>> we're all concerned about our health, and we should be. what would you say if i told you i had a secret, a simple, easy way for you to get healthy and to release untapped internal energy? well, these people followed my advice. severe chronic fatigue, hand inflammation, high cholesterol, severe eczema, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. these five people really have the same core problem. and today you'll find out how they restored themselves to perfect health, and so can you. [upbeat instrumental music] ♪

[applause] welcome. i'm brenda watson. i have over 20 years' experience as a natural health care practitioner, and i came to this through personal health challenges. never expected digestion to be my profession of choice. but here i am today, talking to you about digestion. most people have a difficult time making the association between what's going on in their gut and health problems around their body. what i do for them is help them connect the dots and find workable solutions to bring them back to better health.

and today i am going to reveal to you the tools you need to navigate the road to perfect health. after 20 years in the field of health and nutrition, i've helped so many people get their health back. and i want you to get the same benefits. and i want you to get the relief that you deserve. so let's get started. the road to perfect health starts right here, right in your gut. your digestive system. the benefits to a healthy gut: energy, younger joints, and a better immune system. what happens here happens everywhere around your body. now, you know conditions like gas and bloating and heartburn and indigestion, these we all relate to the gut.

they're obvious digestive issues. but what about things like muscle and joint pain, fatigue, skin problems, cardiovascular issues, weight gain? you may never connect these to the digestive system. but they're stemming from right here. do you know why i know that? because i've seen it in so many people over the years, and i've helped so many people restore their health, and because my own story is so much like so many of you right now. i woke up recently, and i had hand pain and inflammation. and i went to the doctor, and he says, "aw, you just got a little bit of arthritis.

you're getting older." i was like, "really?" whew. well, i'm gonna go back to what i know. i'm going ck to my gut, and i'm gonna find out what's going on. that's exactly what i did. and i took a test, and i looked inside my digestive system, and i found that i had inflammation to food that i was eating called gluten, and that was creating an out-of-balance digestive tract for me. and what i did was, i got my gut back into balance. and over a little period of time, guess what. my hand inflammation and pain resolved itself. my hand pain and inflammation, something a doctor says, "oh, you're just gonna have to live with," was totally resolved by correcting my

digestive system. so i balanced my gut and i healed my body. how does the digestive system have so much impact on your health? how is it even possible? you may not like it, but i have one word for you: bacteria. [laughter] your gut has so much influence on your health because of trillions of bacteria. you have about 10 trillion cells in your entire body, and in your digestive tract you have 100 trillion bacteria cells. that's ten times as many bacteria cells in your gut than in your whole body.

there are about 500 to 1,000 different species, or we call them strains. the two most common are lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium. and i want to show you something. do you know the bacteria in your gut is the weight of this brick? and most of it is found in the lower intestines and the colon. just in case you're curious, dead bacteria makes up 60% to 80% of your bowel movement every day. i know you wanted to know that. [laughter] and you women may have wondered what you're husband's full of sometimes, right? [laughter] there are three types of bacteria. there's the friendly and the beneficial kind.

there's the neutral. and then there's the harmful the major amount of this bacteria in your body needs to be the friendly and the beneficial bacteria, because this bacteria is your very own gut protection system, your gps, the main driver of a healthy immune system. have you ever heard that 80% of your immune system is found in the gut? that means the gut is your body's primary defense system. the trillions of bacteria are your army. and this army is what i called your gps, or your gut protection system.

