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In this episode, you'll learn:

• GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic slow gut motility and suppress appetite, which can affect digestion, nutrient absorption, hormones, and metabolism.
• Without enough protein, strength training, and gut support, many people lose muscle and regain weight when they stop the medication.
• Medication can be a helpful bridge, but lasting results come from addressing the root causes of weight gain and gut dysfunction.

Description:

Thinking about Ozempic, Wegovy, or another GLP-1 medication for weight loss, or already taking one? If you live with IBS, bloating, or chronic gut symptoms, there's a lot your doctor may not have told you about how these drugs affect your digestive system.

In this episode, functional nutrition practitioner Courtney Cowie, NTP, FDN-P, NBC-HWC, is joined by Maria Horstmann, FDNP for an honest, balanced conversation about GLP-1 drug overuse. They cover the side effects of appetite suppression, slowed stomach emptying and gut motility, and why under-eating can disrupt your thyroid and hormones. They also explain why rebound weight gain is so common when people try to come off the medication.

You'll also learn why fiber can be tricky for people with IBS and dysbiosis, and why protein and muscle mass matter so much during weight loss. Courtney and Maria share how to use the medication as a companion rather than letting it take control, including tracking body composition with a smart scale and monitoring your bowel movements. They also explain why DIY approaches so often stall and how working with a practitioner can help you address the root cause instead of chasing symptoms.

Whether you're for, against, or undecided about GLP-1s, this episode will help you make an informed choice that protects your gut health for the long term.

To get access to my free training, What Nobody is Telling Men and Women About Hormone Balance, click here:

https://www.hormonebalance.courtneycowie.com/registration-page

Connect with Maria Horstmann:

• Instagram: @maria_horstmann_official

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to tell the difference between a normal "die-off" reaction and a sign that something in your protocol is actually wrong
• Why feeling worse before feeling better is common — but shouldn't last longer than 14 days
• How to build a support toolkit so you don't quit right before you'd start seeing results

If you've started an elimination diet, a new supplement, or a gut healing protocol and suddenly feel worse instead of better, you're not imagining it — and you're not necessarily doing something wrong. In this episode, Courtney breaks down the Herxheimer response (commonly called "die-off"): what's actually happening in your microbiome when you change your diet or introduce antimicrobial herbs, and why it can look like a full-blown flare, brain fog, fatigue, or even flu-like symptoms.

Courtney shares her own experience going through an extended die-off period during one of her personal elimination diets, and explains the general 3-to-14-day timeline most people can expect to move through before symptoms start improving. She also walks through the questions she asks clients when symptoms aren't improving past that window — including a real client case where persistent IBS symptoms turned out to be caused by a prescription medication, not diet or infection at all.

This episode also covers when die-off symptoms might be pointing to something deeper, like toxic mold exposure, tick-borne illness, or heavy metal burden, and why nervous system dysregulation and unmanaged stress can stall out even a well-designed gut protocol. Courtney closes with practical guidance for building your own "die-off toolkit" — including how to time a gut protocol around your life and how to build an emotional support plan before symptoms hit, so you're prepared instead of blindsided.

Topics covered: Herxheimer reaction, die-off symptoms, IBS flare, IBD symptoms, elimination diet side effects, gut protocol, antimicrobial herbs, GI Map testing, toxic mold exposure, heavy metal toxicity, nervous system regulation, gut healing timeline

Timestamped Chapters

00:00 — What is die-off / the Herxheimer response?
04:30 — Why changing your diet shifts your microbiome so fast
07:15 — What die-off symptoms actually look like (GI and non-GI)
10:45 — The typical 3-14 day die-off timeline
13:30 — Courtney's personal 4-week die-off experience
17:00 — When to suspect it's not die-off — it's something else
19:45 — Case study: the client whose "IBS" was actually medication-induced
23:30 — Questions Courtney asks clients when symptoms aren't improving
27:15 — When die-off points to deeper issues: mold, Lyme, heavy metals
31:00 — The role of nervous system dysregulation in stalled healing
34:00 — How to time your gut protocol around your life
36:30 — Building your die-off emotional support toolkit

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why ultra-restricted diets like carnivore can backfire long-term for IBS and IBD by shrinking your microbiome diversity
• Why low FODMAP alone rarely resolves chronic gut symptoms — and what it's missing
• How to know if your "healthy" restrictive diet is actually creating new food sensitivities

If you've been diagnosed with IBS, IBD, or chronic gut symptoms and you've tried cutting out food after food hoping for relief, this episode is for you. Courtney breaks down the double-edged sword of food restriction — why it can bring fast symptom relief in the short term, and why staying there long-term often makes food sensitivities worse, not better.

