Gut Healing Without Extremes: Ancestral Nutrition and Simple, Whole Foods | Heather Woodruff (Episode 326)

Modern nutrition advice often makes gut health feel complicated and discouraging. In this conversation, Heather shares a simple, ancestral approach to digestion that brings the focus back to whole foods, sustainable kitchen rhythms, and listening to the body’s cues. We talk through why the environment we cook in matters, how modern food processing has disrupted digestion, and why adding nourishing, traditionally prepared foods can be more effective than cutting everything out. This episode offers a realistic perspective on healing the gut in a way that supports the whole family and fits your real life!

In this episode, we cover:

• Heather’s approach to healing chronic digestive issues through ancestral eating and kitchen-centered rhythms
• Why the kitchen environment (lighting, clutter, etc.) plays a role in digestion more than we realize
• Shifting our mindset from cutting foods out to intentionally adding nourishing, traditional foods back in
• A simple ancestral filter for choosing foods without getting overwhelmed by competing nutrition noise
• Gentle first steps for gut healing using soups, cooked foods, and simple meals
• The most common gut symptoms women experience and how digestion affects hormones and nutrients
• Why bloating happens, including microbiome imbalance and poor food breakdown
• Thoughts on gluten pauses, sourdough, and traditionally prepared grains
• When restrictive protocols like GAPS or carnivore may be useful and when they’re not necessary
• Why animal-based protein is often easier to digest than plant-based sources, especially during gut healing
• Observing food rhythms that support digestion while honoring different seasons of life– postpartum, pregnancy, breastfeeding
• The difference between meat stock and bone broth and when each is most supportive

About Heather

Heather Woodruff is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner and Certified GAPS™ Practitioner, a Kitchen Medicine Keeper who supports women in healing their digestion through the medicinal foods and ancestral wisdom of their great-grandmothers.

Heather’s work is rooted in slow living, ancestral nourishment, and the belief that digestive symptoms are not a sign the body is broken, but a form of communication inviting deeper care. As women heal their digestion, that healing naturally ripples into their homes, families, and communities.

When she’s not teaching or cooking, Heather can be found wandering farmer’s markets, talking to her garden, planning women’s circles, or moving gently through life with her brilliant husband and spunky daughter by her side.

Resources Mentioned

Check out Heather’s Workshop: Meat Stock & Soup Making for Deep Digestive Healing

Sign up for Heather’s free guide: 5 Morning Rituals for Gut Health & Healing

Master the rhythm of sourdough with confidence in my Simple Sourdough course

Gain the sewing knowledge and skills every homemaker needs in my Simple Sewing series

Keep all my favorite sourdough recipes at your fingertips in my Daily Sourdough cookbook

Connect

Heather Woodruff | Website | Instagram | Facebook

Lisa Bass of Farmhouse on Boone | Blog | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Pinterest

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