I was so pumped to kick off my eater’s digest month by hanging out with a serious baller in the integrative gastroenterology field.
Founder of the Digestive Center for Women, and one of three finalists for the Surgeon General, Dr. Robynne Chutkan is a leading expert on the subject of gut health. She’s also a total force of positivity and wit.
I first met Robynne at the Mind Body Green Revitalize conference in May, and nearly pounced on her right after her talk, which included a few introductory jokes about being a doo doo doctor (key to my heart). She politely humored me as I peppered her with questions at lunch, and was gracious enough to answer some of them instead of eating her kale salad.
And even with my over-eagerness, she still agreed to come on my Wellness Wednesday series and answer a few more of them. Tune in below to hear us discuss her new book The Microbiome Solution, including tips on how to rewild ourselves to feed the trillions of bacteria in our digestive system, and why our super sanitized modern life harms the beautiful gut garden our bodies need.
We talk about the benefits of showering less, and how this “live dirty” protocol applies to someone who’s already immuno-compromised.
It’s a lot easier to live the right kind of dirty when you live near green space and not in a polluted city. So we also talk about what to do if you live somewhere like New York, where if you were going to roll around outside, it would be on the sidewalk.
This is one of my favorite chats to date. If you like what you hear, definitely also pick up Dr. Robynne’s brilliant books – this half hour is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her wisdom. Also, sign up for the GutBliss newsletter for more info on the live microbiome workshops she’ll be holding in the New Year.
With love and good bacteria,
Xo
Phoebe
You can watch it below or here.
Wellness Wednesday is an on-going Google Hangout series where I interview the most bad ass experts from all sides of the health world. In each video, we talk about their personal journeys, professional prowess, and get to the bottom of how to apply their advice to your busy, hectic, hedonistic life.
Just watched the good Dr. Excellent advise! Everyone should take half an hour and watch this video. As mentioned in another comment of ours, we try to get as much probiotics as we can, to improve the health of our gut.
She’s totally right about sanitizers, we don’t use them. We use some plain olive oil green soap. It’s mild, natural and comes out with essential oils for fragrance as well.
Panos had hair loss and shaves his head (perhaps you’ve seen this our about us page or our recent two posts:) ) , so he also washes his head with the same soap. I use an organic shampoo myself.
So yep, we keep showering every day, but we try using healthier products. After all, the cost isn’t that much higher on a monthly basis.
Dr. Chutkan’s comments at the end of the video regarding stool were hilarious (the part where she has the pics on the phone and showing the patients how proper stool looks like)! :):)
Congrats to both of you, making such an informative video!
Great job.