Trust Your Gut

By Demi FairAlternative Health Health & Fitness Nutrition Mental Health

Trust Your Gut episodes

September 1375. Is Nervous System Regulation Enough to Heal Your Gut?
Is nervous system work enough on its own to heal your gut? I get some version of this question all the time, and today I'm answering it directly.
The honest answer is: it depends. Nervous system regulation is always the foundation, and for a lot of the people I work with, it's the missing piece that makes everything else finally click. But when chronic stress or dysregulation has been running the show for a long time, it can also weaken stomach acid, enzymes, and bile production, affect your gut lining, and open the door to imbalances like SIBO or dysbiosis. At that point, regulation alone may not be enough to undo what's already happened physically.
In this episode, I walk through both sides: why nervous system work is non-negotiable, what it can heal on its own, and how I figure out when someone also needs direct support for the digestive process itself, and in what order.
In this episode, I'm talking about:
Why nervous system regulation is foundational, and when it can be enough on its own
How chronic stress and dysregulation physically affect stomach acid, enzymes, bile, and your microbiome
The two layers of nervous system patterns I look for: lifelong background patterns, and patterns that formed around your symptoms
How I assess what's happening in the digestive river without running tests
Why the order you address things in matters as much as what you address

Join the free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
Want to talk about getting support? Book a free clarity call!
Find out more about my program: Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit

If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
34 min
August 19 74. My Recent Flare and the One Thing That Made It Go Away
In the last episode, I talked about new gut symptoms that flared up after six years of being symptom-free, due to a spinal fluid leak, real physiological stress on my whole nervous system.
Quick update: my symptoms have resolved, after seven weeks!
There's one main thing I did to navigate these symptoms that I know made all the difference and helped me move through this flare quickly.
I want to share that with you, then walk you through a step-by-step process and tool you can use the next time you have a symptom flare, so it can support you in moving through it quickly too.

Join the free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
Want to talk about getting support? Book a free clarity call!
Find out more about my program: Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit

If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
32 min
July 14 73. Six Years Symptom-Free. Then This Happened.
30 years of struggling with gut symptoms. Six years completely free of them. And then a month or so ago, they came back.

But not the same symptoms, and I already knew why.
A few months ago I had a spinal fluid leak which was real physical stress on my whole nervous system. That’s when my digestion started talking again. Different pattern than my old one, which told me immediately: this isn’t old IBS resurfacing.
It’s my nervous system responding to something real that just happened to my body.

So in this episode I’m walking you through exactly what happened, what I’ve learned watching my own body move through this in real time, what is different about how I approach gut symptoms now, and how I’m applying my own framework to myself — because I know what’s going on, I know what I’m doing about it, and I’m confident I’ll be back to fully symptom-free soon.

Join the free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
Want to talk about getting support? Book a free clarity call!
Find out more about my program: Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit

If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
36 min
July 0772. No One Is Going To Heal You
Here's the thing: free content was never supposed to give you a diagnosis. It's not supposed to. It can educate, it can shift your perspective, it can hand you a new lens to see your own body through — but it can't individualize itself to you. It doesn't know your history, your nervous system, your story.
I spent years chasing that anyway. Broke, hungry for answers, bouncing from one naturopath to a stack of Google tabs to another forum thread, trying to piece together my own diagnosis from free information. It didn't heal me. It just left me more overwhelmed and more confused.
In this episode, I'm talking about:
Why content (mine included) is built to inspire and educate, not have all the answers
The overload loop I see in so many people (and used to live in myself): more searching, more information, less clarity
What real support actually looks like — not "here's your answer," but "here's what I see, here's the framework, here's the work to actually understand your own body"
Why "you can't do it alone" and "no one is going to heal you" are both true at the same time

Join the free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
Want to talk about getting support? Book a free clarity call!
Find out more about my program: Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit

If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
26 min
April 1471. Why I Still Had Severe Dysbiosis After Healing My IBS (And What That Taught Me)
What if your stool test results aren't actually your root cause? In this episode, I share a pivotal moment in my own 30-year healing journey — the day I retested my microbiome after becoming completely symptom-free, only to find I still had severe dysbiosis. What that result revealed changed everything about how I understand gut health.
I break down why chasing bacteria, cycling through elimination diets, and obsessing over lab results can keep you stuck, and what it actually means to heal upstream. Using the river metaphor at the core of my framework, I explain how your nervous system, not your microbiome, sets the conditions for everything downstream.
In this episode:
Why my microbiome looked the same after healing as it did when I was suffering
The difference between temporary symptom control and true healing
How a dysbiotic microbiome is often a downstream consequence, not the root cause
Why your body's ecosystem is far more resilient than any lab report suggests
What it actually takes to restore the conditions for lasting gut health

Join my free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Take my free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Find out more about my program: Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit

If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
12 min
March 2470. Your Gut Doesn't Just Digest Food... It Digests Your Life
if you’re dealing with the IBS-stress cycle, there’s one thing I want you to understand:
Your gut doesn’t just digest food. It digests your entire life experience.
In this episode, I break down why focusing only on food, supplements, or the microbiome often keeps people stuck in the symptom-stress cycle… and what’s actually missing from that approach.
We talk about:
Why it’s a mistake to treat the gut in isolation
The role of the enteric nervous system (your “second brain”)
How your gut processes stress, emotions, and life experiences
The connection between your gut, nervous system, and mental health
Why symptoms like IBS are often psychosomatic (mind-body), not just physical
The deeper questions to ask when you feel stuck in cycles of restriction, protocols, and frustration
If you’ve tried all the “right” things and still aren’t getting better… this episode will likely shift how you see your healing.

