The Best Diet For Bloat & IBS Relief

There is no perfect diet for bloat and IBS relief. The focus should be on nourishing, gut-loving foods and incorporating gut-loving habits. Variety is important in fruits and vegetables, and cooking methods like steaming can aid digestion. Other gut-loving foods include coconut, sprouted seeds, fats like avocado and ghee, and meats like grass-fed beef and organic chicken. Spices and herbs like turmeric and garlic are beneficial, and sipping on tea can soothe the gut. Grass-fed collagen, dark chocolate, dates, and bone broth are also recommended. Making meals enjoyable and meal prepping can help incorporate these foods into daily life. It's a gradual process and expert guidance can be helpful. The best diet for bloat and IBS relief. This episode I'll be chatting about whether there is a perfect diet plan to avoid bloat and IBS and which foods are actually best for your bloat and IBS relief. And when chatting about IBS or irritable bowel syndrome, IBS is often a broad diagnosis given for symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, gas, nausea, stomach cramping, where there's no other cause identified correlating with these symptoms. In addition to bloat as well, that falls under this blanket diagnosis. And then many times, once given this diagnosis, the doctor will say, okay, follow the low FODMAP diet plan or try an elimination diet plan or cut calories, cut carbs. And this is something that I did myself as well. I followed so many restrictive diet plans trying to get rid of my bloat and IBS, but that never led to true relief for my symptoms. And I was so frustrated because I was eating clean. I was trying to eat healthy, following these diet plans, and still kept dealing with belly bloat, stomach discomfort, gas, crazy bowels. And I know so many other women are also experiencing this frustration as well, trying to eat healthy, trying different diet plans, but they're not leading them to where they ultimately want to go when it comes to really getting rid of bloat and IBS. And one big component of this is because there is no perfect diet when it comes to getting rid of your bloat and IBS. It goes deeper than food alone. There's a reason why your body is feeling uncomfortable. Your stomach is feeling tight. There's a lot of pressure after eating. If you're experiencing belly bloat, gas, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, there's a reason why. And it's not exactly the food. While food does play a role in your gut health, it's not just the food alone. And also, restricting more and more foods is causing more stress on your gut, leading to more symptoms like bloat and stomach discomfort. So, how do you navigate this? This is why I created my Wholeness Diet. And this isn't just another diet. This is a life-changing approach to experiencing freedom from your bloat and IBS. Because my Wholeness Diet hones in on nourishing, gut-loving foods. I'll be sharing more examples here alongside gut-loving habits that support digestion, that support your gut motility, that support your nervous system as well, which plays a big role in gut health. These all tie together. And a huge puzzle piece is missing when you're so focused on following the perfect diet plan, eating the healthiest foods, avoiding foods that were claimed as bad. The puzzle piece that needs to be filled is adding in gut-loving habits and also identifying and addressing deeper gut imbalances too. And I'll be diving into that more as well today. So, when it comes to gut-loving foods, there are a variety of foods to choose from. This is the beauty of it, is choosing foods that you enjoy, making it enjoyable, rather than feeling like, oh my gosh, I can't eat anything or I can never go out to dinner or I can never enjoy food at my friend's house. That is exhausting. I've been there and that I am so grateful to never go back to that life because that, man oh man, is that exhausting and stressful. Gut-loving foods, there are so many, so, so, so many gut-loving foods. And alongside gut-loving foods is optimizing how these foods are cooked and prepped to further support digestion and further address low in IBS. So cool. There are so many factors at play and all of these need to be incorporated on your bloat IBS relief journey. So, what are some gut-loving foods that you can add into your day? This could include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. It's great to eat the fruits and vegetables that are in season as best as possible. Definitely not mandatory, but that's also a great way to incorporate foods locally, too. Eating fresh local foods. Say you go to a farmer's market, that's a great way to get some local and fresh fruits and vegetables. And also, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, encompassing a variety of them rather than eating the same broccoli every single day or just eating an apple or maybe some fresh berries every single day. It's also encompassing a nice variety as well. Your gut loves variety. It craves variety. So, this could be in addition to fresh berries, the broccoli that I just mentioned. Those are gut-loving foods, but it's also encompassing these other hacks that we need to implement, too. For example, steaming your broccoli as well so that it's nice and soft and easier to digest or having some nice steaming. So, if you're going to be eating a lot of broccoli, you want to make sure that your broccoli is nice and soft and easy to digest or having some nice steamed carrots. That's another great combo. Or sautéing some spinach, having some cucumbers, sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes