Maria Hunt: Body Ecology and Gut Health

Maria Hunt is a health practitioner, educator and media spokesperson whose work focuses on advocating good gut health, the benefits of fermented foods and body ecology principles for good digestion.


Maria Hunt: Body Ecology and Gut Health Introduction

Today we are going to explore body ecology. Now, let’s just do a quick definition of what that word means. It is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and the physical environment. But today, we are going to be talking about body ecology. That is the relationship of living organisms on us, on and in us. And we have such an intimate relationship with them.

In fact, one could argue that everything you do, everything you consume, everything you put on your skin, you should be asking the questions, are you feeding your friends or your foes? Because if you’re feeding your friends, as in healthy bacteria and microbes, then you are probably going to be a hell of a lot healthier than if you are feeding your foes, those bacteria that throw us out of balance, those microbes that throw us out of balance and cause chronic disease.

We have, as you will hear and you’ve heard this many times on my podcast, we’ve had a very adversarial approach to microbes in our world, whether we’re talking about antimicrobial lotions, potions, toothpaste, surface cleaners, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides. We have tried to eliminate microbes. And it’s been a great selling tool for selling products for many, many years.

The problem is we have been trying to dominate what we really should be enabling and befriending. And this is a very important relationship which we need to get right. And that’s why today we are talking about body ecology. And my guest today, I’m really excited to welcome back to the show, Maria Hunt.

Maria is a passionate and enthusiastic advocate for good health. After years of suffering with many health issues herself, Maria jumped headlong into researching for the missing answers and answers is what she found. And she is sharing many of those with us today. She discovered the missing link in fermented foods, a unique natural process combining beneficial bacteria and a selection of raw organic whole foods to create a nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich probiotic superfoods.

She talks about the seven principles of body ecology and also lines up three very important ducts for us to enjoy good health. Look, I hope you enjoy this conversation with Maria Hunt.

Podcast Transcript

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:00:00] I’d like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I am recording this podcast today, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and recognize their continuing connection to the land, water, and culture. I pay my respects to their elders of the past, present, and emerging.

Hello and welcome to Unstress. My name is Dr. Ron Ehrlich. Well, today we are going to explore ecology. Now, let’s just do a quick definition of what that word means. It is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and the physical environment. But today, we are going to be talking about body ecology. That is the relationship of living organisms on us, on and in us. And we have such an intimate relationship with them.

In fact, one could argue that everything you do, everything you consume, everything you put on your skin, you should be asking the questions, are you feeding your friends or your foes? Because if you’re feeding your friends, as in healthy bacteria and microbes, then you are probably going to be a hell of a lot healthier than if you are feeding your foes, those bacteria that throw us out of balance, those microbes that throw us out of balance and cause chronic disease.

We have, as you will hear and you’ve heard this many times on my podcast, we’ve had a very adversarial approach to microbes in our world, whether we’re talking about antimicrobial lotions, potions, toothpaste, surface cleaners, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides. We have tried to eliminate microbes. And it’s been a great selling tool for selling products for many, many years.

The problem is we have been trying to dominate what we really should be enabling and befriending. And this is a very important relationship which we need to get right. And that’s why today we are talking about body ecology. And my guest today, I’m really excited to welcome back to the show, Maria Hunt. Maria is a passionate and enthusiastic advocate for good health.

After years of suffering with many health issues herself, Maria jumped headlong into researching for the missing answers and answers is what she found. And she is sharing many of those with us today.

She discovered the missing link in fermented foods, a unique natural process combining beneficial bacteria and a selection of raw organic whole foods to create a nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich probiotic superfoods. She talks about the seven principles of body ecology and also lines up three very important ducts for us to enjoy good health. Look, I hope you enjoy this conversation with Maria Hunt. Welcome back to the show, Maria.

Maria Hunt [00:03:11] Thanks, Ron. Pleased to be here.

What is body ecology?

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:03:13] Maria, there’s so much I want to talk to you about today. I know body ecology has been a very big part of your professional journey. And I wanted to dive in first stop and ask you, what is body ecology? What is body ecology done?

Maria Hunt [00:03:30] That’s it, Ron. Okay, so body ecology, it’s a system of health and healing. And it was created by Donna Gates in the US, initially developed as an anti-candida diet. Given that overgrowth that you know of candida and it’s such a big problem for many health imbalances, including fatigue, depression, weight gain, early aging, ADHD, thyroid, adrenal issues, and autoimmune.

