As the saying goes, trust your gut — and this isn’t only figuratively. One of the most overlooked aspects of health is our digestive system. We tend to ignore and underestimate the symptoms we experience around our gut. But with its link to our brains, our guts play a much more significant role in our overall health. The simple act of eating healthy foods can completely turn your life around.

Kirsty Wirth joins us in this episode to share how reexamining gut health impacted her and her son's life. She talks about the road to recovery, specifically her family undergoing fecal microbial transplant (FMT). Kirsty highlights the importance of in-depth gut health testing, cutting out junk foods, and consuming healthy foods. She further discusses the two types of fermented food and how we can incorporate it into our diet.

If you’re having trouble with your digestive system and want to know which healthy foods to choose, this episode is for you. 

 

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. Learn how an undiagnosed gut issue can lead to an autism spectrum misdiagnosis.
2. Discover the importance of eating healthy foods when looking after your microbiome.
3. Find out the two types of fermented food and their effects on the body.

 

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Episode Highlights [04:55] The Story Behind Kultured Wellness

• Kirsty started Kultured Wellness because of her personal experience and what her son went through. 
• She started having tummy upsets from age two onwards. She would constantly swing between constipation and diarrhea. 
• Acquiring viral encephalitis at age 13 and being hospitalised for a week was a landmark time in Kirsty’s life. Gut problems became a constant issue from then on.
• Her husband, who is a nurse, told her constant diarrhea is not normal. So, she dabbled with various diets but didn't stick with them.
• It’s not until they found out about her son’s conditions that Kirsty took concrete action.

[09:55] Kirsty’s Son’s Autism Spectrum Diagnosis

• At 13 months, Noah suffered from infections and tummy troubles. Fortunately, his recovery progressed well.
• But at 18 months, Noah became completely non-verbal, underwent behavioural changes, and suffered from constant diarrhea.
• The paediatrician said that Noah’s condition was normal. However, his condition only worsened. 
• Then, Noah was diagnosed with autism. This gave them funding for treatment and support.

[13:56] Discovery of an Underlying Gut Issue

• The possibility that Kirsty passed on her diarrhea issue to Noah was always at the back of her mind.
• They found a doctor who listened to their suspicion that Noah has an underlying condition. 
• After testing Noah’s stool sample, they discovered that he had Clostridium difficile, a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
• This bacteria releases endotoxin that compromises the gut and the blood-brain barrier.
• They found that the endotoxin in Noah's body had attached to the brain receptors responsible for socialisation and learning.

[17:21] Undergoing Fecal Microbial Transplant (FMT)

• Kirsty and her two children participated in a research study in Canada. There, they underwent a fecal microbial transplant.
• Their guts were flushed with antibiotics to get rid of everything, including the Clostridium difficile. These were then replaced with donors’ microbes. 
• Kirsty’s children were the youngest people to undergo FMT. While they were there, Noah started becoming more sociable.
• Not everyone needs to undergo FMT to recover their gut. There are now many ways to modulate the gut, one of which is eating healthy foods.
• Tune in to the full episode to hear more about Noah's recovery and development as a teen!

[25:42] Getting Diagnosed with PANDAS

• PANDAS is an autoimmune neurological condition associated with an antigen. Both Kirsty and Noah got diagnosed with it.
• It stands for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.
• Listen to the full podcast to learn more about PANDAS and how Kirsty acquired it!

[33:13] Looking After Your Microbiome

• Test, don’t guess. Get a comprehensive stool analysis.
• Kirsty uses two tests for her clients.
• You need to be intentional in choosing healthy foods. Include fermented and nourishing food for your gut.
• Also, remember that diets do not work. No amount of willpower can go against our primal built-in set point.

[46:10] Two Types of Fermented Food and Their Effect on the Body

• The first is the wild type. This includes histamine-forming foods or lactate-forming metabolites.
• Our gut has microbes that consume histamine and help us not develop histamine issues.
• The second is uncultured ferment. These are specific ferments in a controlled environment with specifically chosen strains.
• People struggling with lactate-forming metabolites should choose D-lactate bacteria strains. 
• These strains break down and down-regulate histamines without causing reactions.

[48:50] Incorporating Fermented Healthy Foods into Your Diet

• You can start with small amounts of uncultured ferment to build out your microbiome. 
• Then, you can start dabbling with wild ferments.
• Kirsty develops cultures with nine different strains that have efficacy for autoimmune, neurological, and digestive conditions.
• Kultured Wellness offers a starter culture that you make yourself. Listen to the full episode to know the ingredients and the procedure!

[53:05] On Probiotics and Digestive Enzymes

• One capsule of probiotics in the market has around 3 million CFU or colony-forming units. 
• Meanwhile, a cup of Kultured Wellness yoghurt has 41 billion CFU.
• The absence of digestive enzymes and stomach acid is a major problem today.
• Fermented food helps with this problem because it has already been pre-digested from the fermenting process. 
• Fermented food doesn't require a robust amount of digestive enzymes. In fact, it supports the excretion of stomach acid.

[57:06] Parting Advice 

• Be curious and try your best to connect with your body.
• You’re in a state of fight or flight all the time when you’re unwell.
• We should not be focusing on DNA; it's the microbes that affect our DNA.
• Being curious, taking responsibility, owning it, and wanting more for yourself is crucial.

 

7 Powerful Quotes

‘I have seen how important your gut is and how it can completely change the pathway of your life. It can completely change who you are as a person.’

‘You don't just suddenly wake up one day and you've got cognition issues; that's coming from somewhere.’

‘So the first thing is just test, don't guess... We [can] really find out what is happening in our gut, and we can find out what it is doing to the rest of our body.’

‘If you want to make change, you've got to front up to make the change.’

‘If they don't include fermented foods and they don't include nourishing foods for their gut, they're relying on willpower. No one can get anywhere with willpower.’

‘It's what everyone finds hard and doesn't know, is that you should never rely on willpower. Diets will never work.’

‘DNA is not what we should be focusing on. It's actually the microbes and those fungi and viruses that make up our whole body that actually interacts through that.’

 

About Kirsty

Kirsty Wirth is the founder of Kultured Wellness and an expert in cultures, gut health, and probiotics. Kultured Wellness is a company dedicated to providing knowledge and healthy foods for optimum gut health. As an integrative health coach, Kirsty's area of interest is in how lifestyle, environment, and diet can impact gut health and the immune system.

Drawing on her background and years of research, Kirsty educates people on the root cause behind underlying conditions. Her mission is to spread the word about the benefits of healthy foods, particularly fermented food in nourishing the gut's microbiome.

If you want to learn more about Kultured Wellness, you may visit their website. You can reach out to Kirsty on Instagram and Facebook. You can also send her an email at mailto:[email protected].  

 

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Lisa

The information contained in this show is not medical advice it is for educational purposes only and the opinions of guests are not the views of the show. Please seed your own medical advice from a registered medical professional.