How I Healed My Gut & Boosted Health: A CEO’s Simple Food Plan
For Samantha Citro Alexander, the connection between food and health wasn’t an abstract concept learned in a classroom – it was a visceral realization that began in childhood. Growing up in an Italian-American family where food was central to culture and tradition, she experienced firsthand how even the most lovingly prepared meals could impact her well-being.
Around the age of eleven, Citro Alexander began suffering from debilitating bloating and digestive discomfort for hours after eating. “My stomach would feel like a bowling ball,” she recalls. After nearly a year of medical appointments and an elimination diet, she discovered that dairy was a significant trigger for her symptoms. This early experience sparked a lifelong journey to understand the intricate relationship between diet and health.
More than two decades later, Citro Alexander is now the CEO of FoodHealth Company, a venture dedicated to empowering consumers to make informed food choices. She believes the resource she now provides is something she desperately needed during her own struggles with digestive health. Her personal experience fueled a passion for translating complex nutritional science into accessible tools for everyday people.
Citro Alexander’s story highlights a growing awareness of the profound impact food has on overall health. In her 30s now, she’s refined her diet to prioritize energy levels, skin and hair health, and, crucially, optimal digestion. Her approach centers on incorporating simple, gut-friendly foods into her daily routine.
Reducing Inflammation, Healing the Gut
Citro Alexander’s battle with digestive issues continued through her late teens and early twenties. During this period, she often relied on convenient, processed foods. “The processed crap didn’t make me feel great,” she admits. This realization coincided with a growing body of research demonstrating the detrimental effects of ultra-processed foods on health, linking them to increased risks of cancer, heart disease, and even cognitive decline.
Determined to improve her diet, Citro Alexander began frequenting farmers markets, seeking out ingredients she hadn’t previously used, such as dried beans and Swiss chard. Simultaneously, her work in the skincare industry exposed her to the benefits of plant-based ingredients like turmeric, known for its anti-inflammatory properties. She began to see parallels between topical skincare and internal nourishment.
A pivotal moment came during a trip to Indonesia, where she participated in a medicinal cooking class. This experience broadened her understanding of how herbs and spices could be used to support digestive health and overall well-being. She discovered a wealth of flavorful and nutrient-rich ingredients that could be incorporated into everyday meals.
This trip shifted her perspective. She realized that healthy eating wasn’t about restriction, but about adding nourishing foods to her diet. “Just avoiding badness doesn’t really give your body what it needs. You need to fuel it with goodness,” she explains.
A Typical Day of Eating for Better Gut Health
Today, Citro Alexander prioritizes a high-fiber, high-protein breakfast, alongside tea and bone broth, and a generous intake of farmers market vegetables and fresh herbs. She begins each day with a homemade electrolyte drink – water with lemon, cayenne pepper, and sea salt – to rehydrate and support electrolyte balance.
Her go-to breakfast is a protein smoothie paired with whole-grain toast topped with avocado, providing a combination of protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Throughout the day, she consumes several teas and herbal infusions, rich in polyphenols and other plant-based micronutrients. A simple infusion might involve steeping fresh ginger in hot water.
For lunch, she often opts for a salad or grain bowl packed with vegetables, olive oil, herbs, beans, farro, or quinoa. She frequently shares recipes for these meals on social media. Dinner is a rotating menu of recipes, with a particular fondness for soba noodles with bone broth, a source of collagen protein beneficial for joints, skin, and hair. She enhances the flavor and nutritional value with ginger, lemongrass, and chilies.
Remaining true to her Italian heritage, she also enjoys classic pasta dishes, prepared with extra-virgin olive oil, herbs, and fresh vegetables sourced from her garden or local farmers market. She emphasizes the importance of locally-grown produce, which tends to be more nutritious than commercially grown options due to its freshness and focus on flavor and vitamin content rather than durability.
How to Start Eating Healthy
Citro Alexander’s primary advice for those seeking to improve their diet is to start by cooking simple recipes at home. “Pick one meal a day that you’re going to make from whole foods, whichever ones you like,” she suggests. “When you’re cooking for yourself, you have a lot more control over what you put into your body.”
Her personal journey ultimately led to the development of the FoodHealth score, a system designed to highlight better-for-you food options. The overarching goal, she explains, is to help people prevent and manage chronic disease. “The best way to do that is to eat a diet that is rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, lean proteins, high fiber, and healthy fats.”