Book Review: Eat Dirt

Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It by Josh Axe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eat Dirt helps you to determine if you have a leaky gut, possible risk factors, and how to mitigate and restore optimal health. Natural prescriptions, good microbes, the eat dirt program, and recipes for the home and your gut are presented. There are four parts: Why we’re suffering; Five factors of gut health; Heal for your gut type, and Recipes. A lot of information and recommendations are presented; however, it is not all or nothing. You may want to start with your gut symptoms and how to address this or look at the home-care product recipes. I recommend this book if you have gut issues and want to explore the spectrum of changes you could try, from diet protocols and all-natural personal and home-care products to Chinese Medicine and alternative therapies.

Basics of healing the gut
1. Remove grains, milk, sugar, hydrogenated oils, GMO foods, toxic chemicals
2. Reseed by walking barefoot outside, shopping farmer’s markets, eating raw honey, gardening, swimming in the ocean and lakes, eating fermented foods and mushrooms
3. Restore with organic food, bone broth, raw dairy, fermented vegetables, fermented beverages, coconut products, wild-caught salmon, sprouted seeds, high-fiber foods
4. Release through massage, movement, chamomile tea, read, essential oils, magnesium, music, forest bathing
5. Reseal by ingesting probiotics, digestive enzymes, L-glutamine, licorice root, collagen, frankincense (pp. 161 – 176)

You don’t have to commit to all the recommendations in the book to see improvements in your gut. You can customize based on your symptoms and what you feel comfortable trying. The gut action plans are thorough with what to eliminate, therapeutic foods, supplements, lifestyle tips, a daily routine sample, and a list of nourishing foods. One of the best chapters is Recipes for Home and Body, which includes concoctions for shampoo, deodorant, crepes, bison burgers, vegan apple-fennel soup, blueberry pudding, and much more.

One major disadvantage of this book: If you take the gut quiz and don't identify with one of the five gut types, then you will not be able to optimize the advice offered.

View all my reviews