Do you have IBS and problems digesting – and wish you could digest good food again? Instead of watching others eat whatever they like without batting an eyelid!
So much good food – so little you can digest
Back when I had IBS, I felt particularly deprived especially at Christmas and the New Year!
So much good food (and drink). So little I could digest with irritable bowel syndrome!
I couldn’t ENJOY food. I was left picking out “what I could have”. And if I dared to venture out and have what I really fancied, I knew I would pay the price. Those embarrasing IBS symptoms would start…
Maybe you can relate?
My doctor didn’t seem overly worried about this – but he wasn’t living with it.
Why you can’t digest good food with IBS
The physical side
When you have had IBS and digestive problems for some time your gut microbiome can start to get out of balance, leaving the “bad” bacteria to proliferate and further interfere with digestion.
This can lead to different types of dysbiosis, like Candida and SIBO.
I had Candida. And even though I wasn’t “cured” by dealing with it, I did digest MUCH better.
If damage occurs to the gut lining you may find you develop leaky gut and more and more problems digesting food, and develop food intolerance.
This is something to talk to your doctor or GI specialist about if you haven’t already.
However, this is where I got stuck for years, and many other IBS sufferers get stuck there too.
Here’s why.
The physical side is just a SYMPTOM (not the cause!)
Few people examine WHY their gut bacteria got into that state in the first place.
This may be a purely physical, in which case your doctor will be the best person to advise you.
It MAY also be caused by some of the foods you’re eating. Possibly not for the reasons you think.
BUT have you ever wondered why sometimes you have flare-ups, and sometimes you don’t?
It’s a mystery, isn’t it! You can eat the same food, and digest it one day, and not another.
Psychological, emotional, energetic and physical reactions to what we perceive as stress can also impact our gut health and digestion much more than we realise.
While often unconscious trigger loops are still going round, digestion will likely be affected (remember the brain-gut axis we hear so much about).
To be able to digest good food and digest well long-term, your body may simply need your nervous system to calm down.
It needs to have space to appease the digestive tract and repair gut damage.
And to do be able to do that, your body may need you to examine new ways of experiencing situations that are currently setting off your IBS. To allow yourself to digest good food again.
I wasted over 25 years of my life with IBS, not being able to digest good food. I really wish I had known this earlier – and I hope this perspective will save you time and suffering.
Managing symptoms is better than nothing, but not the best option available.
How to get more taste this Christmas
Fed up eating the same old bland foods? (I certainly was!)
If you are still managing symptoms, one way of getting more taste this Christmas is by using herbs that add flavour without negatively impacting IBS.
Classic herbs like parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (maybe Simon & Garfunkel had IBS?) Read more about IBS friendly herbs here.
This may take some getting used to, but when you start getting more flavour, you won’t want to stop!
Some people also find that although they have problems digesting garlic, with irritable bowel they CAN digest garlic-infused oil.
You can easily make your own. Try out the no-cook recipe for garlic infused oil here, and see what it does for you. You can even add herbs for extra flavour.
If I’m honest, the only satisfactory solution I have experienced is to get rid of your IBS once and for all.
That’s what I did and I haven’t looked back. I can eat and digest tasty good food every day now. Onions garlic, bacon, mince pies, wine – the works.
Why not deal with your IBS once and for all? And start enjoying good food again?
11