9th Annual Digestive Expo A Shining Success at a New Location

On September 24th, My Gut Instinct, Inc., a 501 c (3) non-profit organization in Berks County, hosted its 9th Annual Guts & Glory Digestive & Wellness Expo at a new location, the beautiful Perkins Plaza Event Lawn of the Penn State Berks Campus.

Aparna Mele, MD., created this public educational health expo for our community to inspire and embolden individuals to embrace their own power over their health and to find inspiration in the wonderful offerings in our community to energize their efforts to carve out their own journey to better wellness. Each year, Guts & Glory aims to emphasize the importance of good digestion and health nutrition, educating community members about symptoms that warrant medical attention, encouraging a proactive and preventive approach to wellness, celebrating health and empowering individuals to take action to live healthier lives. In short, we want people to take charge to become beautiful from the inside out, because we believe that beauty starts on the inside. Take better care of your insides with better nutrition and better performance, and outside health and beauty then follow! The ninth annual event didn’t disappoint and was a shining success. The overall theme this year was “Embrace Your Wellness.” The day brought hundreds of visitors of all ages on a beautiful and warm sunny fall day. There were about one hundred vendors in attendance that covered the many dimensions of wellness including emotional, physical, occupational, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and financial. There were also martial arts demonstrations, yoga, Native American dances, massage therapy, informational booths, Latin Flair Salsa demonstration, and of course the MEGA colon exhibit. The attendees were able to step through a large-scale model of the human colon which highlighted common disease conditions. It provided an interactive and educational experience. Free health screenings and biometric testing were offered by We Shine Healthcare Resources. We were also proud to welcome Senator Judy Schwank, a loyal supporter since our inception, and our County Commissioners Christian Leinbach and Michael Rivera. In addition, we welcomed state troopers and EMS to forge strong relations with the community.

Our visitors memorialized their visit by snapping selfies with our mascot, GUTSY GIRL, and made a commitment to improve their own health by signing our Pledge Wall with our 2022 pledge as follows:

HOW WILL I BE A WELLNESS WARRIOR?

The whole day delivered a full sensory experience, showcasing the sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and feel of health – a true health celebration and exciting journey of wellness education, nutrition

www.mygutinstinct.org

awareness, and health consciousness for all community members! This event would not have been made possible without the tireless support of our title sponsor and number one fan, Penn State Health/St. Joseph Medical Center, and the generosity of Penn State Berks for donating their beautiful campus and their hardworking staff. Thank you to our loyal, knowledgeable, dedicated vendors, our tireless, energetic, and devoted volunteers, and our conscious and curious community members for helping make Guts & Glory 2022 the best year yet. The Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading, a team-based service-learning program, sent a team to stuff the event swag bags.

The goal of My Gut Instinct, Inc. is to promote community awareness of health and wellness through preventative health care and holistic well-being. The organization aims to increase public understanding of preventable diseases impacting community health by preventing avoidable diseases, motivating the community to make healthy choices, promoting cancer screenings, and raising awareness of health concerns.

The organization was founded by Dr. Aparna Mele, a local gastroenterologist, who stated, “We aim to provide people with health knowledge and empower them to take action to live healthier lives and become beautiful from the inside out, because we believe beauty starts on the inside. We want to show the community that eating and living healthy is not only easy to do, but it can also be fun and delicious too.”

Guts & Glory is an annual digestive and wellness expo happening in the fall, so spread the word, join our email list to enjoy monthly health-based articles and recipes all year in our e-newsletters entitled DIGEST, follow us, and share your pictures and stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Mark your calendars each year and come out and celebrate healthy living with us!

Save the date for our special 10-year anniversary on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023.

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