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 Natural Awakenings Lancaster-Berks

A Berks Health Initiative: Six Years Getting Gutsy

The sixth annual Guts and Glory Digestive and Wellness Expo will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., September 28, at the FirstEnergy Stadium, in Reading. The expo was originally created and hosted by the nonprofit My Gut Instinct and is sponsored by Penn State Health St Joseph. It is a community-wide celebration of health for all ages and showcases a farmer's market, educational booths, community outreach, fresh locally sourced food made by local chefs, fitness zones, yoga, massage meditation, wellness experts and more.

The interactive, pet-friendly event is designed to educate the health curious, elevate the understanding of the health conscious and raise community awareness of the importance of digestive health and overall wellness through the free exchange of information and resources.

 “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,” says founder Dr. Aparna Mele. “We also 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.” 

Mele is a board-certified gastroenterologist and has been working with Digestive Disease Associates since 2007. She came to the field of medicine with extensive experience in international relief work overseas and is actively involved in local philanthropic work directed towards patient education and promotion of societal health.

“Our mission at My Gut Instinct, a nonprofit organization, is to collaboratively inspire and empower our community to embrace health and eat and live better for longevity,” she affirms. “Our organization aims to increase awareness of preventable diseases that impact community health. We focus on preventing these avoidable diseases through motivating the community to make healthy choices, promoting cancer screenings and raising awareness for various health concerns.”

Admission is free. Rain date: September 29. Location: 1900 Centre Ave., Reading. For more information, visit MyGutInstinct.org