Whether you want natural energy boosts, better focus, or fewer mid-afternoon crashes, I know I’m not the only one thinking about how to improve my health and wellness this new year, along with all of my other goals.
For me personally, doctors laughed me out of their office because I was so healthy. I eat well, workout regularly, and get enough sleep. I’ve even crossed the finish line of an Ironman triathlon and summited Mt Kilimanjaro! And then there was a season where everything changed. All of the sudden, it was harder to function as a high performer – even though I was still doing everything “right”.
That was until I met Allison Jordan.
She is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, founder of Better Belly Therapies, and host of a top 1% global podcast – the Better Belly Podcast. Over the last 6 years, she’s helped 600+ clients across the globe find and address the root causes of their whole body health issues when nothing else has worked. Her Better Belly Blueprint reduces symptoms like bloating, brain fog, fatigue, hormone imbalance, and so much more by 80% in 3-6 months on average. From gut health to mental clarity, you can heal naturally with the right tools and knowledge.
Statistics show that the most common new year’s resolutions concern health and finance (according to Forbes), I figured this was the perfect time to bring Allison on the show. With her method, you no longer have to run a business through the fatigue and physical ailments that steal our vitality – and honestly, take up a lot of our mental capacity worrying about it too. You can finally feel your best again. (This was my #1 resolution for 2024, and I achieved it through Allison’s Better Belly Blueprint program. (Learn more about here!) You’ll get healthier and more energized, so that you can run your business with more ease like the visionary leader you are.
Gut Health Is A Critical Factor For High Performance
Our health directly fuels our performance in business—whether it’s copywriting, marketing, or leading clients to success. Gut health plays a surprising yet critical role in cognitive functions like focus and creativity. Allison Jordan from Better Belly Therapies explains this connection in a way that’s both eye-opening and practical.
When the gut is functioning optimally, the body and mind follow suit. It leads to greater focus, enhanced mood, and sustained energy—all of which are essential for high performance in business.
The gut and brain are deeply connected. If your gut isn’t functioning well, it can lead to brain fog, anxiety, poor focus, or even that dreaded afternoon slump. You don’t even need gut symptoms to have these issues—it all ties back to the gut’s role in processing nutrients, producing neurotransmitters, and regulating your body’s energy.
Seemingly minor symptoms can signal bigger issues.
For instance, low digestive enzymes or certain pathogens in the gut can disrupt your ability to think clearly or stay energized. Her program focuses on testing and addressing the root cause, saving time and money by eliminating the guesswork with supplements.
The takeaway? Stop normalizing feeling “off.” If you’re doing everything “right” but still struggling, it’s worth exploring what’s happening beneath the surface. When your gut is healthy, everything else—from energy levels to productivity—gets a massive upgrade.
Focus and Energy Supplements: Which Ones Do I Need?
Since the gut is connected to the brain, it is one of the major ways that we intake everything in the world. So if there’s something that’s going to mess up our bodies, it’s the it’s going to come through the gut. You might have no symptoms in the gut, (for example, brain fog or anxiety or poor sleep or fatigue or an afternoon slump).
Let’s talk about the need for coffee to power through the afternoon slump. That’s normalized in our society, but it’s actually a cry of your body saying something’s wrong. It could be low digestive enzymes that help break down your food into usable components. When your stomach acid or pancreatic enzymes are low, then you can’t break down protein to build your neurotransmitters to be able to think and maintain focus and memory. Learn more on the Better Belly Podcast: Five causes of anxiety that are in your gut (not your mind) and Anxiety, depression, or ADHD? One reason to check your gut.
The bottom line is that you cannot just go find a digestive enzyme supplement and that’ll fix you.
That is not how it works. You have to know the root cause. Another thing that can cause anxiety is pathogens. That’s any type of bacteria, virus, parasite, whatever that is in your body that shouldn’t be there taking advantage of you. They can interrupt the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine, which can cause weight gain, fatigue, poor focus, and ADHD.
For example, Allison had a grad student who was killing it in school. She was applying to to jobs because she’s about to graduate and had tons of anxiety. She had been working with a counselor, but they could not breakthrough. When Allison tested her, they found the pathogen, removed it, and then she stops having anxiety. She stops having painful periods, and she has her life back. She can finish her grad school, she can finish doing her her job applications, and was really able to move forward.
