My Route to Gut Health
So I’m 43, and I suffered a stroke at 35.
That sucked, but I shall come back to that another time.
I was also diagnosed with CKD (chronic kidney disease) in my late thirties. Annoyingly, it’s one of the many conditions they cannot treat with medicine, dialysis or a transplant.
My elder brother James also had kidney disease, but a different strain. He had two transplants but sadly passed away from a heart attack at 46.
He was 13 years older than me at the time.
So for years I had suffered with water retention, aches and pains, puffy eyes and swollen ankles. Also, my potassium could easily spike, which was very dangerous as there weren’t really any signs to detect, apart from headaches and sometimes water retention.
In December of 2022 I was at my partner's house in Wales when I became very poorly and was rushed into hospital in Cardiff.
We then all went back into lockdown, and I was transferred to Bristol Royal Infirmary where medics put me on tons of Furosemide in an attempt to get rid of the water retention.
So they completely dried me out, but didn’t look after my kidneys at the same time.
Because of this, my kidneys went down to 7% functionality as they were completely dehydrated!
Don’t worry, I’m getting to the point..
So as my kidneys were so weak, and I needed to keep taking a blood thinner, the only drug they could prescribe me was Warfarin - a very old blood thinner that needs constant checking.
However, over a few months I noticed a weight gain that was not fat. I was still super active, I walked 14k steps a day, exercised often, all the good stuff! I normally weigh between 78-82 kg so I knew I was not at my ideal weight.
I had so many scans, endoscopies and colonoscopies, but no one could say what the cause was. I spent the next year taking so many strong laxatives and meds to alleviate my symptoms, it took over my life.
And I felt rotten and uncomfortable in my skin, as I knew I was fit but I just could not shift the additional weight. All the laxatives, enemas, concoction of meds from the doctors and from the hospital had completely ruined my gut microbiome.
I had to take Warfarin for a year, and just kept piling on the weight and the fluid.
My doctors couldn’t help, or the specialists. I was literally down to eating nothing as it wasn’t being digested. Then I decided to cut it all out!
Now when I wake, I have water with lemon and cayenne, a fat matcha - see my morning ritual recipes. This improved my symptoms but I still needed more.
So I also drink:
Beetroot Kvass from Bath Culture House
Willys Apple Cider Vinegar with sparkling water and bone broth, which I also buy from Borough Broth Co
And Coyo Kefir with lots of flax oil and tahini on pretty much everything
And in my fresh herbal teas I always use collagen peptides from Hunter and Gather
This all worked to a degree so I then focused on food:
I’m pretty strict keto, fasting for a minimum of 16 hours with an eating window of 8 hours.
I consume plenty of greens, roughage, nuts and berries. I eat mostly fish and very little meat nowadays.
So all in all, things should be working right? I dropped about 5 kilos and plateaued.
Then, searching for solutions I found a company called Body Bio, which develops supplements that work at a cellular level to help build and repair cellular health. I contacted them with my story and they recommended a few products to help my journey. If any of these products speak to you, enjoy 15% off your first purchase using the discount code JULIAN
CODE: Julian
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CODE: Julian 〰️
I started off using Body Bio Butyrate: Gut Health Supplement. Butyrate is an essential end product of a healthy microbiome. Primarily, it fuels your gut cells, strengthening the gut lining and healing a leaky gut.
I also used BodyBio PC (Phosphatidylcholine) (Softgels), which is a pure liposomal phospholipid complex that provides the building blocks of your cell membranes, repairing and protecting each of your 70 trillion+ cells. (Aging and toxin exposure causes your cells to break down, and phospholipids are critical to rebuild and maintain their health from the brain to the gut, and everywhere in between).
You feel the power of these phospholipids realised as improved brain function, mental clarity, smoother digestion, better detox and more consistent energy levels.
And oh my, after a couple of days I felt so much better, and within a few weeks I’d lost another 7 kilos this time. Lots of poop!
So I went back onto the site to re-order and bought a couple of extra supplements:
/Balance Oil (Omega 6 + 3) (Softgels).
/Fish Oil+
/E-Lyte Balanced which is an electrolyte concentrate that mimics electrolyte levels in the body for optimal hydration.
/Vitamin B+ is a unique compound of multiple essential B vitamins that work close together: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, Methyl B12, Folinic acid, and B7.
/Evening Primrose Oil extracted from the seeds of evening primrose, which contains gamma-linolenic acid.
/(GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid that has both anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain- relieving) properties.
CODE: JULIAN
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CODE: JULIAN 〰️
These products have literally changed my life. Between diet, exercise and Bodybio I have reached my normal weight of 80kg with just a couple more to go.
In over two months I have successfully dropped 13kg! Now the harder work of burning some fat and upping my cardio..
/I had been depressed and in a low mood as I knew something was wrong /I’d seen so many specialists and had so many scans, but still with no answers /And my diet was great
Thank you Body Bio you have literally changed my life!
“Find a life worth enjoying , take risks, love deeply, have no regrets and always, always have rebellious hope. And finally, check your poo - it could just save your life”
JB
[This article contains affiliate links. These are all supplements I genuinely use and highly recommend. If you make a purchase after clicking any of the above links, I will receive a small commission: relates to Body Bio products only: JB]