Food for healthy guts

24/11/2025

If your gut feels like it’s gone on strike the minute life gets busy… you’re not imagining it.
Your digestion literally switches off when you’re stressed.

When your brain thinks you’re under pressure, it diverts blood away from the gut and straight to your arms and legs.
Great if you need to run from a lion, not so great if you’re trying to digest lunch.

Cue: bloating, trapped wind, constipation, loud gurgling, urgency, the works.

This week, I’m talking all about the stress–gut connection to help you get ahead of the Christmas chaos.. The body thinks you need fuel for a battle.

So if your cholesterol test is higher right now… breathe. It’s winter, stressy, dark, rushed, and vitamin D is low. You’re normal, not broken.

This week I’m talking all about the stress–gut connection to help you get ahead of the Christmas chaos.
You deserve a calmer tummy, ❤️

Jackie x

23/11/2025

All month I have been talking about cholesterol and healthy fats?
Why ?
www.food4healthyguts.com/blogs/cholesterol-busting-the-myths
Because there is a lot of misinformation out their scaring the pants off us !

Pop your questions in the comments

or book a free discovery call to chat more
https://l.bttr.to/SGT1k
Jackie

Confused by your cholesterol results? Learn what the numbers mean, why cholesterol isn’t the villain, and simple steps to lower your heart-health risk.

16/11/2025

Ive launched my new group programme!

CLICK ON THE LINK FOR LOADS OF FREE INFO

subscribepage.io/Jc8T9v

Freedom from Urgent Diarrhoea.' How to eat, live and travel without fear?

Its a 6 step programme

Step 1: Identify Your Hidden Triggers

Step 2: Eliminate What’s Hurting You

Step 3: Calm the Gut–Stress Loop

Step 4: Rebuild Your Confidence with Food

Step 5: Eat Freely on Holidays and Special Occasions

Step 6: Stay in Control for Life

Id love to chat click on the link for a free copy of

How to detox your kitchen
AND
Common food triggers and symptoms

Enjoy

Jackie xx

Urgent diarrhoea harming your confidence? My 3-month, 6-step plan finds your triggers and gives you control so you can show up with confidence again.

15/11/2025

Ekkkk this is me in April this year. My poor tummy!! I was not impressed

The photo on the right is me after the 21 tri-fasting programme that Debbie and I ran

In the photo on the right - from the 1st sept - 31 October I have lost 1 stone

Fasting isn’t hard, it’s like anything you need to train the body.
Debbie Best and I are running the programme again from the 14th Jan.
If you would like to learn how to fast safely be supported, and yes have some fun join us.

When you re feed the elation can last for days!!

Here is the link for more info

subscribepage.io/Tri-fasting

I’ll add it to the comments as well
So you can just click
Jackie ###

14/11/2025

Who Should We Listen To?

Four names that keep popping up in the cholesterol debate — and for good reason:
Zoe Harcombe, Malcolm Kendrick, Aseem Malhotra, and Georgia Ede.

They’re not “anti-medicine.” They’re pro-context.
They challenge the narrative that cholesterol alone causes heart disease.

Here’s what they remind us:

Zoe Harcombe — cholesterol is a sterol, essential for life; dietary cholesterol doesn’t equal high blood cholesterol.

Malcolm Kendrick — heart disease is about inflammation, clotting and endothelial damage, not a single blood marker.

Aseem Malhotra — ultra-processed food, sugar and stress are bigger villains than butter.

Georgia Ede — biology matters: insulin, mitochondria, and brain metabolism are what really drive risk.

They may ruffle feathers, but they bring balance.
Because right now, we treat cholesterol like a crime, not a symptom.

As a nutritional therapist, I see this every week:
People terrified of a 5.4 total cholesterol while living on stress, poor sleep and low protein.

Reality check:
Cholesterol is a building block, not a bomb.
The real danger is oxidised lipids, chronic inflammation and blood-sugar chaos.

So, before you panic about your cholesterol, ask:

“Is my body inflamed, oxidised or under stress?”
That’s where real prevention starts.

Who do you listen to? the media ? Father Christmas might know more ?

Jackie ###x

13/11/2025

Statins, Studies, and the Science We Don’t See ( Did Freddie stop you scrolling?)😁😁

There are thousands of studies on cholesterol — but how many tell the whole story?

Most major statin trials are industry-funded, and the raw data is rarely shared publicly.
That doesn’t mean statins don’t work — but it does mean we see the polished version, not the full picture.

For high-risk patients (people who’ve already had a heart attack), statins can absolutely save lives.
But for healthy women over 50 with slightly raised cholesterol, the absolute benefit is tiny — and the side effects are often ignored.

Muscle pain, fatigue, memory fog, low mood — these aren’t rare anecdotes.
They’re biological consequences of blocking a liver enzyme that also makes CoQ10, vital for energy.

Expert insight:
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a UK cardiologist, argues:

“We need to shift from lowering LDL at all costs to improving metabolic health.”

And he’s right.
You can’t medicate your way out of a lifestyle that’s driving the problem — sugar, seed oils, stress, lack of sleep, poor gut health.

If you’ve been offered statins, ask:
✅ What’s my 10-year cardiovascular risk?
✅ What are my triglycerides and HDL?
✅ Can I try lifestyle first?

12/11/2025

The Great Cholesterol Shift — From 1970s Normal to Modern Panic

In the 1970s, we were told to fear fat.
Butter became margarine, eggs were out, and low-fat yoghurts were in.
Did heart disease vanish? Not a chance.