So it’s not just about taking any supplement, you need to do the testing first to see what the true underlying problem is. For me, I needed the lab test to show me what I didn’t want to believe. Testing is the only way you can be sure that you are spending your money on the right supplement that is actually going to solve your problem and support your health. Allison provides all of this testing in the Better Belly Blueprint, which you can learn more about here.
Your Gut Health Is Affecting Your Sleep Too
Doctors often overlook key factors contributing to disrupted sleep and overall well-being, leading many to feel confused or disbelieving when presented with alternative explanations. One significant example is liver function. Even when the liver isn’t diseased, it may not function optimally, and conventional tests or medical approaches often fail to detect this.
When the liver struggles to detoxify efficiently, it becomes active during the night, typically between 2–4 a.m., potentially waking you up during this window. In some cases, this can also cause night sweats, as the liver pushes blood through itself, raising body temperature. Women frequently mistake these symptoms for perimenopause or menopause, but they can resolve after completing a liver detox protocol that removes toxins burdening the liver.
Why You Still Sleep Poorly Even With Good Sleep Hygiene
Similarly, gut health plays a vital role in sleep quality. While much focus is placed on external sleep hygiene—like avoiding blue light, wearing blue light glasses, and dimming lights—these only account for 20% of melatonin production. The other 80% of this sleep hormone is made in the gut. Therefore, poor gut health can undermine even the best external routines. Entrepreneurs, for example, often dedicate significant effort to morning and nighttime rituals, only to see minimal results because the underlying issues, such as gut imbalances, remain unaddressed.
This realization often comes as a wake-up call: if you’re doing all the “right” things like eating healthily, exercising, and maintaining a solid sleep routine but still feel unwell, something deeper is likely at play. This tough-love moment underscores the need to approach health differently to achieve meaningful results. Instead of focusing solely on surface-level actions, addressing root causes—such as liver function and gut health—can yield far greater improvements with less effort.
For those who feel like maintaining their health is an uphill battle with little payoff, this shift in perspective is liberating. Optimizing the gut and liver, rather than fixating on external strategies, allows the body to function more efficiently, reducing the need for constant effort. This holistic approach not only improves sleep but also supports overall health and well-being, making it a game-changer for those seeking sustainable solutions.
Our physical well-being influences our ability to perform effectively in business.
There is a clear link between wellbeing and the amount of work you can do (Source: Financial Times).
The gut and brain are almost entirely connected, working as a team to regulate your body and mind. The gut is one of the main ways we absorb everything from the world around us—good or bad. If something’s off in your body, it could start in your gut, even if you don’t have gut symptoms.
The connection between gut health and cognitive functions like focus and creativity
Brain fog, anxiety, poor sleep, fatigue, or that “afternoon slump” might seem normal, but they’re often your body’s way of crying for help. The gut affects everything from energy levels to neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which help you focus and feel good. For example, low digestive enzymes can make it hard for your body to break down food into nutrients your brain needs to thrive. Pathogens in the gut can also disrupt focus and memory, mimicking ADHD symptoms.
Allison has helped people uncover hidden issues—like a grad student whose anxiety disappeared after treating a gut infection. It’s wild how much your gut can influence your mental clarity, sleep, and overall energy. And it’s not just about working harder at health. Sometimes, you need to dig deeper to uncover what’s really going on. Your body knows when something’s wrong—it’s time to start listening.
Three Actionable Steps For A Natural Energy Boost
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Stop Taking Supplements Blindly
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Blindly taking supplements might feel proactive, but it often leads to wasted money and no real progress. People hear, “Take magnesium, zinc, or this new trendy supplement!” and assume it’ll work for them. The truth? Without understanding what your body actually needs, you’re just guessing.
That’s why Allison’s approach stands out. Her program starts with lab testing to uncover the root causes of your symptoms—like brain fog, fatigue, and so many others—so you can stop throwing money at supplements that might not help. This data-driven method ensures you’re addressing the real issues instead of relying on trial and error. Just like in marketing and copywriting: the better data you have, the better decisions you can make.
