Perhaps you’re noticing the way your mind impacts your body (particularly your gut!) and you’re wanting to get some more help with your state of mind.

In Australia, it can be really confusing to know where to start when it comes to trying to improve your mental health - do you get a mental health diagnosis? Do you take medication or try psychotherapy? If medication (such as an SSRI) helps, does that mean you had a chemical imbalance in your brain? What if medication doesn’t work, what does that mean about your brain?

Dr Paul Denborough is here to shed light on these kinds of questions today. He is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of clinical experience and is co-founder of the exciting new mental health awareness campaign titled the ‘Not Broken Project’ with the University of Adelaide.

To learn more about the Not Broken Project you can visit:

https://notbrokenproject.com.au/

Do you want to learn more about the mind-gut connection? The Gut Girl Podcast has created a fun and practical resource where you can learn more - available for free download at http://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources

• 00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Dr Paul Denborough
• 00:01:29 The Problem with Psychiatric Labels and Diagnoses
• 00:05:46 The Chemical Imbalance Myth and Its Consequences
• 00:08:59 Understanding Antidepressants: What SSRIs Actually Do
• 00:10:25 The Not Broken Project: A New Awareness Campaign
• 00:18:36 Medication Without Understanding: When Treatment Fails
• 00:20:06 ADHD: Amphetamines, Brain Chemistry, and the Concentration Myth
• 00:21:59 The Dangers of Over-Prescription: From Eating Disorders to Psychosis
• 00:24:20 Concept Creep and the Broadening of Mental Health Labels
• 00:26:34 Over-Medicalization vs Over-Diagnosis: Understanding the Real Problem
• 00:28:48 Formulation Over Diagnosis: A Better Way Forward
• 00:29:56 The Cough Analogy: Why Psychiatric Labels Are Different
• 00:33:27 Cultural Attitudes: Individualism, Collectivism, and Mental Distress
• 00:34:56 Empowerment Through Knowledge: The Mission of The Not Broken Project
• 00:36:24 Closing Thoughts and Resources

Have you ever wanted to really understand meditation? From someone who actually gets it? Christian O’Toole is a very experienced and skilled meditation teacher, and it was a joy to interview him today. He is here to answer most (if not all) of the questions you’ve probably had about meditation, like what’s the point? How do I start? What’s important to keep in mind when I am meditating? What should I avoid? And amongst all this, both Christian and I share a bit about our journey to meditation too. 

If you’d like to purchase Christian O’Toole’s book discussed on today’s episode, you can do so here: https://christian-otoole-bookstore.myshopify.com/

If you’d like to contact Christian to organise your own individual meditation classes, he can be reached by email at [email protected] 

Want to learn more about the mind-gut connection? The Gut Girl Podcast has created a fun and practical resource, in collaboration with gastroenterologist Dr Paul Froomes, where you can learn more. This is available for free download here: http://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources

• 00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Christian O'Toole
• 00:02:09 Christian's Journey: From Misery to Meditation
• 00:04:50 The Path to Becoming a Meditation Teacher
• 00:07:40 Why Apps and Books Only Take You So Far
• 00:10:06 Finding the Right Meditation Style: Trial and Error
• 00:11:13 The Physical Reality of Starting Meditation
• 00:17:39 How Meditation Actually Reduces Stress
• 00:19:06 The Mirror Effect: Seeing Your Patterns
• 00:20:20 Acceptance Over Perfection: Working With Restlessness
• 00:21:46 From Meditation Cushion to Daily Life
• 00:26:41 The Vulnerability of Meditating Alone
• 00:27:42 Managing Distraction: Expectations and the 'Hello'
• 00:33:32 Hello List: A Beautiful Story of Acceptance
• 00:38:47 Where to Start: Apps, Books, Teachers and Community
• 00:42:39 Falling Asleep in Meditation: Good or Bad?
• 00:46:14 Scratching the Itch: Flexibility in Practice
• 00:47:49 Mindfulness vs Meditation: Understanding the Connection
• 00:53:59 The Voice That Calls Us Home: Christian's Book
• 00:56:45 Closing Thoughts and Thank You

Today we welcome back special guest Ash Bott, who is a clinical nutritionist specialising in gut and hormonal health. Ash is here today to help us understand what on earth actually happens in our body when we notice that ‘butterflies in the tummy’ feeling? In other words, what goes on physically in our gut when we feel stress? 

Want to learn more about the mind-gut connection? The Gut Girl Podcast, in collaboration with Dr Paul Froomes, has created a fun, visual and simple educational resource that further explains the mind-gut connection. Available for free download here: http://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources

If you’d like to find out more about today’s guest, Ash Bott, you can visit: https://www.girlgut.com.au/

• 00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Ash Bott
• 00:01:04 Butterflies in Your Tummy: What's Actually Happening
• 00:01:36 The Fight or Flight Response and Your Digestive System
• 00:02:52 Why Your Brain Tells Your Gut to Power Down
• 00:04:00 Stress-Induced Digestive Issues: Constipation or Diarrhea
• 00:06:26 Chronic Stress: When Your Gut Runs on Empty
• 00:09:25 The Gut-Brain Axis: How Your Microbiome Talks Back
• 00:12:02 Why Your Efforts Aren't Working: The Forest Fire Analogy
• 00:15:02 You Cannot Heal in a Stressed State
• 00:17:29 Regular Greg and the Power of Relaxation
• 00:20:43 The Four Pillars: Stress, Diet, Movement, and Sleep
• 00:21:25 Wrap Up

I had so many questions for Paul, we had to do a Part 2!

