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What if weight management involved more than calories and restriction? In this episode, Alyssa speaks with Anu Simh, board-certified health and wellness coach, microbiome educator, founder of Nine Arms of Wellness, and author of Flourish from Within, about the connection between the gut microbiome, liver health, and metabolic function.

They explore how the gut and liver communicate, why fiber matters for the microbiome, and how this broader view can change the way we think about weight maintenance and blood sugar. Anu also shares practical ways to increase fiber when you have a sensitive gut, without making your diet even more restrictive.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What the gut-liver connection is and why it matters for metabolic health.
• How gut microbes and fiber may influence blood sugar, satiety, and weight maintenance.
• Why restrictive diets can make it harder to get a variety of nutrients.
• How to gradually introduce fiber and fermented foods when your digestion is sensitive.
• Why symptoms can be useful signals to help you understand your body.
• What to know about liver detoxification and the claims made by detox products.

Anu emphasizes that supporting the microbiome does not guarantee weight loss. Instead, the conversation looks at the body as an interconnected system and the value of asking better questions about your health.

Meet the guest: Anu Simh

Anu Simh is a board-certified health and wellness coach, microbiome educator and founder of Nine Arms of Wellness. Her work focuses on using food, sustainable habits and a systems-based perspective to support gut health and weight management. She is also the author of Flourish from Within, a book that combines microbiome education with a practical framework for everyday habits.

Resources mentioned:

1. Flourish from Within by Anu Simh: Check out Anu’s book for a practical framework for understanding the gut microbiome and building sustainable food habits. Find it on Amazon.
2. Reach out to Anu through Nine Arms of Wellness to get details about her group coaching programs and practitioner courses.
3. Grab the Veggie Mash Guide (step-by-step strategy to expand your diet safely)
4. This free masterclass walks you through the five-step framework we use to help clients move beyond symptom management, rebuild food tolerance, and create a healthier, more resilient gut.
5. Learn more about Nutrition Resolution’s Signature Healthy Gut Restoration Program — a personalized, root-cause approach to addressing bloating, constipation, and underlying digestive imbalances. In this program, testing is selected based on the person's history, symptoms, previous testing, and unanswered clinical questions rather than automatically ordering a broad panel.
6. If you are still struggling with digestive symptoms despite previous testing & protocols, Book a 1:1 Strategy Call and we’ll look at your symptom history, what you’ve already tried, and whether working together makes sense, along with what that would look like.
7. Follow Alyssa on: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest

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Looking for a supportive Gut Health community? Alyssa is building a community committed to helping people overcome their digestive symptoms by addressing the root cause using food and nutrition. Join Alyssa’s FREE Facebook Community here.

Tune in and subscribe to "The Gut Health Dialogues" for inspiring client transformation stories and expert insights into gut health. Leave a review. Your support will help Alyssa empower more people with the knowledge and tools to take control of their gut health and reclaim their lives.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Alyssa takes a closer look at what it takes to approach the elemental diet thoughtfully, including the questions to consider before starting, what the experience can look like while you're doing it, and what happens when those two weeks are over. We also discuss who may benefit, how the elemental diet compares with antibiotics and herbal antimicrobials, and why what happens after SIBO treatment can be just as important as the treatment itself.

You'll also hear about:

• Elemental diet for SIBO and IMO
• Fully elemental vs. semi-elemental formulas
• How the elemental diet compares with antibiotics and herbal antimicrobials
• What to consider before starting a two-week elemental diet
• Nutritional needs, hydration, formula tolerance, and symptom monitoring
• What can happen during the adjustment and die-off period
• How to determine whether the treatment is working
• Why breath testing, symptoms, and food tolerance all matter after treatment
• How to transition from an elemental diet back to solid food
• Why rebuilding the microbiome matters after SIBO treatment
• Food reintroduction and expanding a restricted diet
• Addressing the factors that may contribute to SIBO recurrence

Resources mentioned:

1. Download your FREE Elemental Diet Before & After Planner — a digital and printable planner designed to help you prepare for the elemental diet, track symptoms, plan questions for your practitioner, prepare for retesting, and think through the transition back to food.
2. Listen to Methane SIBO Episode: a deeper episode on methane SIBO and how to address it naturally.
3. Listen to: Root Causes of SIBO: Why It’s Usually a Gut Environment Problem, Not Just a Bacteria Problem
4. This free masterclass walks you through the five-step framework we use to help clients move beyond symptom management, rebuild food tolerance, and create a healthier, more resilient gut.
5. Learn more about Nutrition Resolution’s Signature Healthy Gut Restoration Program — a personalized, root-cause approach to addressing bloating, constipation, and underlying digestive imbalances. In this program, testing is selected based on the person's history, symptoms, previous testing, and unanswered clinical questions rather than automatically ordering a broad panel.
6. If you are still struggling with digestive symptoms despite previous testing & protocols, Book a 1:1 Strategy Call and we’ll look at your symptom history, what you’ve already tried, and whether working together makes sense, along with what that would look like.
7. Follow Alyssa on: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest

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Looking for a supportive Gut Health community? Alyssa is building a community committed to helping people overcome their digestive symptoms by addressing the root cause using food and nutrition. Join Alyssa’s FREE Facebook Community here.

Tune in and subscribe to "The Gut Health Dialogues" for inspiring client transformation stories and expert insights into gut health. Leave a review. Your support will help Alyssa empower more people with the knowledge and tools to take control of their gut health and reclaim their lives.

Send us Fan Mail

If you’ve been dealing with bloating, diarrhea, constipation, food reactions, or other ongoing digestive symptoms, you may have wondered whether functional gut testing can tell you something standard testing missed.

In this episode, Alyssa breaks down the difference between conventional and functional gut testing, what each approach is designed to look for, and why two tests that appear to measure the same marker may not answer the same question.

You’ll learn:

• Why conventional and functional gut testing ask different questions
• What conventional stool testing can reveal about infections, inflammation, digestion, and disease
• What functional stool testing can reveal about the microbiome, digestion, immune activity, and gut barrier
• Why the same marker can appear on different types of tests but have different clinical context
• How functional testing may provide additional information when conventional testing doesn’t explain ongoing symptoms
• Why a normal test result doesn’t automatically explain away symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, constipation, or food intolerance
• How to approach microbiome testing without treating every abnormal result
• Why emerging gut health markers require careful interpretation
• When conventional testing may be appropriate and when functional testing may add another layer
• Why your symptoms, history, test results, and treatment plan need to be considered together

Resources mentioned:

1. This free masterclass walks you through the five-step framework we use to help clients move beyond symptom management, rebuild food tolerance, and create a healthier, more resilient gut.
2. Learn more about Nutrition Resolution’s Signature Healthy Gut Restoration Program — a personalized, root-cause approach to addressing bloating, constipation, and underlying digestive imbalances. In this program, testing is selected based on the person's history, symptoms, previous testing, and unanswered clinical questions rather than automatically ordering a broad panel.
3. If you are still struggling with digestive symptoms despite previous testing & protocols, Book a 1:1 Strategy Call and we’ll look at your symptom history, what you’ve already tried, and whether working together makes sense, along with what that would look like.
4. Follow Alyssa on: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest

-

Looking for a supportive Gut Health community? Alyssa is building a community committed to helping people overcome their digestive symptoms by addressing the root cause using food and nutrition. Join Alyssa’s FREE Facebook Community here.

Tune in and subscribe to "The Gut Health Dialogues" for inspiring client transformation stories and expert insights into gut health. Leave a review. Your support will help Alyssa empower more people with the knowledge and tools to take control of their gut health and reclaim their lives.