Reset Your Gut
Somatic healing to beat bloating, relieve SIBO, and calm your gut-brain axis in 21 days.
Elena Vives is the author of this book and earns royalties on each copy sold, at no extra cost to you.
Flat at 7 a.m. Five months pregnant by 5 p.m. You ate a salad. Your doctor says it's "just stress." It's not in your head. It's in your nervous system.
If you've tried low-FODMAP, cut gluten and dairy, spent a fortune on probiotics and finished round after round of antibiotics for SIBO, only to have the bloating come right back, this book explains why. Food isn't the enemy. When you eat in fight-or-flight mode, your body shuts digestion down: stomach acid drops, enzymes stall, and your gut's night cleaning crew stops showing up. Your food doesn't digest. It ferments.
From the author of Unlock Your Nervous System, Reset Your Gut takes the somatic route to digestive health. It's grounded in Polyvagal Theory and gut-brain science, and written in warm, plain language.
You're not fat, and you're not broken. You're stuck in war mode, and your belly has been trying to protect you.
Does any of this sound familiar?
This book was written for you if…
What you'll learn
- How to switch on your vagus nerve before every meal with a 60-second first-bite ritual
- How to massage your ileocecal valve, the "drain button" that helps keep SIBO from coming back
- How to bring back your Migrating Motor Complex by spacing meals the right way (and why "healthy snacking" keeps you bloated)
- How to free your diaphragm to ease reflux and that stuck, breathless feeling after eating
- Why you wake up at 3 a.m., and how to support your liver instead of counting sheep
- How to spot hidden histamine overload, and how to fast in a way that works for female hormones
- How to read your body's signals, from the Bristol Stool Chart to the emotional map of your gut
- A 21-day Vagus-Gut Protocol plus a somatic cookbook of warm, gentle recipes
How the book is organized
The digestive blackout of fight-or-flight, the night cleaning crew (SIBO and the Migrating Motor Complex), what your stool is telling you, why your gut has feelings, and the liver and the 3 a.m. mystery.
The drain button (your ileocecal valve), the ceiling of your digestion (your diaphragm), the first-bite ritual, and yoga for the vagus nerve.
The histamine trap, foods that calm vs. foods that stress, the intermittent fasting myth for stressed-out women, the hormonal roller coaster, a natural medicine cabinet, and the emotional map of your gut.
Week 1, the Somatic Reset. Week 2, Strategic Seeding. Week 3, Returning to Resilience. Plus an introduction to vagal cooking with warm, gentle recipes. No 1,200-calorie diets and no food fear.
The science behind the method
The gut-brain axis. Your gut has its own nervous system, the enteric nervous system, with hundreds of millions of neurons. It talks to your brain constantly through the vagus nerve, hormones and immune signals, and most vagal fibers carry information from the gut up to the brain, not the other way around.
The Migrating Motor Complex and SIBO. Between meals, waves of contraction sweep the small intestine clean. When they slow down, bacteria can build up where they shouldn't. That's why SIBO often comes back after antibiotics if motility isn't restored: in one study, about 44% of patients relapsed within nine months (Lauritano et al., 2008).
Stress and digestion. Chronic stress reduces stomach acid and digestive secretions, slows motility and changes the gut microbiome. Working on your nervous system is not an extra: it's the condition that lets every other gut intervention work.
Who this book is NOT for
- It's not a weight-loss diet. The goal is to restore digestion and calm inflammation. If your weight changes, it's a side effect, not the aim.
- It doesn't replace medical care. If you have confirmed SIBO, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or another GI diagnosis, the book complements your treatment; it doesn't replace it.
- It's not a list of forbidden foods. The approach is to add variety and somatic tools, not to cut out whole food groups.
- It takes consistency. Most readers notice less bloating in the first week, but deeper gut repair takes several weeks of regular practice.
What readers of the original edition say
The Spanish edition, Resetea tu Intestino, is rated 4.7 out of 5 stars by readers on Amazon Spain. A few of their reviews, translated from Spanish:
"Finally, a book that shows me, in a way that makes sense, what each symptom and each bout of bloating means, and explains how to reverse a situation I had already accepted as 'just how it is': intolerances, SIBO, bloating, guilt..."
"FASCINATING. It's the first time I've read a book where every page is pure gold. I've learned and understood so many things I was doing that, it turns out, were hurting me. 100% recommended."
"Super complete. I've been buying books on this topic for a while, and I think after this one I don't need any more. Congratulations to the author."
Frequently asked questions
Is this book for me if I have SIBO?
Yes. It explains the link between the vagus nerve and SIBO and gives you somatic tools to support your Migrating Motor Complex, the gut's self-cleaning wave that is often stalled in people with SIBO. If you're being treated by a doctor, use it alongside that treatment, not instead of it.
Do I have to follow a strict diet?
No. The book works on your nervous system first, so your gut can do its job again. It is not a restrictive diet book: it gives you warm, gentle recipes and guidance on adding variety back, not a long list of forbidden foods.
How long is the protocol?
The core protocol lasts 21 days, in three phases: Reset, Seed and Resilience. Daily practices are short, and many readers notice less bloating within the first week.
Does it help with IBS?
IBS is closely tied to how the nervous system and the gut talk to each other, including visceral hypersensitivity. The somatic tools in the book work on that gut-brain loop. It doesn't replace a diagnosis or care from your doctor or GI specialist.
Can I use it while taking antibiotics for SIBO?
Yes, and it's especially useful then. Antibiotics reduce the overgrowth but don't restore the motility that keeps bacteria from coming back. Supporting your nervous system and your Migrating Motor Complex is the piece that helps prevent relapse. Always follow your doctor's instructions.
What if I don't have SIBO but I'm bloated all the time?
The book is just as useful. A stressed nervous system causes bloating without SIBO too, by slowing motility, increasing gut sensitivity and leaving food to ferment. The protocol works on any bloating with a nervous system component.
Is this a translation?
Yes. It's the English edition of Resetea tu Intestino, originally published in Spanish and adapted for US readers (US units, foods and resources). It's the second book in the series after Unlock Your Nervous System.
Start your 21-day reset
Your gut isn't broken. It's waiting for your nervous system to give it permission to work.
Get Reset Your Gut →
Unlock Your Nervous System
The foundation of the series: 28 days of somatic exercises to calm anxiety and activate your vagus nerve.
Keep reading: the complete gut health guide · SIBO symptoms and causes · why you bloat in the afternoon · Book 3: Rescue Your Hormones
¿Prefieres leerlo en español? Resetea tu Intestino