with cinnamon. Such a good combo. You can roast them. You can air fry them. So many ways to go about it. Really good for your gut as well. Nice and nourishing. Adding in some kiwi. Which are great for further supporting digestion. Adding in fresh peaches, papaya, oranges, adding in citrus fruits, lemon limes as well to boost that vitamin C, which vitamin C supports your adrenal health immensely. Your adrenal glands also play a big role in not only the production of your hormones, but also supporting your gut health. It all ties together. Also, for example, with the fruit, if you peel off the skin of, say, an apple, that is also beneficial, too, because the skins of the fruit can be a little bit more aggravating on digestion. So, that can help ease it. Or having some nice steamed apples, too, with some cinnamon. It's like a dessert. It's so good. Or baked apples. Some other fun to onion foods include coconut, whether it's coconut yogurt, shredded coconut, coconut oil. Adding in some sprouted seeds, like chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds. These are great sources of fiber. You can mix into a smoothie or yogurt bowl. Adding in some nice fats, like avocado, ghee, or grass-fed butter. Pasture-raised eggs are also wonderful and rich in omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamins A, D, and E, which are very nourishing for your gut. Adding in a variety of meats, whether that's grass-fed beef, organic chicken, organic ground turkey, lamb, wild-caught fish. Ideally, high-quality meat as best as possible to avoid exposure to harmful pesticides and toxins, which further aggravate blood issues and can further contribute to deeper gut imbalances, for example, which I'll be diving into. Also, adding in some delicious spices and herbs. These are a great way to sneak in gut-loving nutrients into your day. This could be turmeric, oregano, parsley, cinnamon, fennel, cumin, garlic, ginger, mint. These are all so nourishing for your gut and help support the gut healing process. Also, sipping on some tea. That's a great way that I love to sneak in some extra gut-loving herbs. It's very soothing on your gut, too, in between meals. A nice peppermint tea, for example. Fennel is really great. Chamomile at night or a nice blended tea. I love to just look at the teas at the store. I spend so long in the tea aisle just looking at all the options, and I love to try different ones. So fun. All right. Some other gut-loving foods before we dive into some gut-loving habits include grass-fed collagen. This is great to sneak in to, say, a yogurt bowl as well to get a little bit of a protein boost or a smoothie. Dark chocolate. This is one of my favorites. Have that with some almond butter or cashew butter or sunflower seed butter. That is a great, great snack that also helps to curb those sugar cravings, too, or dates. And nut butter. I love that combo as well. And then, lastly, bone broth is another wonderful gut-loving food that also helps supporting the integrity of your gut lining. It also helps with healing the geeky gut. That's at play, too. And you can consume bone broth straight up, or you can cook it in white rice, for example, or add it into a stovetop dish. Or bone broth protein powder is another great way to incorporate that as well. And then, making it enjoyable when it comes to these meals. Making it simple and enjoyable. For example, meal prep and batch prepping some meals. Say, batch prepping your lunches, or at least a few lunches on Sunday and then again on Wednesday, for example. Having some simple sheet pan dishes and maybe a crock pot dish going at the same time. And meal prepping meals also helps to make life easier when it comes to saving time in the kitchen and also optimizing access to gut-loving foods. If you have the food already prepped and ready to go, it's way easier to grab that, especially when you are running around, your day is busy, you're on the go, and if you don't have any food prepped, then it's much more likely that you may grab something more convenient that has more processed ingredients as well. And ideally, ideally, minimizing exposure to processed foods is ideal, but of course, all in balance, all about balance. It's way better to consume a processed food than it is to skip a meal altogether, for example. But more so honing in on controlling what you can control and optimizing the quality of your foods and adding in nourishing gut-loving foods as best as possible. That is a key component to supporting low IBS relief. And this is a gradual process too, especially if you're someone who has been on a restricted diet for a long time. It will take time for your body to adapt and adjust to adding in more foods. This is also where having expert guidance in this process is really beneficial. This is something that I guide my clients through specifically, because many of my clients who now work with me previously were on very strict diets and avoided a lot of foods, and I'm helping them to add back in gut-loving foods more intentionally while also avoiding low IBS symptoms. So that is a gradual process too, to keep in mind. Okay, so tying that back to some gut-loving habits to further support digestion. So a few that I'll dive into, one being to really slow down during your meal and chew your food to really slow down during your meal and chew your food more thoroughly. This is such a simple and often overlooked habit, yet it plays a big role in optimizing digestion and helping to prevent low IBS symptoms after eating. And more often than not, we are eating pretty quickly. And this can definitely wreak