What’s Gut Health Got To Do With It?

If you were around to witness the mini breakdown I shared in my last email, then you get how much I needed some real, healing change after my long summer.

Something to help boost my energy, motivation, and mood.

Taking a few rest days wasn’t cutting it. I tried. I sat on the couch. I “relaxed.” I took a few naps. I scrolled and scrolled. But my body and brain were still in a fog. I could feel my nervous system dragging.

That’s when I decided to do something I knew could actually help—I started the Purium Ten-Day Cleanse to reset my gut health.

Why gut health?

Because, as some of you may know (and if you don’t, I’m so excited to be the one to tell you!), our gut health directly impacts our mental health. Like… big time.

There’s this little thing called the gut-brain axis—and it’s not woo. It’s real science. Emerging research shows that 95% of our serotonin (yes, our feel-good, happy hormone) and 50% of our dopamine (the motivation-reward chemical) is produced in the gut, not in the brain. 🤯

That means what we’re putting into our stomachs matters. A lot.
It’s all connected—our food, our hormones, our mood, our inflammation, our energy levels, even how well we’re sleeping.

Trauma therapy and somatic work often focus on the way our emotions and past experiences live in the body. But so does everything else—including the food we eat.

When our gut is inflamed or bogged down by processed food, sugar, alcohol, and toxins, it makes nervous system regulation nearly impossible. You can't expect yourself to “feel better” when your body is in a biochemical traffic jam.

So, in the spirit of treating my WHOLE self—and not just muscling through it—I did what I’ve done before: I turned to the Purium cleanse.

I had done it previously with my dear friend Monica Biery (hi Monica! 👋). She’s a certified nutritionist and someone I deeply trust. She also has her own incredible journey with gut health healing, and you can hear more of that in episode two of the Wholistic Approach to Healing podcast.
(If you’re curious, she also offers 25% off with the code: balance7)

So what does this cleanse involve?

For ten days, I drank Purium green shakes three times a day. It’s a nutrient-dense superfood powder you mix with water or coconut water. Alongside that, I took a whole stack of powerful, natural supplements that target inflammation, flush out toxins (and parasites—which, yes, most people unknowingly have), and support immunity, digestion, and gut biome balance.

But here’s the best part: you can still eat.
There’s a specific food list of organic, fiber-rich, plant-based options that support the cleanse, so it never feels like deprivation or starvation. This isn’t about restriction—it’s about nourishment.
This is not punishment. It’s pleasure-driven healing.

The first few days were… fine. I didn’t feel majorly different.
But on day five—something clicked.

The fog lifted. I felt lighter—mentally and emotionally.
My focus sharpened. I had ENERGY. My mood improved. I finally found the motivation I’d been missing for weeks.
Suddenly I was flying through work, catching up on emails, writing again, and even dancing around the house. 💃

Experiencing that shift was a powerful reminder of why I’m so passionate about a wholistic approach to healing.
Because here’s the thing: it would've been easy to assume something was seriously wrong with my mental health.
To spiral.
To catastrophize.
To believe the drop in mood, energy, and motivation meant I was “backsliding.”

But because of the work I’ve done—through parts work, trauma healing, somatic awareness, and years of nervous system regulation—I had the awareness to pause and ask:
“Is this emotional? Hormonal? Nutritional? Relational? Environmental? What’s my body actually needing right now?”

So instead of assuming something was wrong with me, I got curious. I reached for a tool.
And nutrition is one of those tools I now rely on.

It’s a major part of the puzzle.
What we eat (and drink, and supplement with) directly impacts how we think, how we feel, how we relate to others, and how we move through the world.

In short: better nutrients = better feelings.

So if you’ve been feeling “off” lately—tired, low, irritable, foggy—I encourage you to zoom out and consider what your gut might be holding.
And if your body is calling for a reset… listen. 💜

I’ve got a whole toolkit of resources I love to share with clients and community members alike. So if this topic sparked something for you, feel free to hit reply and let’s talk about it.

You deserve to feel GOOD.
Not just okay. Not just functional. But deeply well.

And sometimes, all it takes is giving your body the support it’s been quietly asking for.