Great Gut Blog

The 5 R’s Regimen to Reset Your Gut

Posted by Brad Dennis, Ph.D. on

The 5 R’s Regimen to Reset Your Gut

If you’re currently suffering from gut health issues, you might consider trying the 5 R Regimen. What it is? We break it down for you in this article.

Remove

The program starts with the “Remove” stage. Remove means eliminating all potential problem foods and other substances that might be contributing to your gut issues. It is of utmost importance to address this stage with as much effort as possible. By learning what’s good and what’s bad for your health, you will change your diet and your lifestyle accordingly. This is best done under the advice of a nutritionist, as they are best able to help you track down the culprits in your diet that are having a negative impact on your gastrointestinal tract.

You can, however, do a little detective work on your own. One way to start to determine whether you’ve got gut trouble is to track your bowel transit time.  The ideal transit time from food ingestion to defecation is 48 hours. A very simple way to check this is to eat a food like corn that doesn’t break down easily, and then check your stool to see when it appears. Sounds a little gross, but it is one quick way to see whether your food is coming out too quickly (which could mean your body isn’t absorbing all of the nutrients it needs) or too slowly (which means your system is sluggish and is giving bad bacteria a chance to flourish and grow).

Another way you can go through the remove process yourself is via a food elimination diet. This can take a number of weeks, depending on how many foods you want to test.

Once you’ve determined what’s causing or exacerbating your gut issues, you need to completely eliminate them from your diet.

Replace

The “Replace” phase refers to the possible need to bolster and replace digestive enzymes. The only way you can truly determine this is to see a doctor. If your gut troubles aren’t severe, you can skip this step and move on – the caveat being that if you go through the regimen and you are still having troubles, it’s time to go back to your doctor for help.

Repair and Reinoculate

The next two steps take place simultaneously. Once you’ve removed anything that was damaging your gut, it’s time to heal it, by repairing the mucosal lining of your gut and by getting your gut microbiome back in balance.

The good news is that this isn’t difficult. Follow a healthy diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Add in probiotic and prebiotic supplements to help the good bacteria grow and thrive.

Rebalance

Rebalance means taking a look at your overall lifestyle. Find ways to bring better balance to your life in terms of stress, sleep, and exercise. As many studies have confirmed, all of these affect our gut health.

One of the easiest ways to ease stress in our lives is to get some form of exercise each and every day, and to make sure we get enough sleep. And exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym! A simple daily walk after dinner counts as exercise! As for sleep – I know it can be difficult. Our lives seem designed to ensure we are constantly in a sleep-deprived state. But I promise, as soon as you commit to getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, you will reap incredible health benefits.

Many people who’ve experienced gut health issues have used some version of the 5 R Regimen to successfully repair and restore their gut health. It was designed to make you aware of any dietary and lifestyle issues you might have that are contributing to your gut troubles, while also easing the way towards a healthier gut. Following this regimen can help you take control of your gut health!

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