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Day: September 2, 2026

Best Cortisol Reducing Supplements: A Dietitian’s Guide and How it Relates to Your Gut

Cortisol Lowering Supplements

Cortisol is a major buzz word nowadays and many times the discussion of high cortisol is followed up with what cortisol reducing supplements should be taken. But before you reach for the next supplement, it is important that you are looking at the full picture. Chronic stress and elevated cortisol are frequently part of what […]

Have you heard of the vagus nerve? Your vagus ner Have you heard of the vagus nerve?

Your vagus nerve is a major communication pathway between your brain and your gut, helping regulate your “rest and digest” response, gut motility, and communication along the gut-brain axis.

And while supporting your vagus nerve isn’t a magic fix for bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or reflux, giving your nervous system more opportunities to shift into a relaxed state can be an important piece of the bigger picture.

Some simple daily habits to try:

🧊 Brief cold exposure
🌬️ Slow belly breathing
🎶 Humming
💧 Gargling
☀️ Morning sunlight
🚶‍♀️ Movement
😴 Consistent sleep
🤎 Time spent relaxing and connecting

Sometimes the simplest changes are the most impactful.

Start with one small habit you can actually do consistently.

Save this post and pick one habit to try today! 🫶

#vagusnerve #nervoussystem #nervoussystemhealing #vagusnervestimulation
Everyone keeps talking about hydrogen SIBO, but me Everyone keeps talking about hydrogen SIBO, but methane is one of the most common patterns I see in my practice, and it behaves very differently. 🦠

Methane SIBO, now often called IMO (intestinal methanogen overgrowth), is caused by archaea, a separate class of microbes from bacteria. Archaea can overgrow in both the small and large intestine, which is why the updated name reflects the organism rather than just the location.

The most common symptoms I see with methane:

🐢 Constipation — methane slows transit through the gut, so stool moves more slowly and becomes harder to pass. 
🎈 Bloating that builds through the day — slower movement means gas and food sit longer, so pressure accumulates after each meal. 
🍽️ Early fullness and pressure after eating — when the gut is moving slowly, the stomach and small intestine stay fuller for longer. 
🚽 Incomplete evacuation — slowed motility in the colon leaves you feeling like you never fully empty.

Treatment needs to target both the archaea and the hydrogen-producing bacteria feeding them, which is why methane typically calls for a combination protocol (such as rifaximin with neomycin, or herbal options including allicin) rather than a single agent. Motility support has to be built in from the start, and carbohydrates shouldn’t be over-restricted, since pulling too much fiber often makes constipation worse.

Methane SIBO is very treatable once it’s approached for what it is.

If you’ve been through SIBO treatment and constipation is still hanging on, comment BASICS and I’ll send you my free SIBO guide. 👇

#MethaneSIBO #IMO #SIBO #HydrogenSIBO #GutHealth
🚨 Spoiler alert (it's not betaine HCl) Supporting 🚨 Spoiler alert (it's not betaine HCl)

Supporting your stomach acid is crucial to healing your gut.

Symptoms like reflux, bloating, burping, early fullness, and indigestion can have many different causes. Low stomach acid can be one piece of the puzzle, but it's worth understanding what's actually going on before assuming that's the problem and adding more acid.

More acid isn't always better. In fact betaine HCl is inappropriate for many people, particularly those with certain GI conditions or taking certain medications.

Instead, start by supporting your body's natural digestive process:

🌬️ Slow down before meals
🍽️ Eat in a relaxed state
👃 Take time to smell and enjoy your food
🥬 Include bitter foods if tolerated
🥄 Chew your food thoroughly
☕️ Be mindful of caffeine and alcohol
🧘‍♀️ Work on your overall stress load

If you're experiencing ongoing digestive symptoms, figuring out what's actually driving them is more valuable than guessing whether you need more or less stomach acid. 🤎

#stomachacid #lowstomachacid #hpylori #reflux #ibs #ibsdietitian
5 habits I swear by for reflux, as a GI dietitian 5 habits I swear by for reflux, as a GI dietitian and former GERD sufferer.

I dealt with GERD for years before I understood why it wasn’t getting better. Once I started treating it as a functional issue instead of “too much acid,” these habits made the difference. Most reflux comes from the lower esophageal sphincter not closing properly, which lets acid move backward into the esophagus.