All of those are directly related to candida imbalance. And Donna herself, she wanted to find a cure to our own candida-related health issues that she was suffering from for many years. And she was so frustrated with conventional medicine. So over time, she studied many different protocols from macrobiotics, Chinese medicine, natural hygiene, raw foods, make supplement therapies, and she incorporated the best components of each in the body ecology. And it’s helped thousands and thousands of people overcome Candida. And in doing that, that really helps build the immune system. And she found to the best way to control both digestive issues and systemic candida overgrowth is to follow the four steps of body ecology that she designed. And one that I find so interesting, Ron, that gets overlooked is to create energy.

We need all the energy that we can get to get will. And we need to strengthen our energy organs like our thyroid and adrenals. And in doing that, that allows us not only the foundation to get well, but the ability to stay well. The second step is to correct digestion, correcting any nutritional deficiency, restoring our health. The third one is to conquer infections, to bring all infections, including fungal, parasitic, viral, all of those ones under control. And that will help strengthen the immune system and protect us in the future for there any more infections. And the last one was to cleanse toxins. And cleansing can have a huge impact on our adrenals. And if we’ve got an overburdened liver, that can make it almost impossible to bring the adrenals, our energy organs back into balance. So to support that, we need to get that extra liver detox support. We use herbs, supplements or far-infrared machines, colonic irrigation. And as we know, having a healthy bum is paramount.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:06:07] Yeah, we’re going to talk about that. You know, Maria, you are as I said to you when we were talking about catching up again, I said you’ll take this in the spirit and what it means, you know, I love talking to you about bums and poop. And we’re going to get onto that. But it’s so interesting because, Donna, this has been going on for over 20 years.

Maria Hunt [00:06:26] Yes, well over 20 years.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:06:28] Well over 20 years. And we have really come to understand that our relationship with bacteria is just so fundamental to our health.

Maria Hunt [00:06:39] It’s everything.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:06:40] It’s everything.

Maria Hunt [00:06:41] It’s just the baseline for all our health issues now, Ron. And that’s what I love about research is catching up. And just as a side note, also wanted to add in there, a 40 and 85 percent of women have a vaginal infection when they give birth and they can pass on those dangerous pathogens to their baby. So babies today who have an excess amount of pathogens when they’re born, they said they start out with gas, colic, bloating, reflux, cradle cap, which is potential yeast infection. And they can also have infant constipation and they don’t develop the necessary immunity and they don’t have the ability to actually cleanse out those inherited toxins from their parents and grandparents. And in DNA research, that’s called transgenerational toxins. And if a mother has low adrenals, she can actually draw her on the adrenal hormones of the fetus in the third trimester. And then the baby can be born with exhausted adrenals and that leads into food allergies, constipation, compromise got right from the get-go and you hit this vicious cycle. And that’s what body ecology aimed to break that cycle.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:07:59] Yes. Well, and the other thing is we’ve had, well, we’ve realized the importance of the microbiome. We’ve had this adversarial approach to bacteria everywhere I mean, in the soils, in the gut, in our mouth, in our skin, in our surfaces, everything. And so when we think about who might be susceptible or benefit from something like this ecological approach to our bodies, it kind of suggests almost everybody.

Maria Hunt [00:08:29] Everybody is. Exactly. And as you say, we’ve certainly all heard about the microbiome now and now microbes and these microbial communities within our gut, they’re pivotal to our overall health. So humans, plants, other animals, they all have microbiomes. And this is fascinating because each microbiome are individual to that organism and each organism just varies hugely between each one. The diversity is there. So in humans where, for example, as you say, we have skin, lungs, and the gastrointestinal tract, all have separate microbiomes, and the combination of these make up the unique imprints, each individual person, and they make up trillions and trillions of bacteria, viruses, yeast and parasites. They’re all living in our digestive tract, but mostly our colon. And what’s so interesting, we have 10 times as many microbial cells as human cells.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:09:32] That’s mind-boggling.