havoc in our gut if we're just scarfing down our meal, if we're rushed, if we're not even aware of what we're eating and just distracted by all the things around us or all the things that we need to do. And this negatively impacts digestion. So that is one wonderful gut-loving habit to hone in on. Taking a nice deep breath before your meal, that's a nice cue to help slow yourself down during your meal as best as possible. One meal at a time. Focus on one meal at a time with this. Another gut-loving habit ties back to supporting your vagus nerve. Your vagus nerve is essentially the highway between your brain and your gut. This nerve plays a big role in your gut health and supporting digestion and reducing stress, supporting that rest and digest state that is ideal. So we'll dive into a few ways to support your vagus nerve here. This could be singing or humming. I love to blast some music and hum or sing in the car or while cooking. Laughter. I love laughing. That's a great one that also directly supports your vagus nerve. Also, deep diaphragmatic breathing as well. And exposure to cold water, but not needing to necessarily do a full-on ice bath. This can sometimes cause more stress as well, depending on the health of your nervous system. But even just splashing your water or splashing your face with cool water helps to activate your vagus nerve as well. And it's nice and refreshing, especially in the morning. It can help you wake, it can help to wake you up a little bit too. Okay. And then lastly, tying this all back to the final key component to this in regards to having freedom from bloat and IBS is to address deeper gut imbalances as well. This will also optimize how your body responds to the food that you're consuming. So say you are eating really healthy, but there's deeper gut imbalances going on such as leaky gut, which are gaps or holes in your gut lining. And as a result of these holes, your body isn't properly digesting its food or not fully digesting its food. So undigested food particles are entering your bloodstream and your body can perceive that as an enemy, leading to more inflammation, leading to more bloat and stomach discomfort. So leaky gut is a big one that must be addressed. The best way to identify if you have leaky gut, as well as these other deeper gut imbalances is the GI map test. And I run the GI map test on my clients as well. It is the most comprehensive tool test ever, eliminates the guessing game so that you know exactly what's going on in your gut. And it's a really, really simple test. And it can be done right in the comfort of your own home, which I love about that as well. If you're curious about the GI map test, feel free to send me a direct message on Instagram or Facebook too. We can chat more about it. Some other deeper gut imbalances, there could be bacterial imbalances, such as an excess of harmful bacteria taking over or a lack of beneficial bacteria as well. And it's wild how your gut bacteria, there are so many gut bacteria within your digestive tract and each one of them play their own little role. It's really cool. It's really, really cool. And it's also great when going through my GI map test results with my clients that I can tie back specific gut bacteria to, for example, constipation. If they're really constipated or the opposite, if they're having a lot of diarrhea or loose stools or lack of energy as well. These gut bacteria are profound and it's really empowering to also see how what's going on in your gut is tying into your symptoms and you're no longer feeling crazy for the symptoms that you've been experiencing with too. And you have answers, which is just, that's a relief in itself to finally have answers for what's going on in your gut specifically. Especially if you're someone who's gone to the doctor, you've had lab testing done and you haven't gotten answers, it's definitely time to do the GI map test. That is life changing. There are other gut imbalances that could be at play, such as H. pylori, there could be some candida slash yeast going on, could be a parasite, as well as poor immune function, which increases the risk for pathogens. So many, so many deeper gut imbalances that could be at play. And often there's multiple going on when it comes to bloating IBS symptoms. So when we tie all of this together, the gut loving foods, the gut loving habits, and properly identifying and addressing the deeper gut imbalances at play, that is a life changing journey towards freedom from bloat and IBS. Rather than continuing to be in this endless cycle of strict dieting, cutting out foods, only to feel more frustrated and more stressed. And it also really negatively impacts quality of life because as a result of these diet plans, you may feel stressed about going to your friend's house or going out to dinner, going out for dates. That was definitely me. I was so stressed out doing those things. Sometimes I would just say no altogether to try to avoid the stress and eat my chicken and rice at home. Right? So it's really looking at all these factors and giving yourself the freedom to add in more gut loving nourishing foods as well. So good. Okay. I hope this is encouragement to you. If you have any questions on anything that I have chatted about here, please send me a message on Instagram or Facebook. If you are interested in the GI MAP test, please send me a message or I will have a form linked in the show notes below to express interest in getting more info. We'll chat more about that. And now is your time to experience freedom from low IBS and I would love to guide you and support you in that process.