Imagine having a life-long struggle with your digestion, including several diagnoses like a hiatal hernia, duodenitis, GERD and diverticulosis, in addition to suffering from frequent constipation and unable to get any real relief from “medical” interventions.
Now, imagine learning that you can be empowered with your health and that dietary and lifestyle changes can help improve all of your digestive ailments.
And, by just taking small steps in adjusting your diet and lifestyle, you can heal your body.
Wow, that is powerful stuff.
This is the true story of a KNEW client who joined our Health Coaching program 6 months ago
Initially, this client signed up for help with her digestive issues primarily, but also with her energy levels and thyroid.
At this point in her life, she was fed up with not seeing results from the medications she was prescribed.
She has also become aware of how Functional Medicine approaches illness: by addressing lifestyle factors and looking for root causes (which, much of the time are tied to diet and lifestyle).
So, when this client came to us, she had already started exploring food sensitivities and begun the process of cutting out processed foods from her diet.
But she wasn’t making the progress she wanted, and thus came to us for help.
Her Initial Assessment Revealed…
After reviewing her history and some initial lab work under the direction of our medical director, it was clear we were dealing with compromised gut function.
She also had a pretty high score on our Intake Symptom Questionnaire, indicating that she didn’t feel great overall.
We started a dialogue about the gut and what it takes to heal the gut, which resulted in her decision to give up gluten and dairy for a few months, “just to see”.
In addition, we talked about adding in some targeted supplements, including:
- Digestive Enzymes to help support proper digestion
- Vitamin D3
- Vitamin B12
- Magnesium
- And Fish Oil
We also discovered she was not drinking nearly enough water. This was due to the pain she experienced swallowing due to her hiatal hernia.
So we agreed she would focus on drinking at least 32oz of water per day.
Over time, she also started drinking Marshmallow Root Tea to help heal the gut lining and added more fermented foods into her diet, like sauerkraut, to help reestablish beneficial bacteria in her gut microbiome.
The First Signs of Health Transformation Were Apparent at Her Follow-up Sessions
By her second Health Coaching session, she was able to up her water consumption to 48 ounces per day, was experiencing improved digestion from eliminating dairy (she had not yet eliminated gluten) and felt like she was “a little less groggy” in the mornings.
By her fourth session, she had committed to eliminating both gluten and dairy, and was shooting for a totally grain-free diet (going grain-free can often accelerate healing of the digestive tract in certain cases).
She reported that she no longer felt the need to “collapse into a chair” at the end of the day, nor did she feel like she had a “rock” in her stomach after eating.
She had also lost 3 lbs!
By our 6th session she was having regular bowel movements for the first time in her life—which felt amazing.
From this point on, the improvements kept rolling in—even in areas she never thought possible
Some examples include: being able to squat without knee pain, drinking out of a straw without choking, no more bleeding gums when brushing her teeth and sleeping more soundly.
She has lost some weight and some inches, and now feels like getting out of bed is much easier.
She has found the motivation to begin some light exercise, and is now feeling so good that she wants to tackle some other issues that she has pushed aside.
In Our Last Session…
In our last session she said, “I’m just so excited to be feeling so much better. It’s like I’m on cruise control”.
Her follow up questionnaire supports this statement—her score dropped from 95 to 24! In addition, other key lab markers have improved.
This transformation is impressive, but it’s not extraordinary
This is a very typical story of our clients who, with the support of a functional medicine-trained, medically-supervised Health Coach, experienced the power of diet, lifestyle and some general supplementation.
At KNEW, we recognize each individual is unique. Therefore, our approach is not to offer a cookie-cutter set of recommendations for specific symptoms or challenges, but rather to empower each person to discover which lifestyle and behavioral changes will create their ultimate health transformation.
By taking control of what goes into her mouth, this client reached her goal of improved digestion and increased energy, which is allowing her to now address some issues she had put on the back burner.
By having a Health Coach in her corner, she was able to cut through the health-fad information-clutter, and prioritize the steps she needed to take to heal…
…and we couldn’t be happier for her.
If you need some help prioritizing your health goals and healing process, check out our membership page at: www.knewhealth.com/individual.
Who knows…you could become our next KNEW Story of Health Transformation.
-The Knew Health Team
