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The symptoms of an unhealthy gut include bloating, gas, cramps, food sensitivities and aches and pains.
If these symptoms affect your daily life severely, this is classed as a medical problem and people are often diagnosed by their doctors as suffering from IBS. But the majority of us haven’t reached that level. We’re struggling on, just managing, and yet slowly the symptoms become more frequent and gut health becomes more of a worry.
The plan aims to reduce your symptoms and helps you learn what foods you should avoid, what foods you can have in moderation and the foods of which you can eat as much as you like.
The symptoms we are hoping to address are:
1.Stomach cramps
2.Bloating and swelling of your stomach
3.Diarrhoea
4.Constipation
5.Excessive Wind
THE PATH TO IBS
The five symptoms – stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation and excessive wind – that are classed as gut-health symptoms are also the symptoms of IBS. Whether you have IBS or not is simply a matter of severity. There is no test that you pass or fail for IBS; it is just a question of how your symptoms affect your daily life. If you get severe stomach cramps overnight then this means that you don’t sleep well and your whole life is affected. This would be IBS. But occasional symptoms are annoying and we tend to just pick ourselves up and get on with it. The trouble is, year on year, your symptoms will slowly and almost imperceptibly get worse. You learn to manage them better, not complaining and just carrying on.
‘Whatever stage you are at, this programme aims to reduce your symptoms by a significant and measurable amount.’
The easiest way to discover more about the health of your gut is to use the Initial Gut Assessment Quiz (see here (#u48714acb-6c8e-5d40-87d7-9a49443dad84)). This gives you a gut-health score on a scale of 1 to 10 and helps you to answer the question: ‘How bad is it?’ If you want to see the progress in your gut health during the programme you can take the quiz again at the end of the plan and see by how much your score has reduced.
The aim of this plan is to reduce your symptoms and hopefully get rid of some of them entirely. You will gain a deeper understanding of your body and its sensitivities, so you are less likely to trigger them. If you find foods that you are sensitive to, don’t worry too much as you will be able to eat them in moderation later on. Just in smaller quantities and less frequently.
DO YOU HAVE A ‘LEAKY GUT’?
What is a leaky gut?
A leaky gut affects the whole body. It’s caused by sections of the gut, normally joints or bends, becoming more porous and developing holes. Food molecules can leach through these holes and enter the bloodstream. The food toxins in your bloodstream set off your natural alarm system. A few undigested food molecules don’t cause a huge problem – your liver is called into action to deal with the toxins. But if the gut is very porous, the liver is quickly overrun and then these foreign bodies absorb into tissues throughout the body, causing them to inflame.
What causes a leaky gut?
Inflammation in the gut lining causes the microvilli filters that act as the barrier between our gut and our bloodstream to be swallowed up. The microvilli are like very fine hairs that protect the delicate gut wall from bigger undigested food molecules. If part of the microvilli are aggravated and inflamed, then those food molecules can get through the lining and become a toxin in the bloodstream.
This can be caused by:
A.Diet: refined sugars, processed foods, preservatives and refined flours. Too many toxins in the gut over many years means that the gut becomes inflamed as it just can’t keep up.
B.Stress: stress almost always results in a suppressed immune system. A weakened immune system cannot handle doing its normal job and gets overrun more quickly, causing inflammation.
C.Bad bacteria: if the bacterial balance in your gut is wrong, the ‘bad’ bacteria can take over and lead to inflammation.
How do you know if you have a leaky gut?
Instead of or as well as gut-health problems (stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea) you may get:
Multiple food sensitivities
Frequent colds and illnesses
Skin complaints such as eczema and rashes
Headaches, brain fog and fatigue
THE BOTTOM LINE
Your gut-health problems, aches and pains and food intolerances could all be intrinsically linked. Let’s start at the root of the problem, your gut, and see if we can understand it better. If we understand it and acquire the tools to fix it, then we can control and reduce the other symptoms too.
This 28-day plan is just the start. If you’ve been eating processed foods, refined flours and excessive sugar for twenty, thirty or forty plus years, then we can’t fix the gut in one go. But we can take some huge, positive steps in the right direction and get you feeling better right now.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GUT HEALTH (#ulink_1d47068d-598f-5504-aed7-ccab7127f61b)
The 28-Day Gut-Health Plan is unique in its aim to dramatically improve the state of your gut in just 28 days. How does it do this? There are three practical and effective ways in which we tackle the health of your gut.
3 STEPS TO BETTER GUT HEALTH
1. Resting your gut
‘Like a detox but with food.’
The Gut-Health Plan is not about starving yourself and eating less food. You will eat less, but this will be because of changes in your gut that will result in a reduction in cravings and choosing foods which will keep you fuller for longer. For the first week of the plan, called the Rest and Restore phase, you will remove the five most common trigger foods for a sensitive digestion. These foods are harder for your body to digest, so stay in your gut for longer, causing problems along the way.