and it's the secret to good health. let's look at how this process works. i'll give you an example. let's take a virus. if a virus enters your intestinal tract, your friendly bacteria will fight off that virus on three different levels. on level one, while the virus is still in your intestinal tract, they surround it and neutralize it. on level two, the good bacteria form a barrier along your intestinal lining and prevent the virus from passing through the intestinal lining into your bloodstream. and on level three, if the virus passes through level one and two, the friendly bacteria actually communicate to one another, and they communicate

to your body to produce substances that would neutralize the virus before it would cause you damage. now, most of you are familiar with the gps, right? and if it's not working properly, you could be lost and seriously off course and without guidance. well, like the gps in your car, when your internal gps is not working, the same thing happens. your health gets lost. you get sick. and without direction, you could get in a bad place in your life. and there's a reason for that. let me go back to the word "bacteria," because in this country, it's very intimidating, because we've been trying to

scrub it off and scrub everything and get rid of it. and some still associate all bacteria as bad. i'm not talking about the bad. i'm talking about the good. i'm talking about probiotics. did you know the name "probiotic" means "for life"? and the word "antibiotic" means "against life." and i know what you think when you hear the word "probiotic." you immediately think of yogurt. is yogurt helpful? yes. but it's not strong enough to restore the balance in your gut. there are much more effective ways to get the amount and the kinds of probiotics that you need, and i'm going to show you that today.

by the way, yogurt can fool you. check the sugar amount on your yogurt container, because sometimes you can have an added 40 grams of sugar in yogurt. in fact, whenever you can reduce sugar in your diet, you will strengthen your gut and reduce illness. and also, don't buy yogurt with candy on top. that's not good either. i want to talk about my friend katie. katie is a personal trainer, and she looks good on the outside. she looks healthy. as a child, at two years old, katie had asthma, so she had a childhood of medications, antibiotics, and steroids. at 29 years old, katie developed a skin condition called rosacea. and at 39 years old, katie

developed chronic fatigue. and her chronic fatigue got progressively worse. and katie made a decision: "i'm going to find out what's wrong with me. i'm going to go to every doctor and have every test that i need to get well." and that's what she did. and at the end of going to the doctor, he looked at her and he said, "well, you have inflammation in your body, and we don't exactly know what it's coming from, so why don't you go home and rest?" well, that's not exactly what katie was looking for, so she came to me, and i said, "let's look inside your digestive system and see what's going on." after all, if you don't look on the inside, how do you know what's going on?

and that's what we did. we did a stool test, and this is what we found. katie's good bacteria was gone. she had lots of the negative pathogenic bacteria. she had an overgrowth of yeast and fungus. and in every single sample, she had microscopic parasites. now, you would have thought that with all of this going on in her gut, that she would have been having digestive complaints. katie's main complaint was fatigue. how could this happen to katie? her gut protection system malfunctioned. and because she wasn't aware,

she ignored it until she had a serious health crisis. and she had signs along the way, like having asthma as a child, rosacea, and then chronic fatigue. but she was not aware that these were related to her intestinal health. many of you are not aware. what's that old saying? you don't know what you don't know. and that's why i'm here today, to help make you aware of the connection of the health of your gut to the rest of your body. so you might be thinking, "how's katie doing today?" well, we took a test, and the latest results, after 90 days:

katie's good bacteria is up. no more of the negative, unfriendly bacteria, no more fungus and yeast, and no more parasites. and katie decided to go back to her doctor and have a test to see what her inflammation rate was. and the doctor said it's zero. what did katie do? she balanced her gut, and it healed her body. i know you hear a lot of promises. "you're gonna look and feel younger." but the real anti-aging secret is, for a healthy body, you must have a healthy gut. and for a healthy gut, arm your defenses with a proper balance of the friendly

bacteria. no matter what your condition, it's never too late or too early to begin. i want to tell a story about a ten-year-old girl named jenny i met. and i go into a cafe to get a salad, and i step up to the counter, and i look across, and i see jenny doing her homework. she has scabs all over her legs and scaly skin. and her mother's standing there, and i said, "have you ever thought about giving jenny a child's probiotic?" and the mother said, "yes, we've been doing that, but it doesn't seem to be helping." and i said, "well, why don't you try an adult-strength probiotic for a week or two and see what happens? it's not gonna hurt her." and that's what they did. and the next time i'm there, i walk up to the counter and i look over, and jenny sees me,

and she runs and she hugs me. and i look down at her legs, and the scabs are almost healed. do you know how that changed her life and what she was going through? whether you're 10 or 100, your health and life will benefit from probiotics. why does this imbalance happen? there's so many things in our lifestyle that destroy our balance of friendly bacteria in the digestive tract. we have exposure to chemicals, air pollution, household chemicals, our water, body care products. all of this interferes with the level of friendly bacteria in our digestive tract.

