Danielle, when you hear that phrase, gut health, what does that mean to you?

So to me, it really means, is the gut working properly? And to put it in simple terms, are you pooping regularly? Are you uncomfortable when eliminating waste? Is your gut bacteria in proper balance? When you eat, do you get super bloated or do you feel comfortable after? Is your gut in harmony? And that means something different for everyone.

I had eliminated meat, dairy, eggs, fish, but replaced it with beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, potatoes, everything unprocessed from the earth, from the plant kingdom.

After four months, my heartburn went away, never came back.

I was very regular, like eliminating waste properly.

I wasn't bloated.

I felt so much energy.

What process did you go through to figure out what was helping you versus what might have been just a trend in the gut health community? How did you test these trends or did you?

[laughs]

I think that's a great question, and if you can take guesswork out of your day and, like, eliminate that decision fatigue, do it.

And if that comes down to your meals being simple and predictable, I would say go for it, especially with something like breakfast when you just wanna wake up, have the same thing.

That's fine.

And your lunch, maybe just, okay, if you know you're gonna have your salad with grilled chicken, maybe like every week pick one new either vegetable or maybe even like a complementary protein to add to it.

So maybe say, "Okay, this week I'm gonna do chickpeas in addition to the chicken and get some more fiber and more plant diversity." The more plants that we have in our diet, the better our gut health.

I think the recommendation is like 35 different plant foods per week to have optimal gut health.

For the moms listening who are in that season right now, what would you want them to know? How do you help a child who's terrified to try new foods without every meal turning into a battle?