Nutrition, Sugar Cravings, and Digestion with Gate 30 in Human Design

I have hanging gate 30 in an undefined Solar Plexus. Its located in my unconscious Design Mars. In the low expression, the Mars gates are your greatest source of immaturity when you're young. In the highest expression, the Mars gates are your greatest power sources helping you transform and find success.

As I have deconditioned my Solar Plexus and gate 30, I have certainly found this transformation of my Design Mars to be true for me. As I have embraced a desire to feel emotions, show emotions, and express deep, vulnerable feelings, my relationships have flourished. As I've "opened" myself to the emotional realm, my life's opportunities have also opened exponentially.

About Gate 30

Name: The Gate of Recognition of Feelings

Center: Solar Plexus

Circuitry: Collective Sensing

Gate Physiology: Digestion

Solar Plexus Physiology: Kidneys, Pancreas, Lungs, Prostate Gland, Nervous System

Amino Acid: Glutamine

Gene Key Shadow: Desire

Gene Keys Gift: Lightness

Gene Keys Siddhi: Rapture

Archetype: the Fire Starter

Gate 30's Fire & Desires, Emotional Depth, Sugar Cravings, and Digestion

I have been a registered dietitian for 23 years, and talking about nutrition and health through the lens of human design is my favorite thing to do! Gate 30's emotional fire can create a desire for sugar or other addictive substances. Both emotions and sugar impacts digestion, and its associated amino acid glutamine is involved in healing the gut. Let's explore this connection.

Human Design Gate 30's Inherent Energetic Traits

Gate 30 comes from the emotional Solar Plexus Center, which is the center of emotions, feelings, moods, passion, desire, intimacy, sensitivity, nervousness.

Gate 30 is called the clinging fire – the gate of feelings. This is a fiery, emotional energy for intensity and desires. It's a hunger and a thirst to feel an experience, and it can be associated with sugar cravings.

This energy is about allowing yourself to feel deeply and to experience the full spectrum of intense feelings, and to also help others feel more deeply.

If you have this gate, you’re not here to ride on the surface, and if you’re avoiding feeling, you’re missing out on a big part of your purpose. When you’re able to allow yourself to feel your deep emotions, and know your life isn’t going to fall apart as a result, it will expand you, so let yourself go there.

Gate 30's Desires and Fire

Those with gate 30 have an intense tenacity about them – a fire that burns within – and they have desires and crave new experiences. It's like a hunger for an experience that evokes emotions to feel good and exciting!

The more you push away your desires, the more it has power over you. Gate 30's energy is about allowing desire and the passionate, fiery energy into your life. It can feel really intense because you want what you want, and you’re going to find a way to get it, and your fire is going to be felt by others.

I like to think of this as being able to live with the fire – not put it out, but not live too hot and burn everyone around you. It’s about tempering & tending the fire and being a good fire keeper. It’s an art to tend to your own inner fire, which are the emotions. Are you aware of your fire? Does it burn others?

If you have gate 30, get clear about your desires, focus on what you want, and stay optimistic. Go for your goals while also detaching from an outcome or an expectation.

Any unmet expectations or unmet desires will create instability in your emotions, and put you into your not-self theme.

The key to gate 30 is to surrender to the flow of what life brings you and trust that how you imagine it or expect it to be may not be as good as what the Universe has planned for you.

Gate 30 is Prone to Sugar Cravings

In my lived experience, I have noticed sugar cravings related to gate 30's emotional state happen for two different reasons.

#1) Using Sugar to Cope with Emotions

I used sugar to cope with feeling uncomfortable emotions. I have recently realized I also use sugar when I'm in a good mood – as a way to celebrate. As if I'm seeking more feeling and using sugar to achieve that.

I lived my teens, twenties, and thirties VERY conditioned in my undefined Solar Plexus. At a very young age I put on a hard, outer Cancerian shell (July 5th birthday). I knew I felt very sensitive on the inside, but I tried to block it, hide it from others, and bury the uncomfortable or overwhelming amplified emotions.

If someone asked me, "How do you feel?" I was usually confused about what I was feeling and had a difficult time answering. Also, in a matter of seconds, I could go from feeling no emotions to overly emotional. I found this to be very confusing, and in high school I figured out the only way I could get clear about how I felt was to be alone and to write a letter.

I struggled to express or process deep emotions, so I suppressed them A LOT. Guess what I did to cope with and soothe my emotions instead? I ate high sugar foods like jelly beans, skittles, suckers, starbursts, ice cream, and sugar cookies.

I used sweets to boost my mood. With gate 30's deeply feeling energy, common coping mechanisms for those who struggle to process emotions include using sugar, exercising, drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol.

I have been a registered dietitian for 23 years. I know sugar is horrible. Determined to overcome my reliance on sugary treats, I've spent the past three years deliberately seeking non-food methods to cope with my emotions. Through this journey, I've learned to embrace and process my emotions, allowing myself to experience discomfort as it passes through me.

#2) Using Sugar to Fill a Void when Emotional Depth is Missing

I LOVE experiences! I especially love to travel. I love doing things with my friends. I love changing up my day away from the mundane routine that is easy to get stuck in.