Back then, a total cholesterol of 6.2 mmol/L was considered normal.
Today, the NHS and British Heart Foundation say it should be below 5 mmol/L, with LDL under 3 mmol/L.
The numbers shifted — but not because of new human biology.

Heart-disease deaths fell mostly because of less smoking, better emergency care and improved blood-pressure control — not because we all switched to “low-fat” everything.

Meanwhile, the low-fat revolution pushed us toward high-carb, high-sugar diets, which raise insulin and cause the very inflammation that oxidises cholesterol.

Expert insight:
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con, says:

“We have mistaken association for causation. Cholesterol may be there at the crime scene — but that doesn’t make it the killer.”

So rather than fighting cholesterol, maybe it’s time to fight oxidation, insulin resistance and processed junk.

Ask yourself: what changed more — our diets, or our definitions of “normal”?

11/11/2025

The Real Problem Isn’t Cholesterol — It’s Oxidation

Your cholesterol didn’t attack you. It was trying to help.

When the lining of your arteries gets irritated by high blood sugar, stress, toxins or smoking, your body sends LDL cholesterol to patch up the damage.
That’s its job. It’s like sending a builder to fix a cracked wall.

The problem starts when those LDL particles get oxidised — meaning they’ve been damaged by oxygen and free radicals.
It’s like rusting from the inside out.

Once oxidised, the immune system treats LDL like an invader, triggering more inflammation, more damage and — eventually — plaque buildup.

So the real question isn’t, “Do you have cholesterol?”
It’s, “Why is your body oxidising it?”

Science made simple:

Free radicals come from sugar, processed seed oils, smoking and stress.

Antioxidants (vitamin C, E, polyphenols, omega-3s) protect against oxidation.

Healthy fats — like olive oil, butter, avocados, nuts and oily fish — are far more stable than the ultra-processed “vegetable oils” we were told to use instead.

Expert insight:
Dr Georgia Ede explains:

“Starches and sugars drive up insulin, which in turn increases the liver’s cholesterol production. It’s biology.”

Instead of obsessing over your total cholesterol, look at your HDL, triglycerides, HbA1c and inflammation markers.
They tell the real story.

Jackie xx

10/11/2025

Cholesterol — The Villain That Wasn’t

For decades, cholesterol’s been treated like the enemy.
We’ve feared butter, eggs, and cheese — all because of one number on a blood test.

Here’s what we forget: cholesterol isn’t fat. It’s a sterol — a special type of lipid with a unique ring structure that forms the backbone of your hormones and cell membranes.
Without sterols, there’s literally no life.

Cholesterol is the main sterol in humans, and your liver makes most of it. Only about 20% comes from food.
So the idea that an omelette can “ruin” your cholesterol is laughable.

It’s there for good reason:

It keeps your cell membranes strong and flexible.

It’s the raw material for oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol and vitamin D.

It’s used to make bile acids, which digest fat and detoxify waste.

Your brain is 60% fat, and cholesterol is crucial for nerve signalling and mood.

Back in the 1970s, a total cholesterol of 6.2 mmol/L (240 mg/dL) was seen as perfectly normal.
Today, anything over 5 mmol/L earns you a raised eyebrow and a statin leaflet.
Our biology hasn’t changed — the goalposts have.

Heart disease is driven by inflammation, oxidation, insulin resistance and stress — not by a molecule your body carefully crafts to keep you alive.

Expert insight:
Dr Zoe Harcombe says it best:

“If you had no cholesterol in your body, you’d be dead. No cells, no hormones, no s*x, no life.”

So maybe it’s time to stop fearing cholesterol — and start asking what’s really behind the inflammation.

Jackie xx

07/11/2025

Here’s a fun fact:
💡 Your brain is about 60 % fat by dry weight — it’s literally made of fat!

When you take out the water, what’s left is the good stuff:
🧈 Cholesterol – keeps cell membranes strong
🐟 DHA (an omega-3) – helps memory and focus
🥑 Phospholipids – build the structure of your brain

Old research (O’Brien & Sampson 1965) found this decades ago, and experts like Dr Georgia Ede still remind us how vital healthy fats are for brain function — and how too many vegetable oils can throw that balance off.

I carry a SNP that increases my risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, so this is personal.
I make sure I feed my brain every day: olive oil, butter, oily fish, and a top-quality omega-3 with sea-buckthorn (omega-7).

So if your brain is 60 % fat… maybe it’s time to stop fearing it!
What healthy fat will you add to your plate today? 👇

Jackie 😁

06/11/2025

Here’s one easy thing you can do today for your brain and your gut 👇
➡️ Add a healthy fat to one meal.

Your brain is roughly 60 % fat, so it literally runs on the right kinds of oils.

As Dr Georgia Ede explains in her article “The Brain Needs Animal Fat” (Psychology Today):

“The human brain is made of fat and runs on fat — without the right kinds, it cannot function properly.”

She talks about how omega-3 fats (like DHA) support memory and signalling — and how too many vegetable oils (omega-6) can block that process.

Because I carry a SNP that increases my risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, I don’t take chances.
Olive oil on everything, butter on my veg, oily fish weekly — and a premium omega-3 with sea-buckthorn (omega-7) for brain, gut and skin.

What will you add today? Maybe a drizzle of olive oil or a few chia seeds? 🧠💚

Jackie😁😁