Are you struggling to manage your IBS symptoms effectively? In Episode 42 of the Inside Knowledge podcast, I'll share 10 common mistakes that could be worsening your symptoms.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll discover:

1. Top 10 Mistakes Unveiled: Despite your best efforts, some interventions may inadvertently worsen your IBS symptoms.
2. Eating Habits Impact: From gobbling down meals too quickly to eating while distracted, Anna highlights how your eating patterns could be hindering proper digestion and exacerbating discomfort.
3. The Importance of Breathing: Surprisingly, correct breathing techniques can significantly impact your digestive health.
4. Fibre Facts: Learn the delicate balance of fibre intake for optimal digestion.
5. Timing of your meals: Discover why late-night meals and overly restrictive diets could be contributing to your digestive woes.

Work with me

• 1:1 Gut Reset - https://www.goodnessme-nutrition.com/consultations/
• Group Gut Reset - https://www.goodnessme-nutrition.com/group-course-ibsc/

Ready for your gut reset? 🌍 I work with clients worldwide, providing remote consultations and a wealth of educational resources.

Instagram - @goodnessme_nutrition

How do you know if you're making your

IBS worse with all your interventions?

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In this episode of the Inside

Knowledge podcast, I'll be sharing

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the top 10 mistakes I see my clients

making, even if you feel like you

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know all the tricks in the book.

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Sometimes you might start taking a

supplement, avoiding a certain food,

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or changing the way you eat, and these

things might seem helpful at first, but

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may actually end up contributing to your

symptoms like bloating, excessive gas,

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reflux, or constipation or diarrhea.

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Not all of these things in this

episode are going to apply to you,

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but you might just find one of these

mistakes and correcting the way

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you're dealing with them is the first

step in getting better digestion.

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Welcome to episode 42

of the Inside Knowledge.

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I'm Anna Mapson, and this episode is

all about helping you if you've got IBS.

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Today I'm going to focus in on

some of the things that people do.

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Unwittingly, that might be making

your symptoms a little bit worse.

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Some of the things might feel obvious,

but actually these are common mistakes.

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And that's why I focused on this

for an episode of the podcast.

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I just wanted to run through some

things which I see again and again,

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even in people who've really feel

like they've got a lot of experience

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in dealing with digestive conditions.

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It's easy to feel overwhelmed by

all the tips out there on social

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media, the blogs, the podcasts.

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There's so many things you could be

doing and you might have already tried

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multiple elimination diets or different

supplements to relieve your symptoms

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if nothing feels like it's working.

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Let's go through these top 10 bad

habits that might be contributing

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and see if any of them apply to you.

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The first mistake could be

that you're eating too fast.

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If you're eating on the go all

the time, eating whilst you're

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distracted, you're less likely

to be ready to digest your food.

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If you can make time to sit at

a table so your body is sitting

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upright, you can chew your food really

well and take some deep breaths to

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calm down before you start eating.

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then you're able to

better digest your food.

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So it might seem a bit obvious, but

if you actually take small bites

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of food and really chew each bite

thoroughly before swallowing, it can

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help you to digest your food better.

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Another thing is eating

whilst you're distracted.

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So either eating whilst you're working at

your desk or whilst you're watching TV.

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This is partly because your brain needs

some time to send the signal from your

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stomach That you've had enough to eat,

we have a couple of different ways of

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registering our fullness and some of it

is the stretch receptors in our stomach,

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just acknowledging that food is in the

stomach and then also we have chemical

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signals coming from the body that are part

of the digestion of proteins and fats.

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telling the brain that we are

getting enough nutrients and we are

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okay to stop eating for this meal.

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If you ignore all of these signals because

you are eating and you haven't even

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noticed for example that you've finished

the meal or you've reached for another

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crisp and oh, they're all gone, this can

easily happen when you're not engaging

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your brain in the process of eating.

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So slowing down to eat will be one

of the first things that you can do.

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The second mistake I see people making

is not sitting on the toilet properly.

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Now you might think how

difficult can it be?!

