karrottop Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hey everyone. The doctor told me that my bad digestion history is a condition known as IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I told her that I am currently doing a whole 30, which means that I've eliminated most common allergens from my diet. She didn't give me any straightforward suggestions or advice on how I could heal my gut or fix my problems..She didn't even really explain to me what it is? I've had digestion issues (like pretty bad ones) even after I started the whole 30. It's like my gut is bipolar..I drink alot of bone broth, eat alot of fat, and consume alot of fibre from leafy greens but it doesn't get better. I also crossfit three times a week and drink a good amount of water.. The problems have worsened recently because I introduced more fruits (especially apples, pears, oranges, and dates) back into my diet because they're supposed to help me "go". By more, I mean from 1 serving to about 3-4 servings a day. However, it seems the problems have only worsened and I've noticed that they cause me to have midday crashes. I did some research on IBS and came acorss a FODMAP list of foods to avoid. On it, I found apples, pears, watermelon, and dried fruits along with tons of other w30-compliant foods. I'm so confused as to what I should do to improve my IBS. Can these common fruits really irritate one's gut to the point they poop blood..sorry for the visuals? What are the most common foods that cause IBS? I don't know where to start:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 My understanding with the FODMAP foods is that for some people who have imbalanced gut health these can be very irritating. My limited understanding is that some foods aren't digested by your body properly but then bacteria in your gut goes to town on them producing the bloating and IBS symptoms you mentioned. And yes...many people have very real problems with them. I'm definitely not the expert here (other moderators thoughts?) but it might be worth trying the FODMAP protocol if whole30 alone didn't fix ya. I'm not surprised your doctor wasn't helpful. I don't think very many really know much about gut health which is sad considering it's responsible for so much of what happens to and with our bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Also, how's your sleep and stress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrottop Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Lately sleep has been terrible and stress has been through the roof. This whole IBS thing makes it a vicious cycle:( I guess that would have hormonal effects on my gut health? But yeah, I guess I have no better choice than to try out the FODMAP elimination method. It's just so frustrating to live with a crappy, unpredictable gut. But thanks for all your input Johnny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaO Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 In my experience, I was diagnosed with IBS 12 years ago, doctors will give you that diagnosis when nothing else fits. In one way it´s a good thing, it does mean they elimintated the possibilities of major disease, like Chron´s or colon cancer and the like, but on the other hand they really don´t know what´s really going on. All IBS sufferes have slightly different triggers. My advice is to either find a very good holostic practitioner or you´re in for a lot of self-experimentation. Stress is a major issue for most of us but so is food allergies, leaky gut and yeast issues. Since you´re already avoiding all the major allergens with the Whole30 and you´re reacting to fruit, it sounds to me like you might have a yeast issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrottop Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 that sounds scary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrottop Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 And the internet is full of mixed messages:( Some sites say bananas are good, some say it's bad. Some suggest soy and whole grains for their soluble fibre while others say avoid it..I'm just so confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 keren - strange timing...I listened to this podcast last night. Not to cross-promote but check out episode 37 here on FODMAP. They talk a lot about how stress effects the gut. http://balancedbites.com/podcast It sounds to me like you've got to get your stress under control (in addition to tweaking some of the foods that might be irritating you). It truly has a huge impact on your body. We don't necessarily equate our daily stress with the fight or flight feeling of being chased by a wild animal or hunting for survival but your body can't tell the difference. When you think of it like that, the impact on what might be happening internally makes a lot more sense. Lately when something stresses me at work I take a minute and remind myself that my life is actually not at risk. You should aim to increase your amount of sleep immediately and read up on the internet on stress management tactics; meditation, practicing FUN, etc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 And the internet is full of mixed messages:( Some sites say bananas are good, some say it's bad. Some suggest soy and whole grains for their soluble fibre while others say avoid it..I'm just so confused. Do yourself a favor and don't over think this and don't over research it. The internet is an incredibly confusing place to get lost when you're trying to solve a health mystery and it sounds like it's adding to your stress. If you do, focus on this forum and sites like the whole9 blog itself and another favorite of mine is Chris Kresser. He's got some great info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrottop Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 That's sounds like a really good idea. Thanks a gazillion Johnny! Here's the game plan: -sleep more -eat even cleaner (less fruits in general, more veggies) -research less, think about it less, focus on one food at a time. I'll let you know how it goes:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaO Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I can´t really down play this, although I am only speaking from my own experience and I don´t mean to scare you, but when you´re faced with these problems it is scary and it is confusing. Johnny has a point though, listen to people you trust . Your game plan sounds good, and if stress it the issue you should feel better, I think! A few