Gut is the second brain

Maria Hunt [00:09:35] Yeah. So we’ve got to get them back into balance. And it’s so exciting now because the microbiome is getting the recognition that it deserves because it’s considered as the newly discovered organ, the second brain. Dr. Michael Gershon’s research around that nerve cells in the gut that act as a brain that’s groundbreaking and that can actually control, you know, the second brain can actually control that gut all by itself. We didn’t have this years ago. And if you’ve got that second brain disturbance, then we’re looking at depression, anxiety, weight gain, autoimmunity, digestive issues, skin conditions, many, many more. And so many people, as in your wonderful book, where you’re talking about stress, they’re having stress in the convenience of junk food and they’re having these digestive issues.

They’ve got gas and bloating and indigestion. All of those are common. But people are starting to accept that as the default position. And when you have that, then they’re pushed to try prescription medications to solve these issues. And there’s certainly a time and place for medical intervention. But body ecology has alternate suggestions that won’t, you know, include putting a Band-Aid on these underlying issues. Donna, she’s geared for this one fundamental law of nature, the fact that our digestive system is intimately linked to our immune system, endocrine circuitry and our central nervous system. And they are profoundly affected with all these interlocking systems in the amazing world of beneficial microbes. And I love these guys.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:11:22] Yeah, and I love, and this is a recurring theme on this podcast about enabling nature rather than trying to dominate nature. But interestingly, Maria, I heard an interview recently from my nephew on his podcast mouthing off with a gastroenterologist.

Maria Hunt [00:11:38] I love that. Mouthing off.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:11:40] Yes. Lewis asked him, is the gut the second brain? Which is exactly what you’ve just said. And he said, I disagree with that Lewis. And I thought, oh, that’s going to be so interesting. But he went on to say it’s actually the first brain, because when you look through evolution at organisms before they actually had brains, they always had a gut. And it was the gut that drove so much of them, of what they were doing. So he actually went one step further and said, the gut is the first brain. I love that. I loved it. Listen, I know that there are seven basic principles in body ecology. Have you already covered four of them?

The seven principles of body ecology

Maria Hunt [00:12:26] The first principle is the, that’s right, is the principle of expansion and contraction. And our body is always seeking balance. For instance, if we’re eating too much, so a body becomes too contractive. And when we’re too contractive, we go within and then what happens is we want to balance that. We crave something sweet. So think of Christmas time when we overindulge in Christmas cake and puddings and sweets, we start to crave that healthy balanced meal. So when we understand this principle, we can create a balance and we can avoid that vicious cycle of cravings and weight gain. And that’s where body ecology with this principle aims to eat more in the middle of the continuum, the neutral area, so some of those foods that are raw or veggie salad, almonds or seed-like grains, like quinoa, millet, amaranth, etc, that helps to neutralize and balance the body.

The second principle is the principle of acid-alkaline, too much acidity in the body. As you know, being a dentist with the teeth, etc. can really have harsh effects and it can lead to yeast, viruses, cancers, parasites, allergies, all of these different assaults on our body. But alkaline foods, they don’t feed yeast or parasites and they actually rebuild our immune system. So we in this section, we talk more about alkaline foods to balance the system. And also, again, you know, with stress, prescription drugs, not getting enough sleep, that potentially creates an imbalance in that acid-alkaline. And also, too, we need to balance out our lifestyle. That’s the key to good health.

The third principle that goes onto is about uniqueness. And I love this one because everyone’s unique. We’ve all got different demands on our time and our bodies and we change over time. So we need to listen to how we feel when we start changing our foods around and reflect on what’s working and what’s not working. Because what can work for you might not work for me. It’s what works basically for you that will help you carry on and move through the changes. And most people are suitable to this protocol, raw foodies, vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, and we can accommodate for individual needs.

The fourth principle is the principle of cleansing, which we love because we’re getting to it with a healthy bum. Thankfully, we cleanse every day through elimination, urine, tears and sweat. If we didn’t, we would be up the creek. We really need to get these toxins out and also to when we have fevers, cold skin outbreaks, they’re a natural part of cleansing and we shouldn’t suppress them because it allows us to come back into balance. And when you first start the diet, you may feel worse initially, but hang in there because we’re cleansing out the toxins, and also cleansing the colon is a must we must get the old waste out in order to let the new nutrients be absorbed in the body. And we have the probiotics that we’re introducing, the fermented foods, and they need to attach themselves onto the colon wall and for nutrients to be absorbed in the body. We need that healthy, clean colon. So don’t skip that skip cleanse the colon. You can use flax tea on a short-term, laxative herbs, you can use colonic irrigation and enemas, you’ve got to have a healthy bum.

