In last week’s post I outlined 3 clients (Jim, John &amp; Reece) who all lead classic 1st world lifestyles. Commonly their health status reflected this lifestyle (not bad, but not great). <span style="color: #993366;"><a style="color: #993366;" href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/pampys-post-18-15-case-study-part-1-beer-stress-sleep-dep-gut-health/"><strong>CLICK FYI</strong></a></span>

&nbsp;
In this week’s post we test the possibility of balancing long term wellness (that is, <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/gut-he-an-e.png"><img class="alignright wp-image-2242 " src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/gut-he-an-e-232x300.png" alt="gut he an e" width="174" height="225" /></a>continued “good” physical &amp; emotional health , and maintain “around about” their optimum body composition), while accommodating fixed lifestyle stressors like mental &amp; emotional stress, sub-optimal foods including alcohol, and inconsistent exercise – with – a <span style="color: #008080;"><strong>4 DAY ABSOLUTE GUT HEALTH CLEAN OUT/ ANTI-INFLAM/ &amp; REBUILD.</strong></span>

&nbsp;

I should <span style="color: #993366;"><strong>NOTE</strong></span> - while I would much prefer facilitating at least <span style="color: #008080;"><strong>28 days</strong></span> of food choice education, leading to improved eating habits, <span style="color: #008080;"><strong>coaching 2-5 months</strong></span> in preparation towards an event (eg ½ marathon), allowing this commitment to naturally curb food choices including alcohol consumption, and finally, spending a year <span style="color: #008080;"><strong>reducing lifestyle stress</strong></span> with a few proven de-stressing tricks, I accept, this is perhaps impractical for much of main stream Australia.

&nbsp;
<blockquote><strong><span style="color: #993366;">So the question is:</span> <span style="color: #008080;">Is a 4 day gut reboot enough to maintain their good health? (or reset it if you like), or, is it a waste of time.</span></strong></blockquote>
&nbsp;

<strong>So what happened?</strong>

&nbsp;
I will leave comprehensive analysis of their results to the experts (their GP, Specialists &amp; <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/n-jsbcjsbf.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2243 size-thumbnail" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/n-jsbcjsbf-150x133.jpg" alt="n jsbcjsbf" width="150" height="133" /></a>Naturopath – as this is their forte). This post is a simplified version FYI. I’ve included the principles of their 4 day reboot, and their results in a simplified table.

&nbsp;

<strong>RESULTS</strong>
Their initial results were similar (all 3 clients) [see table below]; no serious potential health risks – at this point anyway. Yes, there were some borderline potential health risks, and their fat to muscle ratio could be better, but it was their gut health that presented most interest – that being, an over inflamed sub-optimal result. That is what we will focus on.
There is a plethora of reputable information clearly suggesting continued GUT inflammation is likely to lead to ill-health; namely, sickness, aches &amp; pains, &amp; weight gain

<strong>FYI – this TED talk seemed simple enough!</strong>
<div align="center"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Af5qUxl1ktI" width="523" height="294" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
&nbsp;

<strong>OUR 4 DAY KEY PRINCIPLES:</strong>
<strong>Nutrition</strong> – NO, we will NOT be using pills &amp; potions. While there’s studies claiming <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/hfcc.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2244 " src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/hfcc-116x150.jpg" alt="hfcc" width="81" height="105" /></a>supplements could well offer health benefits, for the purpose of this experiment, I’d rather simple use ONLY real accessible food, as I figure it worked fairly well for.......well......... a few centuries. I am equally aware our world (the quality of our agricultural world) has changed, so, in the event we don’t find an improvement in their health status, perhaps we’ll give supplemental interests a run next time.

John, Jim &amp; Reece consumed food options offering significant cleaning out properties (yep fibrous foods were cranked early – including husk, green leaf, a few herbs and selected fruits etc ). Next they loaded up with foods offering an anti-inflam effect (it seemed some combinations worked better than others, but as you can imagine selected veggies feature heavily), and finally foods offering nutrients with rebuilding pro<a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/inflam.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2247" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/inflam-300x300.jpg" alt="inflam" width="215" height="215" /></a>perties (and no, not just [animal] protein!). They consumed their largest meal at breakfast while tapering into dinner – attempting to hit the sack, while satisfied, but with minimal GUT processing and congestion. This contributed towards improved sleep. Fluids played a slightly greater role than normal – as with minerals (namely: sodium chloride). While I don’t usually consider value in juicing (well.....fruit anyway), we certainly did during days 1&amp;2. Improving their own intuitive skills on food volume varied between all 3 clients.
I guess much of the effort revolves around TOTAL elimination of inflammatory inducing foods. They were armed with a long list. Yep, there is zero alcohol for the 4 day period.
As a broad rule, we opted (just for 4 days) only consuming food types that (with the right equipment) you could prepare at home – from scratch! I’m finding it harder and harder to label foods real these days. Eg, I consider butter is great, but it comes in a wrapper!!! so does this really make it real?

<strong>Exercise intensity</strong> – relative to each of them, we dialled back exercise stress – but we exercised every day. While I do prescribe more demanding (relative) training sessions, and <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/gcghvjb.png"><img class="alignright wp-image-2245 size-medium" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/gcghvjb-300x200.png" alt="gcghvjb" width="300" height="200" /></a>certainly have (and sometimes love) bombing myself to smithereens, now is NOT that time. Exercise stress however good, when appropriate, causes a sh&amp;t ton of collective inflammation. So it’s easy conversational rhythmic stuff for now (for this lot). More, but easier is better.
Although (often) I take great interest in analysing heart rate with monitors, blood lactic via blood samples, and performance with GPS units, for our 4 day reboot, they’ll be shelving all technology and relying on perceived intuitive awareness. They didn’t exercise over 65-75% of their maximal perceived effort.

<strong>De-stressing with meditation</strong> – there’s just way too much evidence out there suggesting extra-ordinary health benefits by taking a couple of minutes out of this world to<a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/jjvhvv.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2246 size-thumbnail" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/jjvhvv-150x104.jpg" alt="jjvhvv" width="150" height="104" /></a> ignore (void of alcohol that is). While I’d love to send them all off to a specialist in this field - time, coin, and maybe ego could offer road blocks. So, for 10 minutes a day all 3 will be using the free App – Headspace. They will prove to me they have complied with this daily 10min program. I received (some) positive feedback from this practice.
<h4><strong><a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PAMPYS-POST-RESULTS-GUT-HEALTH-TEST.pdf">PAMPY'S POST - RESULTS GUT HEALTH TEST</a></strong></h4>
<strong>Conclusion</strong>

Do I believe it’s in someone’s health interest to give a 4 day gut reboot a crack? or is it a waste of time?

If you’re rolling along nicely, pretty much free of illness, fatness and lathery, I wouldn’t bother. If you believe a short sharp committed reset would serve you well, have a crack! It seems to work.

BP

&nbsp;