1️⃣ Stop eating 3 hours before bed. This gives your stomach time to empty before you lie down, so there’s less pressure against that sphincter overnight.
2️⃣ Chew thoroughly and slow down. Eating fast means swallowing more air and bigger bites, which both increase abdominal pressure and trigger reflux.
3️⃣ Practice diaphragmatic breathing daily. Your diaphragm wraps around the lower esophageal sphincter and adds outside pressure to help keep it closed. Studies show slow belly breathing can reduce acid exposure and the need for acid-suppressing medication over time.
4️⃣ Chew sugar-free gum after meals. Chewing for about 30 minutes after eating increases saliva and swallowing, which neutralizes acid and washes it back into the stomach. Skip mint, since peppermint can relax the sphincter.
5️⃣ Look into sodium alginate instead of relying on acid blockers alone. Acid blockers make stomach contents less acidic, but those contents still move up. Sodium alginate forms a gel raft on top of your stomach contents that physically blocks them from reaching the esophagus, without suppressing the acid you need for digestion. If you’re on a PPI, don’t stop cold turkey. Work with your provider on a taper.

These target what’s actually driving reflux instead of just numbing the symptom.

If you’ve been managing GERD with medication alone and still don’t feel right, comment ROADMAP and I’ll walk you through what’s actually going on.

#acidreflux #gerd #ibsdietitian #sibodietitian
Believe me I get it. You are so desperate to feel Believe me I get it. You are so desperate to feel better that you are willing to try ANYTHING. 

You've tried the elimination diets, read every gut health post and listened to every podcast, and worked through supplement after supplement. 

Along the way, some of the habits meant to help start working against you:

🔍 Researching constantly
🍚 Cutting carbs entirely
💊 Treating over and over 
🧠 Ignoring the stress of the protocol itself

None of these come from a bad place. They come from wanting to feel better without a clear picture of what's best for your specific situation.

That's exactly what the Bloating Breakthrough Method is built to solve: instead of guessing your way through another protocol, you get a clear plan built around what's actually going on in your gut.

Comment ROADMAP to get your Root Cause Roadmap call scheduled so we can figure out what's actually going on and build a plan from there. 🤎

#guthealth #ibs #sibo #ibsdietitian #guthealing
After 15 years of working with SIBO, these are the After 15 years of working with SIBO, these are the five things I’ll defend in every consult, every DM, and every conversation in the bleachers. 

Most women who come to me have done at least one round of antimicrobials, often two or three, plus months of restrictive eating, and they’re still bloated by mid-afternoon. 

When I trace back what was missing, it’s almost always one of these:

🔄 Antimicrobials without motility support = relapse. Antimicrobials lower the bacterial load. The migrating motor complex is what sweeps the small intestine clean between meals, so if it stays sluggish, bacteria repopulate within weeks to months.

🍽️ Diet alone will not kill SIBO. Low-FODMAP and similar approaches reduce the fermentable carbohydrates bacteria feed on. That calms symptoms, but it doesn’t clear the overgrowth or correct why it formed.

🔍 The root cause matters more than the bacteria count. A breath test shows gas levels on one day. It doesn’t show whether low stomach acid, poor bile flow, low enzyme output, or slowed motility let bacteria settle in the small intestine in the first place.

⚙️ Every root cause stems back to gut motility and digestion. Stomach acid, bile, and pancreatic enzymes are the small intestine’s defenses against overgrowth, and motility clears whatever gets past them. When any of those falter, bacteria gain ground.

🧠 No protocol is going to work if you don’t manage your nervous system. Vagal signaling drives stomach acid secretion, enzyme release, and the MMC. A body stuck in a stress response digests poorly and clears poorly, no matter which supplements are on the counter.

I see this pattern all the time. The protocol targets the bacteria, and nobody addresses the environment that allowed them to overgrow. Lasting results come from treating both.

If your SIBO keeps coming back and you’re ready for someone to look at the motility, digestion, and nervous system pieces nobody has addressed yet, comment ROADMAP and I’ll send you the next steps.

#SIBO #SIBOdietitian #IBSdietitian #bloated

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