The fifth principle is a principle of food combining. If we have a weak digestive system, eating poorly combined foods causes a negative fermentation process. And in doing that, that produces alcohol and sugars response in our body. And that in turn feeds pathogenic yeast and creates the toxins. So for instance, when we have meat and potatoes together, we can have the meat, but not with potatoes, have it with non starchy veggies, cauliflower, broccoli, and have the potatoes, but have that with seed-like grains of qinoa and millet. And because you’re properly combining those foods to take that, the pressure off the digestive system and when you eat poorly combined foods, you can actually secrete enzymes that cancel each other out, for example, with the meat and potatoes. And this principle is wonderful for weight loss. I use it all the time. It really helps me to balance my own weight. And for my clients, it’s so effective and it truly works.

The sixth principle, that’s the one the 80/20, these two concepts to this to aid digestion. Firstly, overeating, it severely weakens a digestive system. So we only eat until our stomach feels about 80 percent full. And when we do that, we leave room for the digestive juices to come in and do its job. Secondly, we need to balance our nutrients. 80 percent of our plate should be land or ocean veggies and 20 percent of grain starch or protein. And that can take the pressure off the gut.

And the last one, seventh principle is principle of step by step. We need to understand that the body takes time to heal. You can’t expect instant healing, but when we make small, consistent changes, that gives our body the foundation it needs to support our long term health that we so desperately after. And we need to incorporate, say, one healing principle at a time so that you don’t get overwhelmed. And when when you’re patient and you give the time it needs to heal the body, then we notice a subtle difference and it gets stronger and stronger.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:18:25] What sort of time frame should we be looking at? You know, people are so impatient with things, but let’s put a reality check on this. And what kind of time frame should people be expecting?

Maria Hunt [00:18:40] That’s why pharmaceutical meds, I think one get such, so popular because you’ll get the response. But that’s not all, that’s band-aiding. We need to come back and get more foundation. So it’s different for everyone that three to six months that the first step and stage one and rebuilding and going through that, that can take say a couple of months. And then after that you’ll be noticing changes all of the time and then you’ll go on for another couple of months. And what happens is you get into a deeper and deeper cleanse. So when you get into that deeper cleansing, you’re removing all inherited toxins. So between, say, three and six months, you can really notice a vast difference.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:19:22] And we’re talking about a habit for life you two are talking about, this is just oh, this is a program for three to six months, and then you go back to the way you were, you know, I think that’s an important one. Intermittent, you know, when you talk about overeating, I’m guessing that intermittent but tell to us what’s your view of intermittent fasting or a good protocol or is it a good protocol? I don’t know.

Maria Hunt [00:19:46] Again, coming back to the principle of uniqueness, everyone is different. It worked so well for some people, maybe not for others. So we’ve got to find getting to the middle of the continuum and find what works for us. I personally find it’s great for my body. I quite enjoy it. And for some others, if they’ve got really weak adrenals or their thyroid is compromised, it can be a struggle for them. So, yeah, I really enjoy it. You’ve got to take the pressure off the gut.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:20:17] That’s really powerful. And the other one is the role that healthy fats playing in making that easier. What’s the body ecology view of fats?

Maria Hunt [00:20:31] OK, so we’re all after good fats. We want to get rid of the bad fats, but it’s coming back into what we were going to talk about with the microbiome. Right. So I’m going to jump back into that.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:20:44] Come back, go back.

Maria Hunt [00:20:46] Going back with uniqueness, OK? Everyone is unique. So what I like to do is you can get in and get your genetic composition, your genes tested. And that plays a really important role, especially with fats, because each individual person is different. So with that, how can these genes help us around, especially around fats?

Well, researchers reported, sixty-three genetic variants that increase the risk of obesity when eating saturated fat. So if you’ve inherited variants in certain genes, then these saturated fats from animals are not good for you. If you have these variants, you’ll absorb more fat from your meal than the other person and you’ll naturally struggle them with weight gain. And this was so fascinating.

A research from the University of Chicago stated, for some people with these variants, again, uniqueness, a high saturated diet actually kills trillions of good microbes in the gut, especially lupulus, and that allows pathogenic bacteria, one in particular, wadsworthia, to flare up. And it produces a toxic substance and it inflames the gut lining, even causing leaky gut. So eating for your genes is really important. It’s all about getting the good fats in and getting the trans fats out, getting all of that, having the healthy fats, but then get your genes tested and know exactly where you stand as far as those fats.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:22:19] Because we are headed towards a more personalized form of medicine. So this third principle of uniqueness is just so fundamental. Where are we at with gene testing? What’s your view of that?

