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You’re eating real food. You’ve cleaned up your diet. You’re trying to get enough protein, include healthy fats, eat more fiber, support your blood sugar, and make choices that are supposed to help you feel better.
So why does eating still feel so uncomfortable?
Why the bloating, pressure, fullness, slow or incomplete bowel movements, or that feeling that every meal has become a negotiation with your body?
In this episode of the Rewilded Wellness podcast, I’m continuing my Terrain Map series by taking you deeper into what happens to food after you eat it — specifically, what your microbial ecosystem is doing with whatever eventually reaches your colon.
We’ll look at two important patterns I pay attention to on BiomeFX:
• Saccharolytic fermentation — the microbial breakdown of carbohydrates and fibers
• Proteolytic fermentation — the microbial breakdown of proteins and amino acids
We’ll talk about short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, acetate and propionate, what happens when proteolytic activity becomes excessive, why slow transit can shift the fermentation environment, and how factors like low fiber intake, high protein intake, dysbiosis, reduced microbial diversity, low stomach acid, incomplete digestion and poor bowel flow can all influence what happens downstream.
I also explain why elevated proteolytic fermentation can become so physically uncomfortable — including bloating, abdominal pressure, distension and irritation to the gut environment — and how this connects with the broader terrain, including Gram-negative organisms, LPS/endotoxin burden and gut barrier integrity.
Most importantly, this episode is not about giving you another list of foods to remove.
It’s about understanding why a perfectly normal meal can become such a complicated physiological event — and why the goal of gut work should be to improve your capacity to digest, absorb, move food through, support a resilient microbial ecosystem and keep as many nourishing foods on the table as possible.
If you’re already eating well but still feel like your body is struggling with food, this episode may help you locate yourself on the map.
I’m currently accepting new clients inside Minerals & Microbes.
Next episode: functional fibers, seasonal foods and how to feed your microbiome through the fall.
Support the show
If you are interested in becoming a client and have questions, reach out by emailing me: lydiajoyme@gmail.com
Find me on Instagram : @ Lydiajoy.me