Courtney walks through her own process for evaluating a new client's diet, including how she uses food journaling to identify individual food triggers rather than applying a one-size-fits-all protocol. She explains why common IBS/IBD trigger foods like wheat, dairy, and certain grains show up across so many cases, but why bio-individuality still determines how much variety any one person can eventually tolerate.

A major focus of this episode is the carnivore diet and other extreme elimination approaches. Courtney shares her personal experience healing her own gut symptoms on a highly restricted, roughly 10-food diet — and why she ultimately moved away from that approach. She unpacks the physical risks of long-term ultra-restriction, including carbohydrate depletion's effect on the brain and thyroid, reduced microbiome diversity, and an increased risk of developing new food sensitivities from eating the same repetitive foods over and over.

Courtney also addresses why low FODMAP, one of the most commonly recommended diets for IBS, is often not enough on its own to fully resolve symptoms. She explains that low FODMAP only addresses one category of fermentable carbohydrates, while true symptom relief usually requires a more individualized elimination approach combined with root cause testing — such as a functional stool test — to identify the specific stressors, imbalances, and food sensitivities driving each person's symptoms.

Finally, Courtney discusses the often-overlooked role of the nervous system and subconscious brain in food tolerance and hypersensitization, and why working on that layer — alongside diet — tends to produce faster, more lasting results than nutrition changes alone.

Topics covered: IBS-D, IBD, carnivore diet, low FODMAP mistakes, food sensitivities, leaky gut, microbiome diversity, elimination diets, gut-brain connection, root cause testing, functional stool testing, food triggers, autoimmune gut health

Timestamped Chapters

00:00 — Intro: the double-edged sword of food restriction
02:15 — How Courtney builds a food journal protocol with new clients
05:40 — Common food triggers vs. individual bio-individuality
08:30 — Why carnivore and all-plant-based diets both carry risk for IBS/IBD
12:00 — Courtney's personal experience healing on a 10-food diet
16:45 — The psychological cost of ultra-restriction
20:10 — Why low FODMAP alone usually isn't enough
24:00 — What ultra-restriction does to your microbiome diversity
28:30 — How repetitive eating can create new food sensitivities
32:15 — The standard American diet's hidden restriction problem
35:50 — The nervous system's role in food tolerance and hypersensitization
39:20 — Why root cause testing comes before (or alongside) elimination

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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If you've been told that salads, smoothies, and raw vegetables are the "healthy" choice, but your IBS or IBD symptoms seem to get worse after eating them, this episode explains why. I'm breaking down the concept of "cold damage" from classical Chinese medicine and how it connects directly to weakened digestive function, slow motility, and chronic GI symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, and constipation.

This isn't about ditching vegetables forever — it's about understanding why raw and cold foods can overwhelm an already-weakened digestive system, and what to do instead if you're someone who's tried "eating healthy" and still isn't getting relief.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What "cold damage" means in Chinese medicine and why it matters for IBS and IBD
• Why raw vegetables, salads, fruit, and ice water can worsen symptoms in someone with weak digestion
• What "weakened digestive fire" means and how to recognize it in your own body
• Why cooked, warm foods can be easier to digest and absorb than raw ones
• How stress and blood flow patterns contribute to poor digestive function
• A simple one-to-two week experiment to test if cold and raw foods are aggravating your symptoms
• Why chronic bloating, diarrhea, and constipation are signs of "loss of function," not just bad luck

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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If you're living with an autoimmune condition — whether that's IBD, Hashimoto's, Graves', MS, or another diagnosis — and you feel like your body and your life are spiraling out of control, this episode is for you. Dr. Amy Behimer, PharmD and board-certified health coach living with four autoimmune diagnoses herself, joins me to break down the mindset side of autoimmune healing that most practitioners never talk about.