Maria Hunt [00:22:34] Which I love it. Really, I’ve done my stuff, so I’ve done three generations just of my family. And it’s been fascinating to see the effect of the genes coming through. I encourage my clients to get the genes done. And what it does, it just takes the pressure off, for instance. I have a vitamin D receptor, I have a snip there so I can go at the sun as much as I like, but I’m not going to be like, say, you, who’s got all your snips lined up for your vitamin D? I’m not going to absorb it sufficiently. So I do need vitamin D supplementation. Once I know my variance there, then it makes life so much easier. But I love to run it intuitively, you know. You get this feeling of like, you know, I need certain fats and there’s I don’t do coconut oil very well or olive oil. I have issues with that, with my genes and intuitively always knew where I have olive oil and it’s great, it’s a wonderful, healthy oil for many people, but not for me.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:23:40] When you talk about snipped, because I know what you’re talking about, but it’s a kind of a, well, tell us snips are.

Maria Hunt [00:23:48] Well, they’re the variants. Okay, so you can have your genes say if we have, you know, you’ll have a negative gene as such and then you’ll have a positive gene and you’ll have one that sits in the middle and then bring it back to I use smart DNA. Dr. Maggie Smith, for instance, we’ve got red and blue and green. So it just meaning that it could be it’s out of balance there. So remember, genes are not going to run out life, you can turn genes on and off. And that’s a big thing for people to remember. You don’t want to get caught up in thinking, oh, no, I’ve got that gene that sit lives over. No.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:24:26] Well, this is that wonderful new science of epigenetics where you are actually not a victim to your genes, but the type of gene testing you’re talking about is not the 23 and me thing. It’s a lot more detailed than that.

Maria Hunt [00:24:40] It is. And don’t actually designed the gut gene connection. And she called it the cracking the code with nutritional genomics, along with she did a summit, the genius of your genes. And you can find that actually on the body ecology website.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:24:57] Wow. Okay. So tell me, how do we know when we are out of balance? How do we know that?

Maria Hunt [00:25:03] How do we know? Ok, so when we’re out of balance, you be having symptoms such as gas, bloating, burping, belching those regular bowel motions, itchy bottom sugar cravings at three o’clock, that athlete’s foot of potential yeast imbalanced, dry itchy skin, abdominal bloating, we can carry three or four kilos of impacted of fecal matter in the abdominal regions, foggy brain, all of those many more signs, they’re like an oil light flashing. And we can have one, two, or three of these symptoms. And the body’s trying to tell us we’re out of balance. But for many people, we cover up this oil light flashing and hope for the best. And then we drive twenty k’s down the road and then the car breaks down, then we’ve got the audacity to get up kicking and screaming, saying it’s let us down. But it’s been wanting us to take heed for quite a while. So listen to the oil light flashing, listen to what’s going on in your body. Don’t just accept it as a default position or blame family genetics. These signs are there for a reason. And if you don’t have any of these symptoms, that’s wonderful. But protect the health that you do have.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:26:19] And for children of those kind of the signs with kids as well, is there much difference between adults and kids in terms of knowing whether we’re out of balance or not?

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:26:29] I mean.

Maria Hunt [00:26:29] Not that much of a difference, Ron. And kids, you know, they truely know when they’re out of balance. You know, when they’re there and they’re just all out of sorts. They’re affected by parasites like I know this sounds wild, but in the full moon, that activates a parasitic effect on a child. So lots of mothers with both parents will bring their children into me. And the saying, you know, such and such, I’ve mentioned to them about the full moon. They say, yeah, the kids have got the itchiest bottom. They’re just going berserk. They got rowdy behavior. So listen to what our bodies are telling us.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:27:08] Which actually brings me to a topic that I mentioned I’m looking forward to talking about because I often say to patients, we get a report card each and every day and we should be listening to it, tell us about a healthy bum and tell us what your poo actually says about you.

Maria Hunt [00:27:27] I love it, Ron.