medications. even if you're not prescribed medications, you're exposed to them every day. where we live, they found antibiotics, antidepressants, and even antipsychotics in our water. just what i want in the morning, prozac in my coffee. [laughter] and many people eat so much processed foods, which i call dead food, and it's all missing any friendly good bacteria. and many people have a condition of low stomach acid from the overuse of antacids. but you know what? it's happening in all of us, all of us, at any age.

the new report from the president's cancer panel said that environmental toxins are related to cancer. imagine that. it's so bad that they're calling our newborns pre-polluted babies. the best thing for a pregnant woman would be to supplement with probiotics, because it will strengthen her immune system and the immune system of the baby. we are all going to experience wear and tear. and we're all gonna get off course, just like i did. but you can fix it, you can replace it, you can replenish it, and you can restore it, if you ignore your gut protection system, also called

your gut probiotic system, whether you're like me with arthritis, like katie with chronic fatigue, or like jenny with eczema, your health will eventually suffer. you know, i wish we had a personal belly-ometer, like the one in our car. you know, it comes on and starts flashing "check engine" light. if your "check engine" light were on, you would go get the car fixed right away, wouldn't you? don't wait until your body's "check engine" light starts flashing. when we come back, i'm going to give you the keys to running a clean, healthy gut protection system. [applause]

>> hi, i'm carolyn black-sotir. stay tuned for more of the road to perfect health with brenda watson, and in the next part of the show, brenda's going to take us through six factors that can destroy our health, and then she'll tell us how we can fight off each and every one of them, and we're very excited, because brenda is with us in the studio today, and we'll be talking to her in just a few minutes. problems with your digestive and immune systems can cause so many issues with your body: depression, insomnia, chronic fatigue, eczema, and even high cholesterol can be caused by digestive disorders. brenda watson has put the wisdom of her 20 years of experience into this new special for public television. if you appreciate informative, possibly life-changing shows like this new special, we hope that you'll take the time to call in now and make a financial contribution to this public television station. it's because of support from viewers like you that we are

able to produce these types of programs. this is brenda's fourth public television special, and we hope to bring you many more in the months and the years ahead. the number is on your screen, so please give us a call now, and when you support us at certain membership levels, we have some fantastic ways of saying thanks. here's more about them. >> the road to perfect health starts right here. >> male announcer: make a pledge of $70, and we will say thanks with the road to perfect health with brenda watson on dvd. it contains bonus footage that you're not seeing in this broadcast. or for a pledge of $90, we will send you the dvd of the program, and brenda's probiotics booklet that is exclusive to public television. support this station with a $195 contribution, and we will say thanks with the dvd of the program; the exclusive probiotics booklet; the road to perfect health hardcover book, which has more than 600 pages

on the latest information about how the health of your digestive system dictates the health of your entire body; two additional dvds called fiber 35 and detox strategy; and a 5-cd audio set. please call the number on your screen and support the wonderful life-improving programs on public television. >> we are so excited to have you here, and i watched the people in the audience while you were talking, and they're going "mm-hmm-hmm-hmm." and we're watching the program, and we're going like that, but everybody has something that you were addressing. i mean, we each felt that you were talking to us. it was wonderful. >> thank you. and i'm so happy to be here and share this information with pbs. i'm excited about this. >> and the other thing i thought was really neat about it is, this is a program-- it's for men and women and children and animals. >> and animals, yeah, exactly. it's for everyone, everyone we

