Gut Health Q + A
Mixing up the typical blog format this week with a few fan-submitted questions relating to all things gut health!
When I eat certain foods I react and get symptoms like bloating and even diarrhoea. If this is happening does that mean my gut is getting damaged from that food?
No, unless you have coeliac disease and are eating gluten. I guess this is probably one of the good things about IBS (if there is ever a good thing about it). IBS is characterised by symptoms in the gut but no physiological changes to the gut, essentially there is no damage to the gut when we look at it in a colonoscopy or even under a microscope.
In IBS when you eat a food that you might be sensitive to what is happening is that either you are not breaking down and digesting food properly which can lead to excessive fermentation in the large bowel and fluids are drawn into the bowel. It could also be the type of bacteria in your gut simply is not accustomed to consuming to breaking down that food, or sometimes it can be a miscommunication between the gut and the brain which leads to signals to change motility (movement) in the gut or pain signals. ← We can speak more on this in the coming weeks if you’re interested.
With IBS if you react to a certain food and it causes you pain or discomfort the main reason to avoid that food is to avoid pain or discomfort (and embarrassing situations) however if you know a bowl of ice cream upsets your stomach and you want to go for it, don’t stress, it won’t damage the gut (and in fact stressing about what might happen may actually make symptoms worse! ← again more on this soon)
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Should I get colonics for constipation or gut health?
I generally advise against colonics for several reasons. Firstly, a lot of the time they are done in beauty clinics or day spas where the professionals do not have any medical training. FYI for those who don’t know what a colonic is - think hose up the bum. There have been instances where colonics have caused perforation of the bowel (tearing of the bowel wall!!) so anything going up there really in my eyes should be done by a trained medical professional.
Secondly, we don’t have any evidence to show that it is beneficial. Most people will feel very ‘light’ or ‘empty’ afterward if they aren’t all that regular but like most things, with the bowel we don’t want to train the bowel to rely on something like this.
Most clinics will claim that it gets rid of toxins from the body etc etc etc, really all it is doing is flushing out your number twos which haven’t come out yet. Again no evidence to show benefits and does come with increased risks, so that is definitely a no from me (and personally it doesn’t sound very appealing).
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What are some good FODMAP Friendly Protein Powders?
Before I hand over my suggestions I just want to point out that for some people consuming an excessive amount of protein can lead to excessive (and smelly) gas! So if you fit this bill you might want to try cutting out protein powders for a short period to see if that helps.
When it comes to low FODMAP protein powders we have a few options available. Unlike most people think, you absolutely can use whey protein isolate on a low FODMAP diet, but should you want to use a plant protein that’s okay too.
FODMAPs in protein powders can either come from lactose or can come from the sweeteners used. To avoid lactose-containing protein powders you can choose a whey protein isolate over a whey protein concentrate or a hydrolized whey protein is even better. Essentially the protein has been extracted so that all the lactose (and fats etc that were in the milk) has been removed and what remains is just the pure protein. Vegan proteins like rice/pea protein are also safe on a low FODMAP diet.
The sweeteners you want to avoid on a low FODMAP diet are typically sugar alcohols as they are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and can ferment or draw water into the bowel in the large intestine. Look out for any sweeteners that end in the suffix ‘-ol’. For example mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol. These will be high FODMAP.
As for brands - there are many but a few I personally like are Optimum Nutrition 100% Isolate (they 100% WHEY variety will contain a bit more lactose than this isolate variety). Or for a vegan protein Macro Mike do a good pea/rice/peanut blend which is low FODMAP too!
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MORE exciting gut health questions, answers, and updates coming VERY soon! If you aren’t already on the mailing list make sure you are because there is an incredibly exciting announcement happening there in the next few weeks but you’ll need to be on this list.
Marika xx