Maria Hunt [00:27:28] We just cut straight through

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:27:30] We always talk about this. And I can’t think of anybody. I’d rather talk to my wife last night as I’m so looking forward to talking to Maria. And she will take this in the spirit in which it is meant because it is true, isn’t it? I mean, it’s hopefully something we each do at least once a day.

A healthy bum

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:27:55] Let’s talk about a healthy bum and then we’ll talk about what our poo tells us. Go on, tell us about a healthy bum.

Maria Hunt [00:28:01] Growing up with nine boys. I’m well versed on the conversation surrounding the bum. So let’s have a look at a good stool. So it’s three quarters water and that’s why our stool is soft and they’re normally easy to pass. So it should be effortless and it should be at the same time as to have a pee. So the piece de resistance or the perfect log is the shape of a banana with a smiley and its medium brown walnut in color with a small diameter, and it’s well-formed and together with minimal smells. So no burning matches afterwards, guys, none of that. And that’s what you should deliver to your toilet bowl at least twice a day and Ron, the launch is so important as a healthy log should easily release and then it should float and then gently subside. That’s a perfect landing. And how good does that feel when you can fully eliminate and pass to good logs and I bet you’ll never go to the loo again without checking out the toilet bowl, because those healthy logs, they determine our digestive tract. And as we remove those toxins, we really need to feel good and look good and have that energy, motivation to live the life that we want. So that’s all about the perfect launch.

What about the not so desirable outcomes? What do they actually come down to? Well, in this report card, if you’re having a bowel motion only one to three times a week, that’s hot and solid. It’s like you’ve got constipation and constipation isn’t such a lack of bowel motion, but it’s the hotness of the stool. If there’s a lot of pushing and straining, the bowel can be out of kilter, that slow movement could be viruses, infection, stress, adrenal exhaustion.

If you’re passing pebbles or rabbit droppings, that could be more dehydration, liver imbalance, and also it could be lack of enzymes. Or if we’re passing the bunch of grapes or the corn on the cob style, again, constipation. And if you’ve got mucus present, that can be indicative of inflammation. We want to avoid loose watery porridge like stool’s. That diarrhea effect can relate back to a viral infection parasite. And we’re losing valuable nutrients. And if it’s grazing leaves the film in the bowl, that can be a sign that you’ve got an inability to actually absorb nutrients and break down fats. Or you may have the pancreas imbalance and the color superimportant. If that bowel motion is dark, that can be a sign of blood and in your digestive system. So you need to get the GP to check that one out and the same if it’s red, unless you’ve eaten beetroot, any of that, the fresh blood in the stool can be indicative hemorrhoids or something sinister. So GP time.

If they’re pale yellow or gray, that can be related to the gallbladder, liver, and undigested fat, the bile deficiency. If the stool is a green you could be having lots of green leafy veggies and smoothies. That’s OK. Or it’s moving through the intestines too quickly and skipping that vial break down. I could also mean to having antibiotics. If you’ve got food particles in your stool. That’s a sign that you’re not absorbing your food properly. And so, again, you might be low in nitrate. I guess it may have a viral infection. So we don’t want to see it, especially with the kids, no carrots or peas should be coming through and the bell motion shouldn’t be offensive.

There’s no foul smelling stools because that can be a build up of toxins and undigested foods just sitting there going rancid and putrid. So we want it really just minimal smell, a launch or a failure to launch. If we’re launching out our magical, you know, two or one piece de resistance stools a day. If it does a submarine dive, that’s a sign of undigested foreign foods. So you may need more enzymes if we launch and it stays floating, again kids have a lot of these, and that’s a sign of undigested fats. And it can be really helpful for all of us to use what we call it, squatty potty, if you want to, that it’s the correct angulation for the bowel to release. And it helps if we bend our knees above our hips, so I always say, you know, families just pop it in the bathroom and use it because our bodies, it’s a constant juggling act.

We’ve got to deal with six billion microbes inside our mouth with seven hundred different species than we’ve got over 100 trillion microbes in our digestive system. I think that’s three to five hundred different species. And then we’ve got one point five trillion microbes on our skin. And that’s a thousand different species that we know of at the moment. So we are living, breathing microbes. They run us. We don’t run them. So if you want to have this healthy body, you’ve got to have the healthiest bum.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:33:09] Well Maria, there’s so much there. I mean, you know, if people aren’t reading the show notes for this because you’ve got to go back and have a real close listen to that, because that is absolute gold. I mean, you’ve said so much there that is just so important. And we get this you know, we go off for all these expensive lab tests and blood tests and you could go and get your genes tested. And I know that’s a worthwhile thing to do, but we get this report card every time.