We cover why your thoughts about your diagnosis directly shape your symptoms, how to shift from "managing disease" to "creating health," and why tiny, believable changes outperform massive overhauls every time. If you've tried every diet, every supplement, and every doctor and still feel stuck, this conversation will help you understand the missing piece.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why feeling hopeless after trying everything isn't a sign you're "unfixable" — it's a sign your inner habits haven't caught up to your outer ones
• The difference between managing autoimmune disease and creating autoimmune health
• How your thoughts about your diagnosis directly influence inflammation and symptom flares
• Why "trust in the tiny" works better than drastic diet or lifestyle overhauls
• How to know if fear (not evidence) is driving your health decisions
• The real reason so many people quit a new protocol before it has a chance to work
• What it actually looks like to rebuild identity after a chronic diagnosis

Keywords/topics for search optimization: autoimmune disease mindset, autoimmune healing, IBD flare ups, managing autoimmune symptoms naturally, autoimmune and anxiety, gut brain connection autoimmune, chronic illness mindset shift, habit change for chronic illness, feeling hopeless with autoimmune disease, autoimmune identity change, Dr. Amy Behimer

Guest: Dr. Amy Behimer, PharmD, board-certified health coach, host of Autoimmune Health Secrets podcast

www.amybehimercoaching.com

https://www.instagram.com/amybehimercoaching/

https://podfollow.com/autoimmune-health-secrets

www.amybehimercoaching.com/quiz

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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If you have IBS-D, IBD, or chronic gut issues and you're exhausted all the time — needing naps to get through the day, relying on caffeine to function, waking up tired no matter how much you sleep — your fatigue isn't a separate problem. It's coming from your gut. In this episode, I break down the six root causes of chronic fatigue in IBS and IBD, why eating a healthy diet isn't enough when your digestive system is compromised, and where to look for answers when "everything looks normal" on your labs.

During my own IBS-D struggle, the fatigue was so profound I sometimes had to lie down midday just to function. Here's what I've learned — personally and in my functional nutrition practice — about why this happens and how to get your energy back.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why a healthy diet can't fix your energy when digestion is broken: the "high-quality gas in a broken engine" problem
• Root cause #1 — Impaired digestion: how low stomach acid, weak enzyme production, and poor bile quality drain your energy (and how a GI Map stool test reveals it)
• Root cause #2 — Malabsorption and leaky gut: why nutrients are "going right through you" and how small intestine damage activates the immune system
• Root cause #3 — Chronic inflammation: the hidden energy thief connecting your gut to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blood sugar issues, and autoimmune conditions
• Root cause #4 — Blood sugar instability: why energy crashes after meals trace back to gut dysfunction
• Root cause #5 — The chronic stress response and stored trauma: how living with unpredictable gut symptoms keeps your nervous system locked in survival mode — and why that consumes enormous energy
• Root cause #6 — Toxic burden and poor detox capacity: mycotoxins, chemical toxins, microplastics, and the Total Tox Burden test
• Why hidden gut infections silently drain energy in the background — and how specialized testing uncovers what conventional GI workups miss

If you're exhausted, brain-fogged, and feel like food is "going right through you" — and your doctor says everything looks fine — there's a root cause your labs haven't found yet.

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.

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If you've taken a food sensitivity test for IBS, IBD, or chronic bloating and followed the avoidance list perfectly — but your symptoms didn't improve — this episode explains why. And if you're in the opposite camp, convinced food has nothing to do with your gut symptoms because "sometimes I eat it and I'm fine," I'm going to challenge that thinking too.

As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner trained to run food sensitivity testing, I rarely use it in my practice — and in this episode I share my own failed experience with food sensitivity testing during my IBS-D journey, why IgG antibody tests only capture one piece of the puzzle, and the approach that actually moves the needle for chronic digestive symptoms.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why food sensitivity test results often don't lead to symptom relief — and what that means about your gut
• The gut-immune connection: how leaky gut (mucosal barrier breakdown) drives food reactions, and why 70–80% of your immune system lives in your gut
• The hidden reasons food triggers bloating, gas, and diarrhea that no IgG test can detect: microbiome imbalances, low stomach acid, weak enzyme production, and FODMAP malabsorption
• "Sometimes wheat bothers me, sometimes it doesn't" — why food sensitivities are so hard to detect on your own, and how IgG antibodies (which live 90–100 days) mask the signal
• How long you actually need to eliminate a food before you can trust your body's feedback (hint: it's longer than you think)
• The food sensitivity testing "merry-go-round": why direct-to-consumer tests keep giving you new foods to avoid without ever clearing the old ones
• Signs your symptoms outside the gut — fatigue after meals, brain fog, joint pain, skin issues, anxiety, depression — may be delayed food reactions
• The truth about sourdough and ancient wheat: why "gut-friendly" wheat may still trigger your immune system through protein cross-reactivity
• Why therapeutic elimination diets remain the gold standard over food sensitivity testing — and how to use both strategically

If you've been stuck on the food sensitivity testing merry-go-round — or you've written off diet entirely because elimination "didn't work" — there's likely a root cause driving your symptoms that no food list can fix.

Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing

Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call

Link to my website

Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.