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But actually we have a whole load of

muscles that have to contract and open

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at the right time to let the poo out.

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One of the things we can do to

make it easier is to sit with our

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feet raised up around about 15

20 centimetres off the ground.

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Just enough so that your hip

are lower than your knees.

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What you want to do is put your body

into a bit more of a squatting position.

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This is a more natural way for you to go.

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This is not just helpful for people

who have constipation, although

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it is the most useful for them.

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However, I also think it's really

helpful for people who have more

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loose stools and diarrhoea type IBS.

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You don't need a particular product,

although there is a product out there

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called the Squatty Potty, but, you can

just use a box, a book, one of those

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little kids plastic steps to help them

reach the sink, anything really that

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just raises your feet off the ground.

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Make sure hips go lower than your

knees and you just lean forward,

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putting your elbows onto your legs.

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And by doing that, you're putting

yourself in a better position

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that's more comfortable and more

physiologically sound for having a poo.

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The third mistake I see people making very

frequently is irregular eating patterns.

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So you're eating big meals or just

going for a long time without any food.

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When you've got IBS and you eat big

meals that are high in protein fats or

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calories it can cause a slow digestion

and this may add to your bloating

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and discomfort and abdominal pain.

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People with IBS may find fasting or

really long gaps between meals can also

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cause cramping or like colicky pains.

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So if you leave too long between

meals, you're more likely

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to overeat at the next meal.

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Also, if you eat a lot of Fibre at

one go, like a large salad and lots of

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vegetables, or you try to eat three

normal sized meals in a restricted

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feeding window of eight hours, you

will not have very long to digest your

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meal before the next meal comes around.

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So most of the research about fasting

is on a 16 8 pattern or longer.

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without food.

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So you're fasting for 16 hours

eating in an eight hour window.

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This is great for some people.

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It does work okay.

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But when you've got IBS, if you're

trying to eat your five vegetables

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a day, at least 50 grams of protein

in just eight hours, you may find it.

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Puts pressure on your digestion.

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The other thing I see people doing is

not just fasting, but eating erratically.

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So some days you'll have breakfast,

and you'll eat lunch and dinner.

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Some days you're skipping breakfast,

but then you're snacking all day.

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And your body loves routine.

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It loves to be boring, even though

you might think it's boring.

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Your body is happiest when it's

doing things in a set routine.

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The fourth mistake is drinking

alcohol and not understanding

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the impact that that can have.

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Now I'm not someone who will say you

shouldn't be drinking at all but what I

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want you to do is understand the impact

on your gut of alcohol and it's not just

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as you're drinking it or the next day.

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Alcohol can bring on symptoms of IBS.

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Most people know that as you're getting

A bit of a hangover, you might also

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get loose stools, a bit bloated,

gassy and also increased anxiety.

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Alcohol is a diuretic, it causes

a bit of dehydration and that can

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sometimes irritate your stomach.

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But also, alcohol itself just

irritates the lining of our gut and

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our intestines and that can add to your

sensitivity and pain as well as gas.

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So if you do drink, just try not to

go overboard and obviously try to pick

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drinks that are not your triggers.

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So some people it will be the fizziness

of things and they get on better

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with something like wine or ale.

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Other people may find that they get on

better with spirits and a mixer and the

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bubbles aren't such an issue and it's more

the fermented drinks like beer and wine.

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Some of them are higher FODMAPs,

for example, like rum, cider.

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White wine and red wine.

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These can all be high in FODMAPs

and can add to your symptoms.

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However, generally, alcohol, we

all know, is not that good for us.

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But if you're going to do it, then

what I mentioned is what I want to

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think about is how long it takes you to

recover from the bloating, from the gas.

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It's not just the next day.

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I do find with my clients that

they drastically underestimate

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the impact of a big night out.

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on their digestion.

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So if you're someone who has a

night out every weekend or you're

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frequently drinking, try to think

about the impact that that might

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be having on your IBS symptoms.