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Get Clear On What Exactly Is Causing The Problem
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To address ongoing health issues effectively, the first step is identifying the root cause of the problem with precision. Many symptoms like forgetfulness, body aches, or sluggishness are often dismissed as “normal” due to aging, busy schedules, or “mom brain.” However, they can indicate deeper issues such as systemic inflammation or other imbalances. For instance, body aches might result from inflammation originating in the gut, which then impacts the bloodstream, rather than needing a simple solution like massage or physical therapy.
In business, similar principles apply. Acting without understanding the core problem—such as tweaking a strategy without knowing whether the issue lies with leads or conversions—leads to wasted time and energy. Identifying the exact problem provides clarity, enabling better decisions and outcomes with less effort. However, this approach requires patience and the willingness to gather the necessary data before taking action.
For health issues, functional lab testing provides the needed clarity, surpassing the limitations of standard blood work. While blood tests identify symptoms like high cholesterol or low iron, they often fail to reveal underlying causes.
Functional lab tests, like the GI-MAP stool test or the DUTCH test, are more targeted. They examine gut health, hormone levels, neurotransmitters, and more, offering actionable insights. For example, low iron might not result from dietary intake but rather from low stomach acid or the presence of pathogens like H. pylori, which disrupt absorption.
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Take Functional Lab Tests To Understand The Root Cause
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Direct-to-consumer lab tests, such as Viome and Tiny Health, often have appealing marketing but deliver subpar results, making functional lab tests a better investment. Tests like the Organic Acids Test analyze neurotransmitters and pathogens, while Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) detects heavy metal toxicity and mineral deficiencies that can cause symptoms like brain fog or memory issues. Food sensitivity testing can uncover hidden triggers for cortisol spikes, which might lead to anxiety or energy crashes often misattributed to external stressors.
At Better Belly Therapies, these functional lab tests form the foundation of the Better Belly Blueprint program. This approach ensures that clients identify and address the specific causes of their symptoms rather than relying on generalized or ineffective solutions.
For those interested in learning more about functional lab tests and their role in resolving health issues, a free training on the “Five Toxin Trap” is available here. This training explores how toxins contribute to symptoms and autoimmune disorders, helping individuals take the first step toward improved health by uncovering and addressing the root causes of their concerns.
This is NOT the lab testing that your doctor runs
Doctors can tell you what is wrong (for example, your calcium is low or your cholesterol is high) but that doesn’t tell you why. You can hear more about this on episode 66 of the Better Belly Podcast: 6 Reasons Your Doctor Is Reading Your Blood Labs Wrong And How To Fix Them.
The good news is that YOU can read your blood work better than your doctor. But there’s so many reasons why blood work is not specific enough. You have to have functional lab tests like GI mapping, organic acids testing, and food sensitivity tests reveal what’s happening beneath the surface. Whether it’s a gut imbalance, toxins, or hidden deficiencies, these insights guide the most effective steps to heal.
Knowing your body’s specific needs helps you make changes that actually stick. Whether you think you’re healthy or know you’re struggling, understanding what’s really going on gives you control over your health—and ultimately, your energy and focus to succeed in business and life.
Set Realistic Health Goals As An Entrepreneur
It’s tempting to hit January and decide, “I’m going to change everything!” But big, sweeping changes are hard to sustain. Here are two things you can do instead:
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- Reverse-engineer it. Start by visualizing your end result.
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- Think in micro steps. Start with small, actionable steps that move you toward your goal.
What’s one tiny thing you can do today to move closer? Small, consistent steps build momentum and make big goals achievable.
How Do I Check My Gut Health?
Finally, feel better in your body—for good! No lifelong extreme diets and supplements necessary. See how Allison’s Gut Healer System can eliminate the fatigue, brain fog, and afternoon slump by clicking here.
Ready to see results in your health like I did? Join me in the Better Belly Blueprint for only $297!
*Note: Some of these are affiliate links. As you heard in the episode, I truly believe in Allison’s program as I have seen so much healing in my own life as a result of going through her Better Belly Blueprint. I’m confident you will, too!
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