The foods that you will eat in the Rest and Restore phase may seem quite restrictive, but you will notice an improvement relatively quickly. Essentially, by sticking to easily digested foods for at least a week, your digestive system doesn’t need to work anywhere near as hard. It’s a relaxing time for your digestion and it will reduce digestive stress. If the gut is not constantly working to digest food, it starts to recover and rebuild. This is a simple yet crucial part in the jigsaw of good gut health.
2. Reducing inflammation
Certain foods can cause the gut wall to react in a negative way. It can make the gut lining swollen, inflamed and extra sensitive. Now, the food triggers that cause inflammation are different for each person. But if we cut out ALL the common triggers during the Rest and Restore phase, then your gut lining has the best chance of getting back to normal. The gut cannot heal when it is inflamed.
3. Introducing good bacteria
The third crucial phase is to improve the balance of bacteria in our gut. We do this more quickly by adding probiotics to our diet for the duration of the programme. Of course, following the programme and reducing processed foods and wheat will slowly improve the bacterial balance anyway, but we are going to give it a helping hand. The best probiotics contain several different strains of bacteria as well as a high concentration of them. Improving bacterial balance means that the food you eat is better digested, which is important for gut health.
THE POWER OF GOOD BACTERIA
Your gut is chock-full of bacteria, good and bad. We can supplement our diet with probiotics (good bacteria) to help reverse the damage caused by years of junk-food overload. Probiotics are found naturally in some foods, particularly yogurt. But to really have an impact on our digestive systems, a probiotic supplement is the best way to ensure we have enough good bacteria to balance the gut effectively.
The good bacteria in a probiotic supplement will:
Aid the digestion of complex foods and/or foods which you cannot currently digest
Compete for space and nutrition with harmful bacteria, reducing their numbers and reducing stomach complaints
Prevent toxins moving from the gut into the blood
Unfortunately, the popular probiotic drinks and enhanced foods don’t really cut the mustard when it comes to supplementing. To get any real benefit, you need a probiotic tablet or powder. The number of different bacterial strains, together with the concentration of bacteria, is most important for success.
The most proven and the one now being prescribed by specialists for IBS and similar illnesses is a brand of probiotic called VSL3 (www.vsl3.co.uk (http://www.vsl3.co.uk)). This brand contains the most strains of good bacteria and has 450 billion bacteria per sachet. But it is expensive and needs to be kept refrigerated.
THE BLOATING PROBLEM
Probiotics plus more fibre can lead to extra bloating in the first week of the programme. When you start taking probiotics you could get more bloated not less. But if you care about improving your gut health, it’s a really important step. And in a strange way, it shows that the probiotics have started to do their job. They’ve started the battle and are breaking down foods that your body normally doesn’t digest, producing more gas. Give the probiotics a week during the Rest and Restore phase and you’ll see the bloating reduce. At the end of the week, your waist size and bloating will have reduced and be back to normal. You might even have lost weight and an inch or two round your tummy.
The more traumatized your gut the worse this will be. Give it a week. It will get better. And it means that a change for the better has begun. Don’t start the Introducing phases until it is resolved.
FIBRE VS INTOLERANCE
One of the key tenets of improving your gut health and soothing your bowel symptoms is keeping levels of both soluble and insoluble fibre high. But look at this list of fibre-rich foods:
Vegetables: broccoli (raw), cabbage, carrots (raw), peas and spinach
Grains: whole grain-breads, whole-grain cereals, oatmeal and bran
Beans/pulses: kidney beans, lima beans, black beans and lentils
And if we compare it with our list of top five food intolerances (see here (#u9593c535-3824-560b-997e-668603053ed5)), there’s a huge overlap! Broccoli and cabbage are gassy vegetables, bread and cereals all contain wheat, and don’t even get me started on how gassy beans can make you!
On the one hand, we need to restrict these possibly gut-intolerant foods. On the other, fibrous foods are needed to ensure smooth running of your insides. It’s a real conundrum and one that we can only fully address when we reach the end of the 28-day plan.
During the programme, you should up your consumption of safe fibre-rich foods. Most fruits, especially bananas and berries, are safe and rich in fibre. Oats are particularly good as they are very easy for the body to digest and are an excellent source of fibre.
If you look at the recipes, I use the odd-sounding psyllium husks in various recipes including my Seeded Gluten-free Bread (see here (#litres_trial_promo)). Psyllium is a powder that forms a fibrous gel on contact with water. It should be used sparingly but is perhaps one of the purest sources of fibre. It can be sprinkled onto breakfast cereal and added to recipes to improve fibre content.
Finally, buckwheat, which contrary to its name contains no wheat or gluten at all, is a fabulous source of fibre. I particularly like using buckwheat pasta as that opens up the way to lots of delicious pasta sauces and bakes.
If you suffer from either constipation or diarrhoea, then increasing the fibre in your diet (from non-problematic sources) can make stools softer (good for constipation) or bulkier and more regular (good for diarrhoea).
