Listening to the Body: Gut Health, Ancestral Wisdom, and Healing with Michelle Heberling

2026-02-10

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What happens when you’ve done everything right… and your body still breaks?In this episode, Michelle shares the turning point that changed her life from growing up on a farm with real food and homegrown meals, to city living and processed convenience, to eventually landing in San Francisco at the start of the modern food movement. But the real shift came when her health collapsed.After 10 years of severe bleeding and anemia, repeated ER visits and procedures, injuries, infections, and a season of depression that left her fee...

What happens when you’ve done everything right… and your body still breaks?

In this episode, Michelle shares the turning point that changed her life from growing up on a farm with real food and homegrown meals, to city living and processed convenience, to eventually landing in San Francisco at the start of the modern food movement. But the real shift came when her health collapsed.

After 10 years of severe bleeding and anemia, repeated ER visits and procedures, injuries, infections, and a season of depression that left her feeling stuck, Michelle finally hit a breaking point with the medical merry-go-round. That’s when she began rebuilding her health from the ground up starting with fermented foods, the microbiome, and the ancestral practices we’ve largely forgotten.

Michelle explains:

Why fermented foods can support gut health, mood, and resilience
How “sterilized” modern food systems affect our bodies (and why diversity matters)
What she learned hosting off-grid events where people reset—physically and emotionally
How she created her two-week “Gutsy Reset” framework (7 simple steps added to your current diet)
Why monitoring digestion (yes… poop) is real data your body is giving you
The wisdom she inherited from her grandfather: Who did you help? What did you create? What did you learn?

This conversation is part wellness, part legacy, part truth-telling: get back to basics, stop outsourcing your health, and start listening to your body again.

Michelles Links & Resources

Visit The Guts of Fermentation and download the free Gutsy Two-Week Reset.

Website: https://thegutsoffermentation.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheGutsofFermentation
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegutsoffermentatio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heberling/

If this conversation stirred something in you, join the Inner Circle a private space for listeners and guests to stay connected and continue the reflection beyond the show

www.willijahdawson.com/innercircle

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