Maria Hunt [00:33:39] It’s there for free.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:33:41] It’s there for free. And actually, you mentioned the squatty potty. And I have to say I was exploring this in my book, and it’s surprising how much research there is about that actual position. And when you think about it, for the last few million years before Western toilets came along and I’m a huge fan of Western toilets there’s a time in place, but actually this little stool or squatty potty changes things as well. Wow, fantastic. I love it. And this is what this is. It’s a bit self-indulgent, Maria, but I knew I needed that. That refresher, if you like.

Maria Hunt [00:34:17] We all need a refresher.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:34:19] We do. And the Bristol Stool Chart kind of. Do you think that’s?

Maria Hunt [00:34:25]  A good guide. The making is, Ron, it’s for people to check every day. People just go, oh, that’s too embarrassing. It’s like, you know, I don’t have worms. Everyone has worms. So you’ve got to have a healthy bum.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:34:43]  And it’s not as though you need to be embarrassed because very few of us, very few of us call the whole family or neighborhood in to, you know, come on in and look at this. No, no. I can not imagine. Listen, this has been so fabulous. And now I know you talk about good health. Let’s finish on a positive note here, because I love the fact you’ve identified three ducts of good health and you’ve touched on some of these along the way. But I wondered whether we might just focus on this as a sort of a party message for a listener.

Mineral deficiency and achieving a healthy microbiome

Maria Hunt [00:35:16] Yeah. So three ducts are good health and we need a balancing a mineral rich alkaline body with a healthy microbiome. We need to line these three ducts up. And when we’ve got that, we are really humming along. But first, where are all the minerals gone, Ron? As you know, with your wonderful podcasts, with both the Charles Arnott and Massey as soil biome is struggling. And because of these issues, many people today are literally starving for mineral deficiencies.

In fact, there it’s mineral deficiencies can be at the root of every serious issue there. The US Department of Ag’s study shows twenty-five to eighty percent decline in the mineral content of food consumed due to overfarming, chemical fertilizers, and increased consumption of processed foods they’re being stripped from, you know, the foods have been stripped from these important minerals, so Australia isn’t far behind.

Research reports a significant fall in soil mineral deficiencies in Western Australia. And in some cases we have to eat significantly more food today to get the same nutrients our parents got in the past. It’s sad but true, basically we’re overfed and undernourished. No matter where you look, we’re losing energy. I mean, people drink, the amount of coffee, I can’t believe it is so insatiably trendy, years ago, Australia was the big coffee drinker there is today. And that’s great, have your coffee, enjoy that. But we’re going from coffee to energy drinks.

Even kids and teens, they’re looking for this quick energy boost to get through the day. So that’s why Donna came back and she developed what he called a supplement called ancient earth minerals. And that’s fantastic in helping to restore a mineral rich body. And it’s got the highest quality blend of humic and fulvic minerals out there. And so, you’ll love this interestingly, I was talking to a cattle producer the other day and he was asking me for minerals for himself, he said, because he had such great success with his made in heifers, he’d given them minerals and his water prior to calving and it was really good for dehydration is the calving and fast recovery rate for their fateless abscesses.

He was so impressed, he wanted it for himself and his family. So you’ve got to love nature. Mineral is super important. Our second duct is alkaline. The body thrives in a slightly alkaline state and research states too much acidity, which comes from stress, poor diet, poor sleep patterns, all of those foods, too much meat and dairy and processed foods that allows yeast and chronic bacterial infections and parasites to take over. And when you’re eating those highly acidic diets, they rely on your alkaline mineral reserves known as these alkaline buffers to attempt to balance the acidity. And when this occurs, when we use that, that results in nutrient leaking from, they leached it from the actual body.

So we want to get back into balance. And this is where body ecology comes in. It’s a solution, this protocol, and I don’t really like using the word diet, it’s more of a way of living. It’s sit around 80 percent alkalis in foods along with probiotic-rich cultured foods, ocean veggie, grain like seeds, quinoa, millet, amaranth, lemons, limes, the body ecology probiotic drinks, coco biotic and energy biotic, passion fruit biotic. All of those go to alkaline the system. And then as we spoke about earlier, the third duct is the healthy microbiome.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:39:10] Well. And I guess with the minerals, we’ve had a kind of a double whammy there in the sense that our soils are so deficient in it because of the poor, because of us trying to dominate the microbes in the soil, but also this demonization of salt. Yes. What are your thoughts on salt?