love. >> absolutely. but you know what, it was not an easy program, because you give a lot of information, and it's wonderful to be able to watch thprogram, but you have done something that really will help us all get on the road to perfect health, and that is with a pledge of $195, we have the road to perfect health combo, and i want you to help me talk about this. >> okay. >> okay, first of all, we have e dvd of the program. >> the dvd of the program plus the extra bonus footage that's not shown on the program, plus an interview with three alternative medicine doctors and asking them questions about questions that you would like to have answered. >> absolutely. next we have a 48-page guide to probiotics. it's a wonderful booklet. what's in it? >> well, this is a guide on what you need probiotics for. like on the show, i mention, if you travel, if you go to a hospital. there's specific information in

here about probiotics that you need to know. plus there's a questionnaire that you can answer questions to see where you stand overall with probiotics. >> right, and it's a wonderful booklet, and i must say that on the program, i was feeling really good about myself, and i take a probiotic, and then i found a very good one, and now i've got to change. so i thank you for that, and i know that you will find information about that in the booklet. so let's see what else is here. we have this incredible book. it's brenda watson's brand-new road to perfect health hardcover book. i want to pick it up, because it is big and heavy and got a lot of stuff. >> it's 20 years--two long years of work, 655 pages, condition-specific reference book. it is unbelievable. it's four color, so it's back to colored pictures and graphs and how to get yourself healthy. >> it is incredible. we're gonna come back to it, because i've never seen anything

like it in my whole life. we also have two additional dvds. one of them is fiber 35, and that's about? >> weight loss. and many people have used the fiber 35 program and lost tons of weight. >> also it has the detox strategy in here, and what is that, brenda? >> that is how to detoxify your body, your home, your children, from all the environmental toxins that we're exposed to today. >> okay, now a lot of people love audio cds. you can listen to them in the car or while you're doing your housework orhatever you're doing. this is a 5-cd audio set, and it covers topics such as parasites and yeast, keeping your kids healthy, keeping your pets healthy, overcoming constipation, and something great--what supplements are best for you. >> right, and how to purchase supplements. here's the problem most people have, just like what i've talked about on this show. when you go into a store and you purchase a supplement,

you don't really know what you're purchasing, like a fish oil, for example. you don't know how much of the good stuff in there-- the epa/dha-- is really in that capsule. i walk you through step-by-step on how to recognize a label and what to purchase. >> oh, that is so incredible. >> i-i think all of it is really wonderful, but i have to tell you, i have never, ever seen anything like this book. it is amazing in every way, and we can talk about it for a long time, but let's just start with how it's laid out. >> well, it's laid out as a reference book, like i said. now, in the show i talked about, you know, we have problems. if you have a gut problem-- irritable bowel syndrome or constipation--you know that's a gut problem. but many of you, like i said in the show, don't realize that, you know, alzheimer's, autism, depression, mood disorders are related to the gut. how about acne, eczema, psoriasis, insomnia, menopause,

allergies, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia. this is a reference book, so in it, you are able to look up the condition, go see what it is, who gets it, what are the signs and symptoms of the condition, and then how to do the natural approach to getting better. >> so it is a reference book for anything that ails you. i mean, it really is amazing. it must have been--it must have taken you a huge amount of time to do this book. >> it took me, two doctors, and a research sci--researcher to get the book ready for you-- for you and pbs. >> i want to tell you, we're gonna be talking about this book. i don't see how any family can live without it, and i mean that. so please call us now at the number on your screen. ask the operator about putting your contribution on a charge card, and please remember, you're supporting the shows and the specials that you watch all year long on this, your public television station. i hope we hear from you right now.

>> welcome back to the road to perfect health with brenda watson. [applause] >> welcome back. in the last segment, we learned 80% of your immune system is in your gut. we also learned that you have approximately 100 trillion bacteria in your intestinal tract. ten times more bacteria in your gut than cells in your whole body. this friendly bacteria is one of the most important things to keeping you healthy. you heard me call this balance

of friendly bacteria your gps, or your gut protection system. your digestive system is that important to a well-run machine, which is you. did you know that even your teeth and gums will improve from a healthy gut? i also promised that i would give you the keys to running a clean, healthy gps, and i will. but first, listen to this, because there are six big factors that can damage your gut protection system that impact all of us and that make it difficult for our good bacteria to keep us healthy.

