Taha Kai Nuku i tō Puku - Gut Wellness

Taha Kai Nuku i tō Puku - Gut Wellness defined under Te Poutama o te Ora, a Māori wellness approach to food colonisation and the gut-identity connection. Rooted in the indigenous understanding that the Puku (gut) forms Tuakiri (identity), the framework provides structured pathways for healing relationships with food, eating, and embodied selfhood. Through systematic analysis of how industrial food systems affect five wellness dimensions (Whakapapa, Tinana, Tuakiri, Wairua, and Hinengaro), this book explores seven-day food awareness tracking, three-tier practice integration, and nine-day resistance building incorporating therapeutic fasting. Taha Kai demonstrates how traditional Māori knowledge of the gut-mind-identity connection aligns with contemporary methods on the gut-brain axis while offering culturally grounded healing pathways.