Welcome to the Peak

Revival Podcast.

My name is Vesna and today

I'm going to talk about

mind over food and how

your thoughts influence

your physical symptoms.

Have you noticed that at

times, and maybe if you're

in this place right now,

where you become very

focused about what you're

eating, maybe you're very

strict about what you're

eating, maybe it's not

just your diet, maybe it's

your exercise routine, and

even though you're being

very strict and watching

everything you do, you

still don't look or feel

the way that you want,

maybe you still have gut

symptoms or symptoms

or tiredness, and it's

very frustrating for you

because you're doing

all the right things.

I remember years ago

in my journey, I could

see the link between my

thoughts about what I

was eating and how my

body processed that food.

And there is a scientific

link in our body

which I want to talk about.

The reason why this is so

important is because one

of the things that I see

for many women is that

They've tried so hard

with their diet to manage

how they're feeling and

manage their symptoms

so they feel better.

But it becomes so hyper

focused that it actually

creates a lot of stress

and can exacerbate or

create their symptoms.

So we have the

gut brain axis.

It's the link between

the gut and the brain.

And so, we have our

thoughts and our feelings

can influence our gut.

So you would notice when

you get nervous, you

get a nervous tummy,

um, you get butterflies.

You have that gut feeling.

So that's all about

how your thoughts are

influencing your gut.

And we can do that

the other way around,

where food influences

So, if you're thinking

negatively about food,

or you're hyper focused,

and there's a lot of

stress around food,

okay, it's not a relaxed

eating environment, okay,

then you're creating

a lot of stress in the

system, particularly for

the gut, which is the

Home of food digestion.

And so you have to

imagine that when our

stress response is

activated there, we're

not in the best place

to actually digest food.

So our thoughts are just

as powerful as food.

food really is medicine.

And when you see how

much diet can change your

energy, your mental well

being, um, your weight,

and the way that you feel,

and your confidence, and

it really You know, it's

a no brainer, right?

Food is medicine and

makes a huge impact.

But our thoughts work

on the same level.

Our thoughts are just as

influential to our physical

body and obviously our

mental well being, but to

our physical body as much

as what you're eating.

There was a study done

here in Melbourne, I

believe, and they found

that when low stress

women ate junk food, the

health impact across all

markers was a fraction

of that of anxious women.

So what that means is that,

in a very generalisation,

that if you're very anxious

and stressed, you're

going to have more impact

from junk food, compared

to if you're relaxed.

And that kind of makes

sense, that if you're

more relaxed around

food, your body's going

to be more relaxed,

and therefore digestion

will be easier and it

impacts other systems.

So, that research is

really telling because

it really points to

that what our mental

state is at influences

a particular food.

And two people will have

a different reaction

based on their levels

of stress or based on

their levels of anxiety.

So I really want to

kind of bring this home

by sharing a recent

client's story which I

think is really powerful.

So she's been a client

of mine for a while

but she's had a history

For many, many years of

chronic gut symptoms, which

were quite debilitating,

liver problems, fatty

liver, liver damage, lots

of food intolerances.

Now, working with her,

we did a lot of the

healing work for the

gut and the liver and

different systems, and

that looked like doing

a food sensitivity test

and avoiding those foods.

She did extensive gut

repair, liver support.

We supported her nervous

system as well, because

she was quite a high

stress person as well.

And, she was a

lot better, right?

Her symptoms disappeared

when each time she

went to the doctor.

to the doctor to get

another blood test.

Her pathology was better

and better and better

and better, right?

she had a significant

difference to her pathology

reports and most of the

imbalances had corrected.

About a month after that,

her symptoms had returned

kind of intermittently,

not as much, not as bad

as they were, but they

were, they were slowly

coming back and she was

like, I don't understand.

I'm doing

everything the same.

I'm doing everything

perfectly.

I couldn't be doing

anything more perfect

than what I'm doing.

And as we were chatting,

I could really hear that

there was anxiety around

her food plan, okay?

And I asked her, I

said like, do you

ever deviate off plan?

Like how strict are you?

She's like, oh no.

I am so hyper focused.

I am so strict.

I won't go out with friends

at all, because I won't be

able to eat what I can eat.

When I go to family

dinners, I'll often bring

something that I can eat.

Like, there was so,

so much restriction

to her life based on

this food plan, okay?

And I hadn't realized that

she was being so hyper

vigilant with her food.

You know, we had a chat

and I said, look, this

isn't about food anymore.

Okay.

You've done the

healing work.

You've corrected everything

in your pathology.

This is not about

the food anymore.

This is your anxiety or

your hyper vigilance around

the food plant and the food

and deviating off plan.

So as soon as she would.

I'm not sure I've ever

heard of a woman who

would ever have a hint

of something, her gut

symptoms were so severe.

Okay, so she would

almost relapse because

of the fear of relapsing.

And I know that sounds

really strange, but I've

seen it enough in my work

to know that when I hear

a woman speaking about how

she's eating and how her

day goes with food, I can

hear the hypervigilance.

When she's speaking,

and that is having a

direct impact on the gut,

which is leading to more

intolerances, more gut

symptoms, but then just has

this whole systemic effect.

So after we had that chat

and I said to her, look,

you've got to trust the

process, you've done the

healing work, everything's

good there, okay?

Now you really need to

change your relationship

to the food, and you

need to change your

thinking, and you need to

start telling yourself.

It is okay for

me to eat that.

It is safe for

me to eat that.

My body is healed

and I can eat those

foods occasionally.

That is totally fine.

Okay.

And we really went into

a deep chat about it.

So she got off that

call and she was really

comfortable and she

was like, yes, I can

see how I'm creating so

much anxiety and hyper

focus and how much that

is really affecting me.

I said to her,

look, just check in

with me in a month.

Let me know where you're

at, how you're feeling.

And she did, she dropped

me an email and she said,

honestly, I have not

had any more symptoms.

I have been introducing

different foods, which

I haven't been able to

eat for a very long time

and I was totally fine.

She goes, I can 100

percent see how much my

mind was influencing the

food that I was eating

in terms of what it was

doing inside her body.

Now, the reason why I

share this, because I

do think it's really

important because a lot of

people, you know, You get

frustrated because you're

doing all the right things

and you're not getting the

results But I want you to

look at and let me know

in the comments below.

Can you relate to this?

Have you seen yourself

become so strict with

what you eat, you know?

Maybe criticized or

judges of so much for

going off plan or maybe

you find You go off plan

for one meal or one food

and some of your

symptoms return.

Like, have you noticed this

level of hypervigilance and

can you see how much it's

influencing your physical

symptoms, your tolerance

of food and, you know,

your physical well being?

Let me know in the

comments below.