it is the heart of what happened to katie, jenny, and myself. and there's a good chance it's happening to you right now. there are six big factors that can destroy your health, so we want to discuss them. the first factor that destroys your gps is the overprescribing of antibiotics. and according to the cdc, almost 50% of all antibiotics prescribed are unnecessary and inappropriate. antibiotics kill both the unfriendly and the friendly bacteria. you might be thinking, "i'm

hardly ever on antibiotics." think again. if you eat meat, if you eat dairy, if you drink water, you're on antibiotics every day. antibiotic overuse can set you up for a lifetime of health issues, just like what happened to me. the reality is, they're overused. but the biggest factor is that they are changing our society by the dramatic increase in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. an example of this is c. difficile. and every day, almost 7,100 people are infected with

c. difficile bacteria. and 300 of these people die every day. i want to tell you about my friend roy. one day roy had a sharp pain in his right side, and he was rushed to the emergency room, and he had appendicitis. he had to have laparoscopic surgery, and then he went home. three days later, he's going back to the doctor because he has severe diarrhea and body weakness. well, they gave him more antibiotics, and he became worse. i just so happened to have a meeting with roy that week. and i said, "oh, you've got to take probiotics in a high dose every day to get better. you need to replace your good bacteria, and that will strengthen your immune system," and that's what roy did.

and in a couple of weeks, his problem was resolved. so what did roy do? roy balanced his gut and healed his body. when it comes to c. difficile, roy was one of the lucky ones. and here's something for you to remember. if you're in a hospital, if you're visiting a hospital, take probiotics. you're most vulnerable in a hospital. the second factor that can disrupt your internal gps is microorganisms, especially yeast. some may recognize the name candida. we all have it in our guts

in very small amounts, and that's fine. the problem is, it can quickly grow out of control. and do you know one of the main causes of candida growing quickly out of control in your gut? those antibiotics we just talked about. they will kill all the bacteria, but yeast will thrive and quickly grow out of control. candida will further destroy your friendly bacteria, your gut lining, and eventually your health. some of the major symptoms of candida overgrowth in your gut are bloating, brain fog, fatigue, constipation, and even mood disorders.

other organisms that thrive on a weakened intestinal gps are parasites. and these can be microscopic. remember katie? or they could be bigger, like a worm or a fluke that you could see. parasites will compromise your immune system. they rob you of your vital nutrients, and they destroy your friendly bacteria. there was a study performed by dr. omar amin, and he found that 1/3 of the american population had intestinal parasites. so that means, in this room, sitting on the right or the left of you, someone has parasites. but it's not you, right? [laughter]

and, you know, we never know when we're gonna be subjected to harmful pathogenic bacteria. and i can tell you, in this country, we do not have an awareness on this. and i'll give you a personal experience that happened to me. my friend and i were traveling in texas, and we had to change gates, and we got on the tram, and we're holding the pole. and the door opens. two gentlemen get in, and i overhear one say to the other, "i got this mersa thing." and i was like, "huh?" and i look over, and he's holding the pole with my friend. and so we get out of the tram, and we took a bath in whites right there. but here's the tip. if you travel, take probiotics, because these negative

pathogenic organisms could quickly take over a weakened immune system. and if my friend did not have a strong gut protection system, she may have been facing a serious health crisis. the third factor of the six is the long-term use of acid-suppressing medication. do you know that over 100 million americans turn off their acid secretion almost completely? and now they have found out that this is very dangerous long-term. it increases your chances of health problems, like osteoporosis, increase in pneumonia and bone fractures, and also increases your chances

of bacterial infections like h. pylori. well, here's the kicker with this one. 53% of these are reported to be unnecessary. so how many of you have been told that you have too much acid in your stomach? well, more than likely, it could be too little. stop for a second and take this in. the symptoms of too little stomach acid and too much stomach acid can be the same. reflux and heartburn are the common symptoms, but doctors assume automatically that you have too much. you need to be tested before