Today we dive further into understanding how our modern Western lives impact our gut health. We touch on the way that our food and our stress levels can create what’s called ‘gut dysbiosis’, leading to tummy symptoms and even other health conditions you wouldn’t expect!  No need to panic though, there's plenty we can do to overcome gut dysbiosis and prevent it happening to us again in the future.

Dr Paul Froomes is collaborating with the Gut Girl Podcast on an exciting new gut health resource detailing the mind gut connection and, once this is live, it will be available for download here: https://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources   

If you’d like to find out more about today’s guest, Dr Paul Froomes, you can visit: https://themicrobiomeclinic.com.au/pages/dr-froomes

• 00:00:00 Welcome Back to Part 2 with Dr Paul Froomes
• 00:01:26 What is Gut Dysbiosis and Why Does It Matter
• 00:02:29 How Dysbiosis Destroys Your Probiotics and Health
• 00:04:52 Gut Symptoms: Your Microbiome is Screaming for Help
• 00:06:03 From Dysbiosis to Degenerative Disease
• 00:07:12 The Domino Effect: When Dysbiosis Spreads Beyond the Gut
• 00:09:06 The 80-20 Rule: How to Eat for a Robust Microbiome
• 00:11:02 MACs: Microbiome-Accessible Carbohydrates Explained
• 00:12:12 Sugar Cravings: Is It You or Your Dysbiotic Gut Bacteria
• 00:13:51 The Natural Ozempic: How Your Gut Makes GLP-1
• 00:15:22 The Obesity Microbiome: Fecal Transplant Proof
• 00:18:24 The Two-Way Street: How Your Brain and Gut Talk
• 00:20:11 The Depressive Microbiome and Mental Health Connection
• 00:21:33 The Gut-Skin Axis: Acne, Rosacea and SIBO
• 00:23:52 Practical Steps: Avoiding Toxins and Protecting Your Microbiome
• 00:25:25 Wrap Up and What's Coming Next

Spoiler…our everyday Western diets are messing with our gut health, but why!? How?! In today’s episode Dr Paul Froomes breaks this down for us, makes it make sense and offers some helpful advice as to our next steps in taking better care of our gut health. 

Dr Paul Froomes will be collaborating with the Gut Girl Podcast on some exciting new gut health resources and, once they are live, they will be available for download here: https://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources 

If you’d like to find out more about today’s guest, Dr Paul Froomes, you can visit: https://themicrobiomeclinic.com.au/pages/dr-froomes

• 00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Dr Paul Froomes
• 00:02:56 Your Gut Is Stuffed: The Western Microbiome Crisis
• 00:06:06 The SAD Diet: Sugar, Carbs and Why Food Isn't Food Anymore
• 00:07:20 Chemical Soups: Xenobiotics and Food Additives Destroying Your Gut
• 00:09:40 One Cell Thick: Understanding Leaky Gut and Inflammation
• 00:11:09 The Rubbish Dump in Your Gut: What You Really Eat in a Lifetime
• 00:13:51 Supermarket Survival Guide: Choosing Real Food Over Chemical Soups
• 00:14:54 Grass-Fed vs Grain-Fed: Why Your Meat Choices Matter for Inflammation
• 00:16:42 Beyond Diet: Why Food Alone Can't Fix Your Gut
• 00:18:22 Refined Sugar Explained: Feeding Your Dysbiotic Bacteria

Welcome to the first episode of the Gut Girl Podcast!

In today’s episode I am so excited to be interviewing Ash Bott from Girl Gut Nutrition. Ash is a clinical nutritionist specialising in gut and hormonal health, and she is here to help us start to understand what the *&%! is the gut microbiome?!

Drawing on beautiful imagery and analogies, Ash opens our minds to the wild world of the gut microbiome, what it is and how it links to the state of our gut health as well as our broader whole body health.  

If you’d like to learn more about the gut microbiome, you can find Ash’s simple, practical and evidence based resource collab with the Gut Girl Podcast here: http://www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au/resources

If you’d like to find out more about today’s guest, Ash Bott, you can visit her website here: https://www.girlgut.com.au/

• 00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Ash Bott
• 00:00:56 What is the Gut Microbiome?
• 00:02:06 Good Bacteria vs Bad Bacteria: Breaking Down the Myth
• 00:03:36 The Gut Microbiome's Impact Beyond the Gut
• 00:04:58 The Rainforest Analogy: Understanding Your Gut Rainforest Ecosystem
• 00:07:05 What is Dysbiosis? When Your Gut Goes Out of Balance
• 00:07:52 The Gut-Skin Connection: Leaky Gut and Inflammation
• 00:09:59 Your Gut is Constantly Changing
• 00:10:43 What's Coming Next: Looking After Your Gut Microbiome
• 00:11:45 Wrap Up and Resources

Welcome to the Gut Girl Podcast!

You can find out more about the podcast and download our free, practical and fun gut health resources at www.gutgirlpodcast.com.au