Earlier this year I felt like something was really off in my gut, I was tired often and my digestion had started to become *weird* – aka bloating, bowel movements were changing, and much to my poor partner’s ears (and nose) I was very gassy!
So, I did what any functional nutritionist would do, and I completed a functional medicine stool test on myself – known as a complete microbiome mapping.
The results really didn’t surprise me considering how I was feeling, but essentially what it came back with was what’s termed dysbiosis – an imbalance of good and bad bugs in the gut – more bad than good.
It turns out I not only had too much bad bacteria, and a fungal overgrowth, but a parasite too, just to make things interesting I suppose haha! But one thing that I will mention that is often overlooked, is the other thing the test clearly showed…
I had far too few good bugs, which was only making the dysbiosis worse.
So I set myself up on a protocol once I was back from my holiday to dive head first into a 12 week reset (you can find the exact protocol I used here). I took myself through a number of dietary changes, added in supplements and enhanced my detoxification pathways before embarking on a parasite cleanse (which I am finishing up at the moment… also included in the protocol mentioned above).
But whilst I was doing all the cleansing, I had to do something about the rebuilding, because if I just emptied the bad bugs from their home, and left it empty, they would very easily find their way back and take up host again… hence the good bugs needed to be added!
Enter @cloverferments … They happened to see I was on my journey and kindly gifted me their tonics to try for 4 weeks to help me in my healing!
When it comes to rebuilding gut health after dysbiosis, the most important thing to start with is adding in a probiotic, which fortunately @cloverferments tonics are packed full of, as well as digestive enzymes, which was a perfect addition to my protocol.
One thing I will add in here, which I found to be AMAZING, is that Clover Ferments are low histamine (a topic for a whole other blog), but as someone who like many with gut issues, is somewhat histamine intolerance, it had my mind at ease that I wouldn’t be boosting histamine levels like other fermented foods would.
In fact I took a break from all other fermented foods during my healing for this reason.
I am still currently taking the tonics as I loved the taste and how they supported my gut health alongside the protocol I was following. I started noticing my bowels becoming more regular again, digestion improved, bloating eased (still working on this, but it’s a process) and the eczema on my head that had flared up as a result of the fungal overgrowth started to subside
I know the journey is not a short one when it comes to repairing your gut health which is why I am going to keep the tonics in place for the foreseeable future. I loved how easy it was to drink, the fact I could combine all 3 (I often struggle to remember to take things multiple times a day), and the beetroot flavour was definitely my favourite!! (just watch the splatter haha)
If you’d like to give these tonics a try for yourself, they have kindly given me a discount code for you to use, just pop in ‘SHEREE10’ at checkout.
The tonics are also known to support a reduction in food sensitivities and intolerances which is something else I have struggled with due to my coeliac disease, and I have just last week sent a test off to see if there are any improvements in those as a result of the tonics and protocol! So watch this space!
If you have any questions about the tonics check out the Clover Ferments website here, or DM them on @cloverferments on Instagram. If you have any questions for me about anything I have mentioned also don’t hesitate to reach out here too!
Yours in Health & Happiness,
Sheree xo
Holistic Nutritionist, Personal Trainer & Wellness Coach I empower women like you to transform their lives, understand their bodies and feel their best from the inside out!