Be aware, though, that just like the addition of probiotics to your diet, increasing your fibre intake can initially lead to bloating and constipation. So if you are adding all of these at once at the start of the 28-day programme, then you may find that some symptoms, particularly bloating, increase during this time. If it becomes too uncomfortable, cut out the additional fibre and concentrate on the probiotics in the first instance. Fibre can be added gradually later when you have a better understanding of your food intolerances.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR OWN SENSITIVITIES
The 28-Day Gut-Health Plan is all about understanding your own sensitivities. We all react differently to different foods, and as so many factors influence our gut health it’s often hard to pinpoint what’s wrong and why.
Is it the slice of toast that gave you stomach cramps? Or nervousness about an exam? Perhaps it’s your period? Or even the menopause? Did you sleep well last night?
By following this plan we are trying to cut out as many uncertainties as we can. We do this by eliminating the five most common food intolerances for a week. Then introduce the possible trigger foods one at a time. Key to success is accurate recording of symptoms using the Gut-Health Diary (see here (#litres_trial_promo)).
HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN I LOSE?
The amazing bonus of the 28-Day Gut-Health Plan is the weight loss that goes hand in hand with improving your gut-health. This happens simply because you are cutting back on processed foods and sugars, eating foods that your body can digest and eating three filling and balanced meals a day.
When you first give up all trigger foods during the Rest and Restore week, the weight loss can be quite dramatic. As much as one pound a day in the first week. The rate of weight loss is obviously dependent on how much weight you have to lose, but you should expect upwards of three pounds in the first week. After this, the weight loss will settle down but you should continue to lose weight at a rate of one to three pounds a week, depending on your personal intolerances. This diet is not a ‘fad’ diet; it’s a healthy way of eating and the weight loss is real and permanent.
TOP 5 WAYS TO MINIMIZE GUT STRESS
1. Don’t eat big fatty meals
Make your meals smaller by reducing your plate size. Realize that a ‘blow-out’ meal like a takeaway, fish and chips or lots of red meat will antagonize the strongest gut. This is made worse if the meal is eaten late in the evening, as you ‘sleep on your food’. Steer clear if you can. But if you can’t, take probiotics for at least a week afterwards and consider trigger food elimination to reset the gut.
2. Keep alcohol and caffeine levels low
Sadly for those of us that love both coffee and wine, alcohol and caffeine can have a negative effect on the gut. Caffeine is a stimulant and makes the gut overactive and increases bowel movements. Alcohol irritates the gastrointestinal tract, so can make your symptoms worse. Additionally, both alcohol and caffeine make you more dehydrated. The good news is that it is rare to be intolerant to alcohol or caffeine, so neither needs to be eliminated entirely. Just be aware of their effects and try and reduce consumption during the programme and when your gut health is poor.
3. Drink more water
Increasing the amount of water you drink is perhaps the easiest way to improve your overall gut health. It simply helps keep everything within the gut moving smoothly. Always keep a water bottle to hand and make sure you drink whenever you are thirsty. Additionally, drink a glass of water first thing in the morning (to wake up your digestion) and make sure you drink at least one glass of water before every meal and more during the summer months.
Remember, caffeinated drinks are diuretic (make you more dehydrated) and the bubbles in carbonated drinks can pass through the body undigested and cause uncomfortable wind.
Short answer: Water is best!
4. Keep away from artificial sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners such as sorbitol and sucralose can cause diarrhoea and flatulence even if you have a healthy gut. All sweeteners that end with an -ol should be avoided and watch out for the use of different names on packaging that are meant to confuse you into thinking these sweeteners are natural. All sweeteners are considered toxins by the body and your gut tries to expel them quickly.
5. Avoid ready meals and shop-bought baked goods
Ready meals and shop-bought baked goods can contain hidden triggers, and even a small amount of a trigger food could set you back. Use the tips and recipes in the book to make simple real food quickly. Low-fat or reduced-calorie foods are particularly bad as the good bits have been sucked out along with the calories and replaced with empty and unnatural fillers that can irritate the gut lining.
INITIAL GUT ASSESSMENT QUIZ (#ulink_339d5c3d-35eb-5de3-96c1-c3777db70bc6)
This initial assessment is vital in getting a baseline reading of the state of your gut health. It will help you compare objectively to others. Importantly, it will help you to answer the question:
‘Is it really that bad?’
YOUR OVERALL HEALTH
1.Do you have low energy or feel overly fatigued?
2.Do you consider yourself to be overweight?
3.Do you suspect you have food intolerances or allergies?
INFLAMMATION
4.Do you have skin complaints? For example, itchy skin, rashes, eczema, rosacea, acne, hives, psoriasis.
5.Do you have hay fever, dust or pet allergies?
6.Do you experience joint pain or unexplained muscle pain?
7.Do you suffer from frequent sinus pain or other sinus-related issues?
8.Do you get problems such as brain fog, chronic headaches, anxiety?
YOUR DIGESTION