Related Episode: 2. What Does It Really Mean To Trust Your Gut?
Join the free masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
20 min
March 27, 2025 69. Healing Your Relationship with Food Through the Nervous System with Ashlyn Burnett
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in a binge-restrict cycle, feeling anxious or fearful around food choices, experiencing disordered eating, or constantly trying to control your body, this episode is for you. I’m joined by Ashlyn from Heart-Led Wellness, a food freedom and nervous system coach who helps women heal these patterns by addressing the deeper root: nervous system dysregulation. We talk about how body image struggles and food fears often stem from the same chronic stress responses that drive gut issues, anxiety, and perfectionism. This conversation offers a compassionate lens on healing your relationship with food—and finding more peace in your body.

Connect with Ashlyn:
Free Root Cause Identifier Quiz
1-1 Coaching
Heart Led Eating
Instagram @heart.led.wellness

More from Demi:
Join the masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Find out more about my program, Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit.
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
TikTok: @trustyourgut.health
Email: [email protected]
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
58 min
January 24, 2025 68. The Most Important Thing to Listen to If You Want to Heal IBS
Yep - I mean it! If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of elimination diets, supplement protocols, and stress management tools trying to heal your gut, but not getting the relief you want - this episode is for you.
In this foundational episode, I explain why these drastic measures often keep you stuck—and why true healing can’t happen without focusing on your nervous system. I’ll break down the digestive process, how the nervous system controls every step, and why chronic stress, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation are the real culprits behind persistent IBS and gut issues.
If you’re tired of the same old gut-healing approaches that only work temporarily, this is the most important episode you’ll listen to for your digestion and overall health.

Join the masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Find out more about my program, Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit.
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
TikTok: @trustyourgut.health
Email: [email protected]
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
36 min
January 17, 2025 67. What Burnout Really Is and How To Come Out of It
In this episode, I’m opening up about the irony of teaching nervous system regulation while navigating my own experience with burnout. I share the pressures of running a business, holding space for others, and the constant grind to "prove" myself in a noisy online world. Together, we’ll explore how burnout impacts the body and nervous system through a Polyvagal lens, what it takes to move out of chronic stress and shutdown, and the parallels between building a business and embarking on a healing journey. Plus, I’ll share practical tools to support yourself through burnout, reconnect with your intuition, and create boundaries that honor your well-being. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, overworked, or like you’ve lost yourself in the process, this one’s for you.

Join the masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Find out more about my program, Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit.
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
TikTok: @trustyourgut.health
Email: [email protected]
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!

42 min
November 26, 202466. Think Stress Caused Your IBS? Here's Why There's More to the Story
In this episode, we’re diving deep into the roots of IBS and chronic symptoms. While it’s common to associate the onset of symptoms with a particularly stressful time, like university or a major life event, there’s often more beneath the surface.
I’ll explore how acute stress can act as a trigger, but how deeper patterns, often developed earlier in life, set the stage for these symptoms to emerge.
We’ll cover:
The difference between acute and chronic stress and their impacts on the body.
How early-life experiences shape key systems like the gut-brain connection, vagal tone, and the stress response.
Why intergenerational influences and unresolved patterns can make us more susceptible to chronic symptoms.
Practical steps to start exploring and addressing these deeper patterns to support your healing journey.
If you’ve ever wondered why symptoms seem to "come out of nowhere" or felt stuck despite trying all the right things, this episode will help you better understand your body and the deeper layers of healing.

Join the masterclass: Discover the Missing Piece to Break Free from the IBS-Stress Cycle
Find out more about my program, Gut-Brain Healing Toolkit.
Want to talk about working together? Book a free clarity call!
Take the free quiz: Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!
If this resonated with you, be sure to let me know over on:
Instagram: @trustyourgut.health
TikTok: @trustyourgut.health
Email: [email protected]
To find out more: www.trustyourguthealth.com
Please SUBSCRIBE, leave a review, and share this podcast with anyone you think may benefit! Thank you!
30 min

About Trust Your Gut

From the publisher's feed

Trust Your Gut, hosted by Demi Fair, dives into the world of the mind-body connection. We explore the emerging science of the gut-brain axis and microbiome, while harnessing the power of intuition and connection to spirit. We dig into nervous system health and trauma, understanding how this is a key piece in our gut-brain and overall health imbalances, and learn new resources for building resilience.

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Trust Your Gut

Trust Your Gut episodes

About Trust Your Gut