How to heal YOUR GUT WITHOUT RESTRICTIVE DIETS
WHY “GUT HEALING DIETS” ACTUALLY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD.
Many of these “gut healing” diets and cleanses are not actually necessary, and can actually do more harm than good.
Having been through these diets myself in my healing journey, I can tell you they really take a toll on both your physical and mental health:
the restriction leads to constantly obsessing over what you can and can’t have and feeling guilty and ashamed and panicking when you eat a food that’s “off limits”
you develop nutrient deficiencies that impact your immune function, mental health, hair, skin and nails
unintended/unsafe weight loss
they limit your social life and ability to enjoy food and enjoy life!
I can tell you from experience with hundreds of clients, that you can heal your gut without a restrictive diet or cleanse.
Yes, it does take some planning ahead, but you can enjoy your meals and still eat out or travel while you’re healing your gut!
Here’s how:
Focus on home cooked, whole food meals as the main goal
Yes, this means meal planning and cooking, but a little planning goes a long way - it actually makes your week a lot less stressful when you’re not scrambling to find something healthy for dinner last minute. This means you’re still eating fruit, you’re still eating carbs, you’re just making sure your meals are balanced, minimally processed and choose high fibre, whole food carb choices like oats, brown rice, quinoa and root veggies over white bread, white pasta, cereals etc.
Size and timing of meals
Eating large meals, or constantly snacking can make it harder for the gut to heal. For gut healing, it’s best to eat 3 moderate meals per day, with 3 to 4 hours in between the meals to allow for optimal digestion and gut healing including giving something called the migrating motor complex (MMC) time to do its thing. Eat slowly, chew throughly and eat without distraction. Notice how you feel and stop when you feel full. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but it’s easier when you eat consistently (ie no skipping meals), and eat to balance your blood sugar so you don’t ever get “hangry”. Eating to balance your blood sugar simply means combining protein + fat + fibre at every meal.
Watch your fibre intake:
Yes, fibre is healthy, and is actually food for healthy gut bacteria. But for many people with gut bacteria imbalances, excess fibre can actually make your symptoms worse. Try focusing on small amounts of low FODMAP fibre and see how you feel. If you try to increase your fibre intake and you feel worse, keep it low until you work with a practitioner to balance out your gut bacteria first.
Limit/avoid processed foods and excess sugars as much as possible
I encourage people to use the 80/20 rule. Eat as much healthy, home cooked meals as possible, but allow yourself to enjoy some indulgences. Simply notice how you feel after each indulgence, so you can decide if it’s worth it. Sugars feed bad microbes in the gut that cause gut symptoms, so I encourage clients to limit added sugars to no more than 25 g per day.
Limit/avoid gluten and dairy for 1 to 2 months
This is the biggest change I ask people to make, and it can feel overwhelming at first, but clients often tell me they didn’t actually find it that hard to do. Many people that come to see me have already started eliminating gluten and/or dairy as they find it’s a trigger for their gut symptoms. There are many naturally gluten-free foods to choose from for carb options, and there are also many wonderful gluten-free breads and other products on the market these days.
Be prepared: have a few “go to” quick and easy meals for busy weeks:
Use your slow cooker, buy frozen vegetables , make healthy pasta dishes, wraps and meal salads. Having food prepped and ready to eat, or meals that take 30 minutes or less makes it easier to make healthy choices. Not sure what to eat? Subscribe to a few healthy blogs for recipe inspiration!
Did you know?
I provide every client with a personalized recipe collection to take the guesswork out of meal prep!
Depending on your unique gut health concerns, you may also need to try a low histamine or low FODMAP diet temporarily as part of the healing process, however I don’t typically have clients strictly follow these diets, but rather, we experiment with removing the least amount of foods possible. Typically these are the highest histamine or FODMAP foods.
Why these diets are used:
high histamine foods can cause symptoms in people with IBS: research has shown that higher histamine levels in the gut contribute to IBS symptoms such as gas, bloating, pain, heartburn and indigestion. Histamine can build up in the gut due to gut bacteria imbalances and a deficiency of the enzyme DAO (diamine oxidase).
high FODMAP (fermentable carbs) foods can cause symptoms in people that have existing gut bacteria imbalances (dysbiosis), especially SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). They can cause excess gas, bloating and even diarrhea. The good news is, that as we work together to balance out your gut bacteria, you’ll be able to tolerate more FODMAPS.
In terms of FODMAPS, many people find that they can tolerate small amounts of certain high FODMAP foods, but everyone’s tolerance is unique.
For example, if you tolerate 1 cup of cooked broccoli, but not more, then stick with that. If you tolerate garlic, but not onion, then no need to cut out both, just avoid the foods or serving sizes that give you symptoms.
This is why working with a practitioner is so important - if you try to DIY some of these gut-healing diets to manage symptoms you end up taking it too far, or doing it for too long, and it can have a wide range of negative consequences.
Ironically, long term restrictive diets actually negatively impact your gut bacteria!
That’s because, like any ecosystem, diversity is key. So eating a wide variety of foods that contain a wide variety of nutrients and fibre helps support the growth of a diverse, thriving microbiome ecosystem in your gut.