you take these medications long-term. we need stomach acid. it's the first line of defense against the bad pathogenic bacteria when it enters our body. it's our sterilization tank. if there's too little stomach acid, then you're susceptible to the unfriendly bacterial infections. we also need stomach acid to help control the intestinal ph. that means acidity or alkalinity. and you must have the proper ph for the friendly bacteria to thrive and the unfriendly bacteria to die. we also need stomach acid to digest our food. how important is that? especially protein. if you do not digest protein,

that is what sets you up to develop food sensitivities and food allergies. let's talk about food, because food is the fourth factor, and it can be your medicine, or food can be your toxin if it's not properly digested. and a good percentage of you do not digest your foods very well. and one of the most common reasons is low stomach acid. undigested food causes havoc to the gps. meat. undigested meat irritates the lining of your gut and creates inflammation. and one of the reasons for this is not enough stomach acid. that's where digestion begins

for meat. and let's take starches, for example. starches, if they do not digest, they will sit in your digestive system, and they will ferment, and this fermentation feeds the negative, unfriendly bacteria, and then you have a symptom. how many people can relate to the word "bloating"? [laughter] but all of this can lead to leaky gut, creating symptoms all around the body. and for some people, it could be skin problems. some people, headaches. some people, joint aches and pains. it is all just inflammation in your body. and next on our list of factors, environmental toxins. and we are all exposed to these

every single day. we are exposed to them daily from air pollution. indoor air sometimes is ten outdoor air.oxic than our from water. in our water we have chemicals, medications. some people still have bad piping and sometimes wells that thrive with unfriendly bacteria. and from food.ives, dyes, heavy metals, and chemicals. i was talking to a veterinarian the other day, and he said that our animals are two to three times more toxic than we are, because they're closer to the ground, right? you know what else is closer to the ground? our children. so you want to make sure, in your home, that you're using

nontoxic chemicals. you can go to a health foods store today and purchase cleaning supplies that are healthy and don't create toxicity in your home. the environmental chemicals that are in your body directly destroy the level of friendly bacteria, and that, in turn, destroys your immunity to disease. and the last thing to cover that can affect our gps is age. and we all do it, right? we can dress it up. we can smooth it out. we can slow it down.t we cannot. and the studies show that we naturally decline in the friendly bacteria, most notably bifidobacteria, with age. after the age of 50,

it's sort of downhill. and the bifidobacteria is the major friendly bacteria in your gut. it aids you in the digestion of your foods, it boosts your immune system, and it keeps the growth of the unfriendly bacteria down. you want to make sure that as you age you replenish your supply of the bifidobacteria in your probiotic supplement. it is the anti-aging secret. i just gave you six factors that impact everyone. and like the gps in your car, you unplugged the gps in your car, the power source would be gone and the screen would be blank and it would not function. if you do not feed your gps

with the good, the friendly bacteria, you're unplugging your power source to your health. when we come back, i'm going to give you the keys that will show you exactly what you need to do to protect yourself and your family. [applause] >> stay tuned for the conclusion of the road to perfect health with brenda watson, and in the next part of the show, brenda's gonna give us more helpful hints about how to protect our gps or what brenda likes to call our gut protection system. we're gonna be asking that you call in today to support this terrific show. it's an informative show, and it's brenda watson's special, and public television brings you programs like this throughout the year, so when you make

a financial contribution at certain levels, we really have some wonderful ways of saying thanks. the most popular one today has been the road to perfect health combo, and we're gonna look at this again, because i can't tell you enough about it. you make a pledge of $195, and you're gonna get healthy, because you're gonna get the road to perfect health combo, and what do you get? well, first of all, the dvd. >> this has extra bonus footage of the show, but also, what you don't see on the show is, we interview three alternative doctors, one doctor who specializes in mood disorders-- anxiety, depression, adhd. another doctor is a gastrointestinal surgeon, and then another lady-- dr. erica bradshaw-- who specializes in women's health problems. so this is great. >> another thing is this guide to probiotics booklet. tell us about that, brenda. >> well, this is the guide to probiotics, like what probiotics

