IBS: Why Your Gut Symptoms May Be More Than Just Food
If you’ve been told you have IBS, you’ve probably been given a list of things to avoid.
Gluten.
Dairy.
FODMAPs.
Certain fruits and vegetables.
Maybe you’ve been told to take a probiotic, fiber supplement or Miralax for constipation.
Of course having good nutrition greatly helps manage symptoms, there’s a bigger question that often gets missed:
Why are you having these symptoms in the first place?
Your Gut Symptoms Don't Exist in a Vacuum
Your digestion is influenced by much more than what you eat.
Things like:
→ Inflammation
→ Gut barrier function (leaky gut)
→ Gut bacteria imbalances
→ Stomach acid
→ Bile flow
→ Your nervous system and stress response
All of these factors influence how your gut functions.
So if you’re like most of my clients and you've been eating a clean diet, eliminating trigger foods, and still dealing with digestive symptoms, it’s worth looking at what’s happening underneath the surface.
Inflammation
Inflammation affects the environment inside your digestive tract and interferes with normal gut function.
If your gut is constantly dealing with inflammatory triggers, simply removing another food from your diet isn't necessarily going to address the bigger picture.
This is why I don't want clients spending years building smaller and smaller lists of foods they can tolerate.
We need to ask why your gut is reacting in the first place.
Gut Barrier Function (leaky gut)
Your gut lining plays an important role in keeping the contents of your digestive tract where they belong while allowing nutrients to be absorbed.
When gut barrier function is compromised, it affects how your digestive system responds to what you're eating.
This is what people are referring to when they talk about "leaky gut."
When the gut is “leaky”, you get an inflammatory response and reactions to otherwise healthy foods.
The goal is understand what’s driving the leaky gut and then support good gut barrier function with a targeted nutrition and supplement plan.
Gut Bacteria Imbalances
Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms, and the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract is hugely important.
When your gut bacteria are out of balance, you can experience symptoms with digestion, including bloating, gas and irregularities with bowel movements.
This is also why throwing a probiotic at every digestive problem isn't necessarily the answer. Often, probiotics increase symptoms when bacteria are out of balance or, if someone is dealing with histamine intolerance.
More bacteria isn't automatically better.
We need to understand what's actually happening in your gut before deciding what needs to be addressed.
Low Stomach Acid
Stomach acid plays an important role in digestion, particularly when it comes to breaking down protein.
When stomach acid is low, food isn't broken down efficiently, which contributes to symptoms like bloating, burping, heaviness after meals and irregular bowel movements.
If you're constantly feeling like food just sits in your stomach after you eat, this is something worth investigating.
You can listen to my podcast episode about stomach acid here. The Nourished Way podcast is on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
Poor Bile Flow
Bile is essential for digesting and absorbing fats.
Your liver produces bile, your gallbladder stores and concentrates it, and bile is released into the small intestine when you eat.
When bile flow isn't working properly, fat digestion is affected, along with other aspects of digestion. This is an especially important area to have support with if you no longer have a gallbladder.
Again, this is why digestive symptoms aren't always as simple as "you ate the wrong food."
Your Nervous System
Your nervous system and your digestive system are closely connected.
When you're constantly operating in fight or flight, your body isn't prioritizing digestion in the same way it does when you're in a rest-and-digest state.
Let's be honest: a lot of women are trying to digest their meals while answering emails, rushing between meetings, looking after everyone else and mentally running through their to-do list.
Your gut doesn't exist separately from the rest of your body.
Why Eliminating More Foods Isn't the Long-Term Answer
This is where I see people get stuck.
They cut gluten.
Then dairy.
Then high-FODMAP foods.
Then certain fruits and vegetables.
They add a probiotic.
Then fiber.
Then digestive enzymes.
And eventually they're left wondering:
"What the heck am I supposed to eat?"
You can eat a clean, healthy diet and still have bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea and food reactions if your body isn't properly digesting and absorbing your food, your gut bacteria are out of balance or your nervous system never gets a chance to rest and digest.
The answer usually isn't to eliminate another food.
We need to look deeper to understand why you're reacting to food in the first place.
What We Look At Instead
When we work with clients, we look at the bigger picture.
We want to understand what is actually happening with your digestion instead of simply handing you another list of foods to avoid.
That means looking at things like your symptoms, minerals, thyroid, adrenals, lab results and lifestyle factors that influence how your gut functions.
When appropriate, we also use functional testing including HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis) and stool testing to get more information about what's happening underneath the symptoms.
The goal isn't to spend the rest of your life avoiding foods.
The goal is to figure out what needs to be addressed so you can build a gut that actually tolerates more foods.
No Band-Aids here.
Want to Understand What's Actually Going On With Your Gut?
If you're tired of eliminating foods and still don't understand why your digestion is a disaster, my Gut Health Training walks you through the deeper factors that influence digestion beyond simply what you're eating.
If you're ready for personalized support with functional lab testing, you can learn more about working with us through my 1:1 program.
