Your Guide to a Two-Week Gut Health Reset: Part 1

Your Guide to a Two-Week Gut Health Reset: Part 1

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Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Bala Reset: Part 1

Modern lifestyles filled with ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, and sedentary habits negatively impact gut health, but a gut reset can help restore balance. Bala’s gut reset is a structured, science-backed approach that temporarily eliminates food-based irritants, allowing the microbiome to heal and improve overall health, energy, and focus. The program consists of four phases: Begin (assessment and personalized plan), Activate (goal setting and preparation), Learn (implementing dietary changes), and Adjust (post-reset reintroduction and long-term strategy). Research shows gut health can improve in as little as three days, with benefits extending to digestion, immunity, mood, and energy levels. After the initial 14-day reset, members systematically reintroduce foods, identifying those that support or hinder their health while having a repeatable system to maintain well-being.

This is a first-in-a-series post detailing the ins and outs of Bala’s gut health reset. 


It’s easy to feel not great these days. While we understand more than ever about our gut microbiome and its impact on our full-body health, the daily conveniences of modern living can often thwart even our best efforts to feel good. 

Ultra-processed food, environments rich in toxins, and careers demanding hours sitting in front of screens can all wreak havoc on our gut microbiome and health. While we enjoy lives of ease, convenience, and self-directed actualization, our hardwiring and biochemical processes were not built to withstand the maximalist nature of our modern-day lives. 

Retreating to the mountains far away from it all isn’t an option for most of us. But there are ways we can take care of our gut health while still being part of the modern-day world. 

HOW? START BY DOING LESS. 

Many positive health outcomes, both physical and mental, can be achieved by doing less.

A gut reset lets you do less by taking a break from specific food-based irritants to let your gut microbiome heal, often leading to positive changes across your whole body. 

As you may know, upwards of 80% of poor health outcomes can be addressed through lifestyle and diet change. 

Which is to say, every molecule of food you eat either fuels your health or challenges it. When you take a break from foods that agitate your gut microbiome and instead fuel your gut with foods that nourish, you’re giving your gut and body a chance to rebalance. Through targeted subtraction, your gut has a moment to reset to its natural baseline, which often results in improved health, fitness, focus, and strength. 

GREAT, BUT WHAT DOES A GUT RESET ENTAIL? 

Bala’s gut resets will encourage you to limit or avoid ultra-processed foods, such as energy bars, frozen dinners, and candy. Based on your symptoms and health goals, we will also encourage you to avoid various fruits, vegetables, and dairy. These will be temporary adjustments. Importantly, they are science-backed recommendations that will help you better understand what you are eating and how it impacts your health. 

HOW IS THE RESET STRUCTURED? 

We break our Bala program into four phases: Begin, Activate, Learn, and Adjust. 

  • Begin phase: Share your symptoms and health goals and receive a personalized nutritional reset designed to unlock better health, energy, and focus. 
  • Activate phase: We’ll help you understand your Bala program, set goals, prepare your home and build your meal plan. 
  • Learn phase: This is when you start the reset. The process will teach you about your gut health and it will unlock insights you never knew about your body’s relationship to various foods. 
  • Adjust phase: Finish the 14-day reset and connect with a Bala coach to develop a sustainable diet and nutritional plan that reintroduces various foods. 

BUT WHAT'S THE SCIENCE BEHIND A GUT RESET? 

By changing your diet, you’re varying the composition of the molecules that power your body. A gut reset alters the unique chemistry and makeup of your gut microbiome, which impacts how your digestive, immune, nervous, respiratory and endocrine systems function. 

Almost 50% of dopamine (“the feel-good hormone”) and over 90% of serotonin (“the happy hormone”) are synthesized in your gut. Likewise, about 80% of your immune system resides in your gut. A well-functioning gut means these systems (and several others!) have the potential to work better and more efficiently. 

Thus, improving your gut health can positively impact your whole body. If you’re suffering from digestive problems, such as bloating or unpredictable bowels, poor skin problems, brain fog, and variable energy levels, resetting and healing your gut can help you feel, think, and perform better. 

Best yet, research shows that a simple change in your diet can transform your gut microbiome in as little as three days. Improving your health can really happen that quickly.  

But I don’t want to reset forever. Neither do we. 

After the initial 14 days of your gut health reset, you can begin eating many of the foods you temporarily removed. With your newly restored gut function, it will be clear which foods are your best source for fuel and which drag you down. Beyond that, you'll have a repeatable system to fall back on whenever you start feeling subpar again. 

If you've never done a reset before, they can feel intimidating or like a lot of work. In reality, it’s quite the opposite. We’ve designed this series of posts to reduce the intimidation factor of a reset and help you understand how achievable and impactful a reset can be. 

WHAT'S NEXT? 

In Part 2 of this blog post series, we dive in deep and extensively review each of the 4 phases in a reset: Begin, Activate, Learn, and Adjust.

Or Simply BALA.


SUMMARY

  • Modern lifestyles filled with processed foods, toxins, and sedentary habits can disrupt gut health, but a gut reset helps restore balance.
  • Bala’s gut reset is a structured, science-backed program that temporarily removes food irritants, allowing the gut microbiome to heal and improve energy, focus, and overall health.
  • The reset follows four phases:
    • Begin – Assess symptoms and receive a personalized nutrition plan.
    • Activate – Set goals, prepare the home, and create a meal plan.
    • Learn – Implement dietary changes and track progress.
    • Adjust – Reintroduce foods and develop a long-term health strategy.
  • Gut health can improve in as little as three days, leading to better digestion, immunity, mood, and energy levels.
  • After 14 days, participants systematically reintroduce foods, identifying which fuel their health and which hinder it, while maintaining a repeatable system for long-term wellness.
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