Maria Hunt [00:39:30] Everything needs to be good quality salt. That’s Donner is very big on that. She is very much connected to Selina, Selina sea salt over the state. She knows it’s clean. A lot of so-called, you know, sea salt. It’s like anything that becomes trendy now with the marketing sector, a lot of it is bastardized, you need to get the quality sea salt and I will for sea salts. Wonderful. Get them balanced.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:39:59]  Maria, thank you so much for today. We’ve covered some great territory there. I also well, we’re going to have links to your site and the body ecology site where people can explore those seven principles and line those three ducts up. So, you know, thank you again for today.

Maria Hunt [00:40:19] That’s a pleasure and good to catch back up again, Ron.

Conclusion

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:40:22] Thanks, Maria. Now, as I have said many times, we did get this report card in every single day, which gives us a clue as to how healthy we are, how our digestive system is doing, whether we are in good balance with our microbiome. This is free. It is accessible. And if you are in good health, you are getting this report card at least once or twice a night. And as Maria so eloquently pointed out, the what our poo says about you, what your poo says about you, rather, is a really important thing to take notice of.

Now, we mentioned the Bristol stool chart and I’ll have links to that. I think you can easily Google it. It gives you a seven different types of stools and the hint as to where you are on the scale from diarrhea to severe constipation and everything in between. It’s worth mentioning that over the age of 50, the fecal occult blood test, which the government sends out to everybody over the age of 50 and is done every two years is a really important test for you to do and take seriously if the results are negative.

Well, that’s obviously great, but if they are positive and blood has been detected in your stool sample, then do take that seriously as well and follow your doctor’s instructions. That’s very, very important. Look, I hope you enjoyed that episode. I certainly did. I just think Maria is a wealth of knowledge and such a great communicator and really laid out those seven principles of expansion, contraction, acid, alkali, the importance of uniqueness. This is something that we’re going to hear a hell of a lot more about, and that is personalized medicine.

Cleansing, which in this modern world is something we need to do often. And, you know, this is why sweating is important. This is why getting out in the sun is important. This is why having detox baths like with Epsom salts and we did that program on magnesium and Epsom salts is a great source of magnesium. But there’s a whole other story there about food combining. When you think of some of the things we find on our plate and you do kind of wonder what a great collection of food, but is my body really going to be able to cope with all this? My eyes lit up when Maria talked about the 80/20 rule, because actually that’s how I go through my life. And that is I try to make 80 percent of water.

I do in my life, good for my health and I recognize that we live in a real world. And this may shock many of my listeners, but no, not even I am perfect. So 20 percent of the time I may not be as good as I could be when I’m really on fire. I’m 90/10, and if I was ever 100 percent, which I have been at various points in my life, I have alienated so many in my family and friends, I’m not even sure I want to go there. And to be patient, do this step by step and realize that this is also a habit for a lifetime.

This is about life in general. You know, we hear this recurring theme to be persistent and be kind. I know Leila Masson mentioned that when we were talking about fussy eaters, when I was talking to Sarah Woodhouse about trauma and getting in touch with our feelings to be persistent and kind. You know, when you’re changing your sleeping habits and don’t get too stressed out about the fact that, in fact, sleep is the most important part of the day there, it is a major stress again. But to be persistent and kind with yourself and to be step by step in this seventh principle of the body ecology reminds us to be persistent and kind and patient.

Look, that was a great episode and I hope you enjoyed it, too. Don’t forget to leave us a review. Have to remind you about that. Leave us plenty of reviews. We’re going to get this podcast out and global. Well, it is actually global, but even reaching more people. Also, hook up to our Web page and see what we have got in store. We’ve got some great online courses coming in the second half of this year, so register your interest for that. In the meantime, you can go online and do our health assessment tool based on the five pillars of health and wellness. So I hope that finds you well until next time. This is Dr. Ron Ehrlich. Be well.

 

This podcast provides general information and discussion about medicine, health, and related subjects. The content is not intended and should not be construed as medical advice or as a substitute for care by a qualified medical practitioner. If you or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately qualified medical practitioner. Guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, experiences, and conclusions.