Have you gotten the diagnosis of IBS? Jenn and Hannah are here to talk about why IBS is BS, and what things you can do to overcome the IBS symptoms. Tune in to learn more about digestion and gut health. 

On this week’s episode, Jenn is joined by health coach, Hannah Alyward. Hannah walks through what IBS is and why the common recommendation of elimination diets isn’t a forever solution. She explains why people experience bloating and what the bloating you are experiencing could mean. She also talks about what is happening inside of our digestive system when we eat. Hannah shares some tips for things you can do right now to optimize digestion and the best ways to support gut health. She is a wealth of information; you do not want to miss this episode! 

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [3:40] Hannah shares about her life before becoming a health coach. 
• [7:48] Why is an elimination diet not a long term solution?
• [12:37] What is IBS and why is it BS?
• [14:07] What is natural bloating vs. bloating indicating a bigger issue? 
• [17:39] Why are people experiencing a lot of bloating and when do you need additional testing? 
• [25:40] What are some things we can do right now to optimize healthy digestion? 
• [29:05] How do you know where to start with healing digestive enzymes? 
• [31:48] Why are gallbladder removals so common? 
• [37:04] Hannah shares her final thoughts around supporting your gut health at home. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• The first priority to set up success for digestion is to ensure that your nervous system is calm and chewing your food to applesauce consistency to make sure that you are breaking your food down efficiently.
• Elimination diets are not meant to be permanent, they should only be a temporary solution to reduce symptoms that you are having while finding and repairing the root cause.  
• Always advocate for yourself. Ask your doctors questions. If you are not comfortable with what they are recommending, seek a second opinion. If they are not listening to you and addressing your concerns or symptoms, seek a second opinion.

QUOTES: 

• [9:59] “What's so key here that I want to repeat is that the objective of the elimination diet is that we pull things out to create a healing opportunity, so that we can then add things back in and your body doesn’t react the same way it once did once there’s been that healing.” - Jenn Trepeck
• [17:47] “If you feel like this is really impacting your life and you’ve already made some nutrition adjustments, which are kind of like the first line of defense that people bring into play. If we take out processed foods, minimize gluten and dairy, if you’ve done all that and you’re still feeling this way, it’s time to work with someone that is an expert in this and explore some functional testing.” - Hannah Alyward
• [25:52] “Before food even makes it into the gut microbiome, our body is priming for digestion essentially. So if you can spend more time with your food, smelling your food, cooking your food, enjoying your food, chewing your food, these are how we set our bodies up to properly digest our food.” - Hannah Alyward
• [27:40] “Take six deep belly breaths before eating each meal, helping to calm and pacify the nervous system, and chewing your food into applesauce consistency, everyone can start there and it’s free and it’s easy.” - Hannah Alyward
• [36:13] “I wish everyone would dig deeper into their gut health, even if they have no digestive symptoms, because it influences fertility and skin and energy and just everything. even hair growth. All these systems are interconnected.” - Hannah Alyward

RESOURCES:

Birth Control Part 1 Episode

Birth Control Part 2 Episode 

The Body’s Daily Detox Episode

Debunking Detox Episode

Become A Member of Salad with a Side of Fries

Jenn’s Free Menu Plan

A Salad With a Side of Fries

A Salad With A Side Of Fries Merch

A Salad With a Side of Fries Instagram

GUEST RESOURCES

Hannah Aylward's Website

Free Gut Health Root Cause Quiz

Hannah Aylward's Instagram

Good Gut Formula Masterclass

GUEST BIO

Hannah Aylward is a Certified Holistic Health Coach, gut health specialist, and the founder of HAN, her functional nutrition practice taking a root cause approach to repairing the gut for real. After struggling with her own chronic digestive issues for years, Hannah dove headfirst into the latest in gut health research, seeking answers to her bloating, food sensitivities, and pain. With her science-backed formula, Hannah has overcome her own digestive issues and helped hundreds of other women around the world do the same.