Tummy Troubles & You – Forever For Life?
Definitely Not (with the help of a low FODMAP diet)!
A lot of people suffer from digestive issues. Those issues might be minor, such as unusual bloating after eating a particular type of food. Or, these issues may be bigger, such as severe diarrhea and/or abdominal pain. In general, the combination of digestive symptoms that can’t be diagnosed as another GI problem is known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is not a minor problem. Compared to people with healthy digestion, people with IBS:
- Have lower self-reported quality of life
- Have significantly higher medical expenses
- Lose an average of 2 days per month of work and experience career/financial implications as a result
- Have strained personal relationships as a result of their digestive struggles
I don’t need to be telling you this if you have IBS – you already are well aware!
However, something that many of my clients with IBS DON’T know is what to eat or avoid. It can cause a lot of frustration and confusion when it seems that a food is fine one day then causes you to run to the toilet the next!
Fortunately, there is a dietary pattern shown to achieve remission in 70%-80% of patients when implemented properly. It’s called the Low FODMAP diet (that’s an acronym for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharide, and polyols).
Those are lots of big words — but they’re actually just carbs that are slowly absorbed or not digested in the easily. A properly-implemented low FODMAP elimination is safe for 2-6 weeks and dramatically reduces symptoms for most people with IBS. This includes people with small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). I use the low FODMAP diet with almost all of my SIBO patients over the course of their nutrition therapy plan.
You can get my full, FREE seminar on the low FODMAP diet: ‘The 4 Scientifically-Proven Tricks that Dietitians Use to Eliminate ‘Tummy Troubles’.
You can also get started ASAP with my free ‘Flare-Fixer Meal Plan’, available for free HERE.
Or, another great way to learn low FODMAP is from the book I mention in the podcast episode from Patsy Catsos:
You can also get a free Low FODMAP meal plan trial from here:
Finally, check out my podcast episode where I describe the Low FODMAP diet:
- What is the Low FODMAP Diet
- How to start Low FODMAP
- How long to stay on the diet
- How to approach low FODMAP reintroduction the safe and correct way
- What to do if Low FODMAP isn’t working for you
Hear the full ‘Low FODMAP From a Pro’? Episode here:
The mission of the Empowered Nutrition podcast is to help busy, fit women optimize their metabolic, digestive, and hormonal health.
If you’re excited about that idea, I’d love to hear from you! What topics are you excited to hear about on the show? Send me a question or topic suggestion a the survey HERE. I’ll add it to my list!
Questions? Send them any time using the contact page.
I’m looking forward to our chats!
Best wishes,
Erin
