Allie X writes about the importance of gut health

I am passionate about gut health. Yes, most don’t know this about me. True, it's becoming a trendy subject but it's never really felt relevant to my brand, haha. However, since this is an opportunity for me to write about whatever I want, gut health it is!

Did you know that there is a strong connection between the gut and the brain? Millions of nerves and neutrons run from one to the other. For this reason, scientists have started referring to the gut as the second brain (proper technical term being the enteric nervous system [ENS]). So when you “go with your gut” to make a decision, that’s a real thing bro!

Anyway – why do I know so much about this? I’ll tell you. Because my gut went to shit (literally!) when I was a kid. It caused me years of debilitating sickness and made my whole life go out of control. This is the time in my life that my new record Cape God is based around.

The good news is, through a lot of research, trial and error and dedication, I've figured out a lot of useful stuff about gut health including its connection to my addictive behaviours, my depression and how by starting at healing your gut your whole body can heal in return.

Sorry this is probably boring to some of you that came here expecting me to talk about LGBTQ+ matters (of which I care deeply about, obviously) or music business shadiness (of which I despise). But my hope is that in my randomly writing this, someone who needs this information will read it.

It’s hard to sum up a 20-year health journey. But I’ll try. Here are the things I did that helped me save my guts!

1. Stopped taking the very powerful prescription drugs that were making me even sicker (immunosuppressants, steroids, TNF blockers). Sometimes these are the answer for people but not for me. I also tend to believe drugs like this are only treating symptoms.

2. Changed my diet. Like completely. It took me years to find the right diet for me, and everyone is unique in this way. But basically following the 'Body Ecology Diet' by Donna Gates was the gateway to me feeling much better most of the time. It’s all about the gut as the body’s ecosystem. She eliminates gluten, sugar (SO IMPORTANT), most dairy, anything refined. She educates you on food combination, eating fermented foods, and timing of food. This diet made me fall in love with food and to regard it as a friend, not an enemy. It’s a beautiful way to eat and was basically the OG manual that led to all the other popular diets now: Keto, Paleo, Clean Eating etc....

3. Last summer I started taking LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone). Very few people know about this, even in Los Angeles. Naltrexone is an anti opioid that when taken in small doses can safely modulate the immune system. Thus it is being used for treatment of autoimmune disorders. It has very few side effects. I get intense dreams from it and that’s about it. This needs to be prescribed and can be made at a compounding pharmacy.

4. This is slightly off topic but also worth mentioning. Thyroid health can be very tied into gut health. If you are having a thyroid issue, even if your doctor says you are fine, you may not be. I recommend reading/listening to Elle Russ and learning about how many people go untreated for serious thyroid conditions. Getting your thyroid fixed can be a big game changer as well.

Hopefully this was helpful to somebody somewhere. When I was in school and got sick I was the only one among my friends (that I knew of) with any sort of serious health issues. But now that I’m older, so many people I know are struggling. It’s very important to take care of your body for your entire life. And another thing – I strongly believe that the body wants to be healthy! If you are going through a hard time with any sort of health issue, disease, etc. I think there are answers. Keep searching. Don't give up and though you should listen to your doctors (there are good ones, haha) remember that they don't have all the answers. Gut health, in my opinion, is the key to a happy brain, an optimal weight, energy levels, digestion, bright eyes, proper detoxification – you name it! Be good to yourself guys! Ok, back to regular programming.