I tell you this because recently I had an ah-ha about my desire for life's experiences and having sugar cravings. When my life feels "boring" or mundane, I noticed I start thinking about sugar. It's as if I'm trying to fill a void. An experience creates a dopamine rush, and so does sugar, so it makes sense that I start thinking about sugar to fill the void. I want to feel something, but turning to sugar is a band aid. I want to let go of the hold desires have you on.

My mission is to find the sweetness of life without sugar.

I have noticed even the smallest things in daily life offer an emotional experience - it's all about perspective. From my favorite yoga class to petting my cats, these have become beautiful experiences I now view through a different lens.

Also, for as long as I can remember I have loved music and dancing! I loved going to dance clubs with friends throughout my twenties. Once I met my husband, I stopped dancing because he doesn't like it. That was a sweetness I really miss, so now I create dance parties at home and in my car, and soak up the emotional high that creates.

Question to consider for your own life and gate 30:

• How can you find the sweetness of life without sugar?

• What are you feeding your desires with instead?

• What are you using to fill the void with?

Sugar and Dopamine

Sugar increases dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with the brain's reward system. When you consume sugar, or other pleasurable substances, dopamine is released, producing feelings of pleasure and reward. This activation of the brain's reward pathway reinforces the behavior, making you more likely to seek out sugar to experience the same pleasurable feelings again.

However, over time, repeated exposure to high levels of sugar can lead to desensitization of the brain's reward system, requiring larger quantities of sugar to achieve the same dopamine response. The blood sugar highs and crashes this creates can impact mood and emotional experiences.

Relying on sugar to cope with emotional suppression can contribute to maladaptive coping patterns and exacerbate emotional difficulties.

I had accumulated so much conditioning in my Solar Plexus that the desire for sugar was daily. It has taken me years to decondition, and even though it has healed a lot, I know it will be an ongoing process for many more years.

Gate 30's Physiology is Digestion

Gate 30's physiology is associated with Digestion and the intestines and how you’re eliminating solid matter through the body. Sugar has a massive impact on digestive health.

Here are 5 ways sugar impacts digestion and intestinal health:

1. INFLAMMATION: Sugar causes inflammation in the gut, which may manifest as discomfort, bloating, and cramping. Chronic inflammation in the digestive tract can contribute to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

2. IMBALANCED GUT MICROBIOTA: Sugar alters the composition of the gut microbiome, and can lead to digestive issues such as bloating, gas, constipation, and cramping.

3. CANDIDA: Excess sugar can contribute to the overgrowth of Candida, a type of yeast in the digestive tract. Candida also causes strong sugar cravings.

4. LEAKY GUT: A high sugar diet has been linked to increased intestinal permeability, also known as leaky gut.

5. GASTRIC REFLUX: High sugar intake, particularly from sugary beverages, can increase the risk of gastric reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Additionally, emotions and stress can affect digestion through the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication system between the brain and the gut. Stress is horrible on the gut and can trigger changes in gut motility, sensitivity, and function, potentially exacerbating digestive symptoms. Therefore, managing sugar intake, supporting emotional well-being, and promoting a healthy gut environment are all important factors in maintaining optimal digestion.

Gate 30's Amino Acid: Glutamine

Gate 30 is linked to glutamine, a vital amino acid with tons of scientific research to back its crucial role in gut health. Glutamine has been used for years in hospital ICU's to support digestion.

Metaphorically, we can draw parallels between how well we process our past experiences and how effectively our bodies eliminate waste. Just as we strive to cleanse our minds and emotions, our bodies depend on efficient processes like glutamine metabolism to maintain optimal health and vitality.

5 Connections between Glutamine and Digestion:

1. INTESTINAL BARRIER FUNCTION: Glutamine is a primary fuel source for the cells that line the intestinal wall, known as enterocytes. These cells play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier, which prevents harmful substances from leaking into the bloodstream. Glutamine supports the regeneration and repair of these enterocytes, helping to strengthen the intestinal barrier and reduce the risk of leaky gut syndrome.

2. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY: Glutamine has anti-inflammatory properties, helping to reduce inflammation in the gut lining. Chronic inflammation in the gut can contribute to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). By modulating inflammation, glutamine may help alleviate symptoms and promote healing in these conditions.

3. MAINTENANCE OF GUT MICROBIOTA: Glutamine supports the growth and proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the gut, known as probiotics. These beneficial bacteria play a vital role in maintaining gut health by producing short-chain fatty acids, promoting nutrient absorption, and protecting against harmful pathogens. By promoting the growth of probiotic bacteria, glutamine helps maintain a healthy balance of gut microbiota.

4. HEALING INTESTINAL DAMAGE: Glutamine supplementation has been shown to accelerate the healing of intestinal damage caused by conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Glutamine supports the regeneration of intestinal tissues and enhances the repair process, helping to restore gut health and function more quickly.

In Conclusion...

If gate 30 is part of your body graph, you will always want to tend to this energy. Prioritize gut health, find non-sugar & non-addictive ways to feed your desires, learn to recognize the emotional fulfillment in the small things throughout your day, and incorporate stress management techniques daily.

If your experience with gate 30 has also been to avoid deep emotions, the good news is, you can remedy the fear of feeling deep emotions. I’m still healing this part of me, and it started with awareness about which emotions belonged to me and which ones didn’t. This alone has been life-changing and very healing.

Do you have gate 30? I’d love to hear your experience. Thanks.

Warm regards,

Kelly xo