Philip Watkins here and I’m here to answer all your questions about Naturopathy and Good Mood Flat Tummy.
But first a story…about a birthday present.
I used to think head lamps were for nerds or people serious about camping.
Not for people like me, just trying to find their tent at a festival in the middle of nowhere.
I used to make fun of my best friend whenever we went camping. Despite getting lost most nights, in my mind, my trusty torch was enough. I’d find camp just fine (in the end) and look way less like a mountaineer in the process.
Then it all changed one birthday.
I unwrapped my gift to find a brand-new headlamp and the batteries ready to go.
After the laughter and parody ended, it took thirty seconds for me to realise what I had been missing. I could see everywhere! The light was so much brighter than my torch. I could see so much more.
Some would say the difference was night and day 😂
And this is precisely the same way Good Mood, Flat Tummy was born.
Fast forward from my festival days to one of the final days of a natural medicine conference focusing on the gut in Sydney, Australia.
The whole room was quiet as a charismatic Dr Alessio Fasano, commonly called the godfather of celiac research, revealed how he and his team identified how gluten caused the gut lining to weaken.
You would think this was memorable enough (I mean look at my face in our photo below).
However, it was the first slide of that presentation which embedded in my mind that day.
“What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.”
Dr Fasano was referring to the digestive system and modern medicine’s speciality-focused treatment of chronic diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome.
At the time of the conference, you would see a gastroenterologist for a digestive problem, a psychiatrist for a mental health problem and a cardiologist for your heart.
To be fair, it makes sense.
What happens when the specialities can’t explain why some people get better, and others don’t?
Maybe what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.
Maybe we’ve been looking at conditions like IBS and depression with a torch when a headlamp would work better.
Science is beginning to agree – shining a brighter light on digestive and mental health conditions and how the systems interact helps us get back to camp quicker, with less chance of getting lost.
So much so we have a new way of classifying common illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), for example, as a disorder of the gut-brain interaction (DGBI).
Within the content here on Good Mood, Flat Tummy and in my clinical practice, I take this a step further.
Disorders of the gut-brain interaction can also include mental health conditions such as depression and poor sleep. The interaction between the gut and the brain isn’t a one-way street.
This new way of looking at things is nothing new for the patients I’ve been seeing over the last fifteen years.
They experience the connection between the brain and the gut every day.
I’ve heard numerous accounts of people getting brain fog at the same time as feeling bloated or seeing their toilet trips increase at the same rate as their anxiety.
And so, maybe the name makes a little more sense?
Good Mood, Flat Tummy bridges your gut and mental health in a way that offers a more innovative and effective way of feeling better.
Intrigued about this and think the solution you’re looking for involves a brighter light?
You can work with me directly, either in-person in Hong Kong or online globally. Find out more about this by clicking work with Philip tab above this article.
Not ready to schedule an appointment just yet?
Then, discover more about how the gut and brain influence each other with my free e-book about probiotics and mental health conditions.
Lots of love, Philip Watkins, Bsc.Naturopathy
