For Nadia Elms, stress and digestion had always gone hand in hand. When life sped up, her stomach slowed down. “Every stressful period showed up in my gut,” she says. “Bloating, cramps, feeling off—I could tell when I needed to hit reset.”
She’d tried elimination diets, fiber supplements, even fasting—but nothing stuck. What finally helped her find balance was shifting her focus from restriction to restoration. Instead of removing things, she started adding foods that supported her gut.
The change began on a chaotic Monday. Overwhelmed and underslept, she forced herself to prep a simple bowl of miso soup with soft tofu and steamed greens instead of grabbing takeout. “That was the first meal that didn’t fight back,” she remembers.
From there, she started incorporating gut-calming ingredients into her everyday meals—ginger, fermented foods, leafy vegetables, and prebiotic-rich grains like oats and barley. Cooking became her therapy, even on the busiest days. A slow-simmered lentil stew or a bowl of warm quinoa with sautéed kale helped her feel grounded again.
“I stopped aiming for ‘perfect digestion’ and just aimed for peace,” Nadia says.
And it worked. Within two weeks, her bloating eased, her mood lifted, and she began sleeping better. Her meals weren’t flashy, but they were deeply nourishing—exactly what her body had been asking for.
Now, during stressful seasons, Nadia doesn’t fall apart. She leans into her gut-healing habits and trusts the process.
“It’s not about fixing yourself overnight,” she says. “It’s about feeding yourself like you matter.”