to take if you travel, what probiotics to take if you get traveler's diarrhea or what probiotics to take if you go to the hospital or visit a hospital, all of the different components of probiotics that people don't know. >> and i--you know, i told you earlier, i found out that i'd been making a big mistake. i'd been spending a lot of money on a probiotic that obviously is not good enough or the right one for me, and so i'm gonna be looking at this book. we have also brenda watson's brand-new road to perfect health book. this is an incredible book. you know what, can we come back to it, 'cause i know we want to talk a lot. let's do the rest of the combo, and then we're gonna come back to the book, okay? tell us about those two dvds, the extra ones. >> these two dvds are of the show--the pbs shows, the fiber 35 diet. so for those of you out there wanting weight loss and a weight loss program, this is for you.

and also the detox strategy, which is how to clean up your body and your environment. your children, your pets, all of this from the environmental toxins that we're all exposed to. >> and finally, there's the 5-cd audio set, and tell us what's in here. >> this is great, because this talks about so many people here in this country have problems with yeast and candida in their gut. this is a total explanation of how to get rid of that. most of you, here's what you say: "i bloat all the time." that's what you tell me. >> me. >> yes. and a lot of times, that's because of the candida issue. then we have in here how to take care of your pets naturally, how to buy supplements. people, you're spending a lot of money not to be able to read labels and get what you're paying for and know when you're purchasing quality and when you're purchasing potency. that's very important.

>> and you talked on the show, and you just sort of mentioned it a little bit again about things like yeast infections and parasites, and so i know a lot of folks are watching and saying, "well, how do i find out if i have it?" and i want to just talk a little bit about this, because it's a part of the combo. >> my goal has always been to give people practicality, so practical things that they can do, simplicity of things that they can learn and do themselves, because if things are difficult, you're not gonna do 'em, and i know that. so what we have here is, if you've been struggling for a long, long time with your health, then you really need to get to the bottom of it. we're giving you a coupon to do your own test so that you can see where your gut is, and that's what this coupon is for: a 50% discount on a lab test,

if you need it, to see how to get to the bottom of a health challenge, if you've been struggling for a long time. >> all right, well, let me ask you something. when you get the results back, is--you know, do you have to be a doctor to be able to read it? >> no, this is all consumer-friendly. you can read it. you can practice it and do it. >> it is a part of the combo package. i want to really make that clear to you, so when you get that combo package, you're getting all the things we've mentioned plus this. i want to go back to the book, which is part of the combo, because it is an amazing book. i've been looking at this book, and i want to tell you, i am not leaving this place without it. it is incredible. please suppose--okay, let's talk about, i have some digestive problems. what do i do? >> well, first of all, i want to say that this is a condition-specific book. so it's a reference book. many of you, if you have digestive conditions--and for example, heartburn, hernia, gastritis, ulcers, candida, constipation. and then, what do you do for it

naturally. but never before has someone taken conditions that you do not relate to the gut, and i'll give you an example. like i said earlier, anxiety, depression, parkinson's, and alzheimer's--from the brain. the cardiovascular-- cardiovascular disease. high cholesterol, which i know touches a lot of people out there. >> absolutely. >> all of these conditions in this book and how to heal them naturally and how to work with your gut to get better. just absolutely mind-boggling. i mean, anything you mention is in there. >> so then if you go into-- for example--and i want you to know this is a four-color book, a four-color book that is filled with illustrations and is so easy. now, the beauty of this is, i have two medical doctors writing. one is the brain doctor, and the other is the g.i. doctor, and they are putting their comments on the conditions

in the book. so we have dr. smith's comments as a surgeon, what he's seen in his practice. also, we have what's called brenda's bottom line. >> what's that, brenda? >> well, that's sort of my summary of what i've seen over the years in people with a particular condition, whether it's high cholesterol or anything like that. but the best part of this is, at the end of each condition, you have very specific things to do, rhea. like, we have, you know, the recommended nutrients and supplements or the diet-- whatever it is specific to that condition that you need to do. >> it's all in there. it is an unbelievable opportunity for you to do this not just for yourself and your own personal ailments but for your family, for your friends. >> and everything has been reviewed by dr. smith and dr. sponaugle, and it's all got the scientific review there,

