Hi I am trying to get my guts sorted after many years struggling with various IBS symptoms. I am currently eating oats & linseeds with water for breakfast (basic porridge without dairy as I am intolerant) as I find it helps my bowels, but having previously eaten eggs in some form I am concerned that my blood sugar levels will raise quickly after eating this? I don’t react well to sugar in various forms and wander if going from a protein based breakfast to a carbohydrate based one is a good idea, although it does have a settling effect on my tummy? Also I am trying to increase my fitness as this has a beneficial effect on my stomach but need to fuel my body with the right food. If a lower carb based diet is advisable, how low should it be – i.e rice once a day or 3 times a week? I seem to have lost my way a bit with eating and am having to start again – any help or suggestions would be much appreciated – Thank you!

Hi happy.. Have you read the Reboot you Biome bit at the end of the CleverGuts book? It gives you a structured plan. Alternatively please share a typical week;s food diary (and symptoms) and I may be able to advise further.

Agree that the detailed food and symptom diary (p.187) is important.

Relevant to the digestibility – and thus your questions – is the weight and form of each food: ground flaxseed is different to whole flaxseeds, porridge oats (flaked + steamed) are different to steel cut oats or jumbo whole rolled oats.

Over the medium to long term Clever Guts emphasises variety, so not the same breakfast or lunch day after day. Plenty of vegetables and lower sugar fruits, which alters the carb/ protein/ fat/ fibre content and the effect of the overall meal on the blood glucose.

The only way to accurately know the effect of a given meal, prepared eaten and digested by you, on your blood glucose is to purchase a monitor and test regularly. You might discuss this with your family doctor or pharmacist.

For fitness and health macronutrient (fat/ protein/ carbs) and micronutrients (minerals/ vitamins/ essential fatty acids) are critical. This comes from balance and variety of wholefoods: again the food diary is invaluable here. When sweating or having loose stools we lose key minerals. Since calcium is involved in muscle contraction and magnesium in muscle relaxation this can affect IBS and fitness performance.

Your food diary should also help you identify if you are lactose intolerant (milk sugar) or have an issue with whey/ casein (milk proteins). You may have an issue with cows milk products, but not sheep or goats, or with milk (high lactose) but not traditional aged cheeses (very low lactose) You likely know that dairy is the main source of calcium in the western diet, and hopefully have had medical advice on alternatives if you can not have any dairy.

Flaxseeds are a good source of some minerals, but only if ground because we cannot digest the tough seed coat. Whole seeds are still valuable for the soluble fibre which forms a gel when soaked or cooked.

HTH!

Thank you for your replies so far, I am awaiting delivery of the Clever Guts book and will follow the reboot section. I think I do need a bit more variety in my diet having an IBS background I tend to stick to a fairly narrow selection of what I consider “safe” foods based around FODMAPS and worrying about possible reactions when I introduce a new food – almost food fear, but this is probably detrimental to my diet and me being able to progress beyond a fairly restrictive diet. I think I need to address the issues that are causing the stomach sensitivity (that is then further heightened by certain foods) although cows milk, cheese, cream and butter do upset my stomach – though as mentioned in an earlier reply my calcium level is probably deficient as a result. Certain foods, sugars, garlic and onions are most troublesome but others are tolerated at some times but not others. I am gluten free as I have found this easier on my stomach but use quinoa and brown rice instead. Thank you again for the replies – I look forward to my reboot (!) any further comments or recommendations very welcome!

Your diet does sound very restrictive, and could easily be low in multiple micronutrients. If you attempt to reduce carbohydrates still further by cutting oats and/ or brown rice you may also reduce some minerals and fibre to very low levels.

If you react badly to even tiny quantities of milk protein (casein/ whey) or wheat protein (gluten) you *may* be dealing with allergies not intolerances. It is important to discuss these with a registered dietician or gastroenterologist, who will want to see your detailed food and symptom diary and may supervise a full blown medical elimination diet.

Nutrient dense foods that you should be including regularly include canned oily fish with the crumbly bones. This will supply various B group vitamins, vitamin D, anti inflammatory omega-3s, iron calcium and magnesium.

You might also experiment with a greater variety of seeds (ground flax, chia, pumpkin) and nuts richer in monounsaturates but lower in inflammatory omega-6s (hazelnuts, macadamia, almonds, cashews). Some people find nuts easier to digest raw but soaked for a few hours in water or toasted or as a nut butter.

Sounds silly but do ensure you chew each mouthful of your food really thoroughly: this is a surprisingly important part of the digestive process. Interestingly fermenting, slow cooking or making soups/ smoothies somewhat mimicks thorough chewing, noticably improving digestibility for some. Chewing well and fermented foods are both key parts of the Clever Guts Diet.

Until you are able to tolerate a balanced and varied wholefood diet, I would not recommemd attempting to increase your fitness with formal moderate to intense exercise. This requires putting the body into a state of stress, and increases the need for all macro and micronutrients. By all means increase your lifestyle physical activity through walking (at least 10,000 steps) and active hobbies or household chores.