things that might be helpful (or not): One way to track symtoms and what might be triggering them is to keep a food diary. Write down what you´ve eaten and when and write down your symptoms and when they occur. You might also mark if something special happens to you, like if your having an extra stressful day at work or in your personal life. This way it might be possible to see patterns regarding both diet and stressors. There are a lot of info out there but I think that, because the diagnosis is so wide the triggers can be individual, keeping a close eye on your own reactions is crucial. If you don´t like writing a food diary or just find it to controlling, find different way of tracking symptoms. Finding the triggers and then elimintaing them to the best of ones ability is, I think, a necessity for healing. The gut won´t heal if it gets irritated time and time again. I have no personal experience but some find that peppermint oil has calming effect on their system. Yoga and meditation, as you probably know, is great for reducing stress. I do both and if I´m short on time I just do a couple of sun salutation and 10 min meditation, rather a short practice that I accutally do then stressing about a doing a longer one and then ending up stressing more. We eat a lot of eggs in this diet, but eggs have gut irritating properties (I think there are more info at MDA), particular the egg whites. I had to eliminate them this autumn when I transitioned to paleo. Digestive enzymes are great! Bone broth is new to me but it´s supposed to be an effective gut healer, so is probiotics and fermented foods. Now, this might be a bit out there, but one indicator of yeast overgrowth is to, first thing in the morning, spit into a glass of water. Leave it for a while, maybe 15-30 min and then if there are strings of saliva from the surface towards the bottom of the glass yeast is present. If that´s the case, there a number of candida protocols out there (usually no fruit, no starchy veggies, no mushrooms, no grains and only some dairy). Another is having a history of eating and craving lots of sugar and refined carbs. I have used this test a few times and have seen improvements, but I do have a history of sugar/carb addiction. Having fruit on it´s own, instead with or after a meal, might help with less bloating and digestive distress. I´d never heard of FODMAPS until recently, I have no issue with them, but it might be worth a try. There´s so many foods to avoid though, I´d probably start with the food diary and later if that doesn´t make sense FODMAPS might be a good place to start. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrottop Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 WOW AnnaO, that was such a detailed and well-explained list. THANKS SO MUCH!!! I am going to try the spit/yeast thing first thing tomorrow! The only two things that I have yet to try or enforce are the yeast protocol or FODMAP (they both sound pretty similar) and stress relieving yoga so I will definitely give these two things a go this upcoming week. Seriously, you are waaay more helpful than my doctor and more clear than google was on this subject. Thanks:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaO Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I´m just happy you´ve found some of it helpful. If there´s anything else, just ask away ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittymappus Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Fodmaps is something I am pretty passionate about since my youngest has major problems with them. He was diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption two years ago after suffering from severe GERD and other fun GI problems from the time he was a week old. I can share with you what I've learned to be true for him, but I will totally second the fact that the information out on the internet is very confusing. You sound like you have FructMal which basically means (as I've learned it) that your gut cannot digest excess fructose in natural foods (or unnatural ones either). So, say your want to eat an apple which is made up of mostly fructose and a little glucose. Your body can only digest whatever fructose is equal to the glucose and the excess dumps into your gut, which makes the bacteria in there go crazy and produce excess hydrogen. The hydrogen then needs to come out in the form of gas, bloating, belching, you get the picture. There is a test called a breath test that is similar to a breath test for alcohol intoxication that they can do through a gastroenterologist. If I keep my son away from the fruits that are in excess fructose to glucose ratio, he does great. That also means foods that contain whole wheat (not that you are eating any at the moment, but just an example of how prolific fructose is) because the shell of the wheatberry contains fructans which are the building blocks for fructose. Because so much information out there is confusing, I tend to rely on the science and get a lot of information here http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list You can look at a particular food item and how it breaks down chemically, click on 'full report' to see how it breaks down between all the different kinds of sugar (ie. fructose, glucose, sucrose, etc) and stay away from foods that contain more fructose than glucose. Bananas should be ok because they have more glucose than fructose, for example. However, everyone tolerance is different and you will need to experiment one food at a time. We were advised to cut out all fruit for two weeks, then add in one fruit every four days for our trial period because it can take that long for symptoms to show up. I hope some of that helps. Best of luck to you! Kitty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Strathdee Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Kitty, Does your son have behavior issues, too? I just did a little GoogleFu and it turned up some results that could suggest that FM causes behavioral insanity. My 4 year old has a known intolerance for HFCS, but sometimes she wacks out after a piece of fruit, too. I never thought to pay attention to which ones, though. Transitioning her to a paleo diet almost 2 years ago changed her behavior in amazing ways, but I'd like to get things just a little more controlled. I'm gonna do an experiment using the info from your link. Thanks for this, you may have just made my day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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