so this is the perfect road to health combo. it is yours when you make a very generous pledge of $195. believe me, you're gonna get your money's worth. let's go over to carolyn. >> hi, i'm carolyn black-sotir. as you can see, rhea and i are so excited about this. i think we're gonna be wrestling for the book before the program is over. we hope that you're enjoying this program and you are as excited about the road to perfect health as we are, and it'll be a program that you'll want to watch again and again. share with your friends, people in your family whom you love who might have some of the issues that brenda was talking about. so in order to do that, we want to give you an opportunity to watch it as many times as you need, as many times necessary. so for a pledge of $70, as our way of saying thank you for supporting public television, we'll send you the road to perfect health with brenda watson dvd. this is the program you're watching right now, but it also includes a bonus question and answer segment, and then interviews with some of the

medical experts whom brenda was referring to earlier. and then for a pledge of $90, the road to perfect health the dvd and then the brenda watson guide to probiotics booklet. this informative booklet explores all the topics covered in the program in greater detail, and you're gonna learn more about the benefits of probiotics and how consuming these good bacteria can protect you and restore balance to your life. this booklet is exclusive to public television. now, the material that brenda is covering in her new special i think is critically important to each and every one of us. we hope it is proving useful to your life and to the people you love. i know that i am going to make some changes in my own lifestyle after watching this show, and we hope that you call this station right now with your gift of financial support. your contribution in any amount will help us continue to bring shows and specials like this one

to everyone in our community. the number is on your screen, and we have operators standing by. please give us a call right now. >> i want to ask you something. you know, a lot of people, i think, have a gut problem of some kind, whatever it is, and they think, "oh, it's no big deal." but i'm sort of listening to you and looking at this book, and they can lead to really serious problems, can't it? >> they can and do lead to serious problems. we do not know how serious we can end up with a digestive system that's out of balance and people having other problems around their body. >> i really cannot suggest too much to you that you think about the road to perfect health combo. it is yours when you make a contribution of $195. we're gonna say thank you with this incredible combo. you're gonna get a dvd of the program. besides that, we have the exclusive guide to the probiotics booklet, and again, i can't tell you too

much about that. we have a questionnaire here that you can answer questions and score yourself. it's incredible. and then we have this additional two dvds. >> the fiber 35, which is weight loss, and then the detox strategy is about toxins in the environment. >> we also have the 5-cd audio set. you know, i don't believe you're gonna ever be able to think that you've done the right thing if you don't get this combo with this book. i mean that. we have about a minute left. please talk about it. >> okay, this is your reference book for life. this is all the conditions and how to work with them through the gut naturally. >> this is a program that we are giving to you so that you can be healthy and your family can be healthy. again, i want to mention that included in the combo is this labtestingdirect.com coupon so that you can get these tests 50% off. that's really a good deal. okay, we're gonna be going back to the show.

you're gonna have an opportunity to learn more, but while you're watching the rest of the show, please think about the fact, wherever else would you get a program like this? wherever else could you learn this much? isn't a program like this worth something to you and your family? don't you care about good health and all the wonderful how-to programs on public television? this is your public television station. make sure it stays healthy by making the best possible pledge that you can. >> welcome back to the road to perfect health with brenda watson. [applause] >> welcome back. in the first segment, we learned that there are trillions of bacteria that live in your digestive system, and they are an important part of your immune

system. we call this your gps. in the second segment, we showed you six factors that can damage this intestinal gut protection system, things like medications such as antibiotics, toxins, and yes, even aging. in this segment, i'm going to give you the keys to navigate the road to perfect health. but first, let's discuss four of the major functions of your gut protection system and what this means for you. number one, it strengthens your immunity. your gps reduces your chances of colds, flu, viral infections, and those deadly antibiotic-resistant pathogenic