravings. But as I fed it more vegetables, particularly prebiotics vegetables, and started to make homemade kombucha, gradually the balance of my gut began to swing from unhealthy to healthy. And soon the cravings for unhealthy foods stopped, and I became more aware of how they ultimately made me feel if I were to eat them. Those foods simply became unappealing and not at all difficult to avoid. I began to create a virtuous cycle of healthy eating which isn’t hard to maintain.
Now my health is so much better - I have much less inflammation which used to exacerbate chronic back pain, my bowel movements are much better and my agitation and anxiety is less now my gut is in harmony.
But most of all, I cannot remember the last time I was hangry! I can go hours and hours without eating (I even have done three-day fasts) with none of the same feelings of irritation and angst. Doing this would have been unthinkable years ago!
An interest piqued
When my gut began to improve, my interest in gut health exploded. I read Giulia Enders’ great book Gut as a starting point - and I highly recommend you do too. It gave me a great foundation in gut health knowledge and the science behind it.
I also became keenly interested reading all the new scientific studies coming out about gut health - something that continues to today. It’s such an exciting field with new knowledge becoming available almost every day.
Hopes now
I hope now to share knowledge about gut health and practical ways you can improve it with as many people as possible.
I want to get people talking about and aware of gut health, and demonstrating the benefits of improving it.
I hope you will join me!