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The fifth mistake is ignoring

the urge to poo when you need to.

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This can contribute to IBS, because if

you don't listen to your body, you don't

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go when you need to, you may find that

over time, your body loses sensitivity

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to these signals, your nervous system

is telling you that you need to go

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and release waste from your body.

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And even if you're not at home in

your normal toilet, You should go to

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try and do it if you're at school,

if you're at work, wherever there's a

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toilet that's nearby, because if you're

holding it in, you may be contributing

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to future issues with pelvic floor

dysfunction, and that is partly down

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to your nervous system not recognizing

the messages and just not allowing the

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processes to happen in the right moment.

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I've had quite a lot of clients who don't

want to go at work or cannot bear to go

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in a public space if there's not cubicle

toilets., and I really do understand

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some of the challenges with this.

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You're worried about the noise, you're

worried about the smell and generally

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just feel anxious about having a poo

because sometimes it can take a long time.

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It can feel scary as well.

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If you take a little bag of things around

with you including some, maybe some air

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freshener or smells that you can release

into the toilet that can help, sometimes

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flushing to reduce the noise, like there's

all kinds of things but don't ignore

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the urge to go when you need to go.

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The sixth mistake I see is people

who are inadvertently increasing the

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amount of air that they are swallowing.

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This can happen with chewing gum, drinking

a lot of fizzy drinks and eating Whilst

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you're talking and eating whilst you're

distracted, which is why the first

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mistake was about slow eating, chewing

your food really well and all of that.

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Now, when we're chewing gum we can

quite easily swallow a lot of air that

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can add to IBS, so try not to do that.

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Also, some chewing gums have got

xylitol in them, which is a high FODMAP

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sweetener and you might also find

that that is irritating your digestion

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as you're You know, digesting some

of that xylitol with fizzy drinks,

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obviously, like the carbonation is

adding small bubbles of gas into your

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stomach that has to come out somehow.

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So it's either going to come up as

belching or it's going to go down and

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come out as flatulence, the carbonation

just adding to that gas build up.

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And if you're someone who really

suffers with hypersensitivity and

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really noticing every small painful

passage of gas through your intestines.

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Then you're just going

to be making that worse.

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The seventh mistake that I see is people

not knowing how to breathe correctly.

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Again, a little bit like not

sitting on the toilet correctly.

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You might think, oh, well, I've

managed so far throughout my life,

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breathing away, not a problem.

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And, of course, you are breathing.

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You're breathing okay.

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But, what people are doing less and

less, These days is good diaphragmatic

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deep breathing and Some of the benefits

of this is that it helps to relax you

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so deals with stress and anxiety and

learning how to breathe correctly Really

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can help get oxygen around your body it

can help to reduce feelings of anxiety

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because as we're engaging in a slow and

out breath, like the exhalation that's

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longer than the inhalation, we're engaging

the parasympathetic nervous system.

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That is your nervous system that

helps you feel relaxed, helps you feel

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calm, and that is kind of soothing

your digestive system . So we want

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to try to reduce symptoms of stress.

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I could have said in this mistake,

just don't be as stressed or deal

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with your stress, but actually

that's not very helpful and I

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also know it's not very realistic.

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What you can do is deal with some

of the symptoms of stress which are

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holding yourself tight, feeling very

anxious and like Withdrawn and kind

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of just holding everything tense.

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So if you're physically, consciously

relaxing your body through

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deepened breaths, that does have a

positive impact on your digestion.

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We know stress and anxiety affects your

digestion, and over time that can lead

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to more and more IBS type symptoms.

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It doesn't mean the IBS is in your

head, it just means that it can be

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triggered by feelings of anxiety.

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There's physiological changes,

there's chemical changes when

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we're highly stressed and anxious.

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And these do have an impact on your

ability to digest your food and typical

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IBS symptoms such as bloating, pain,

erratic bowel habits, and let's

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come on to the last three mistakes.

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at number eight is fiber.

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Now I haven't said not enough fiber

or too much fiber because you need

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to find the right amount for you.

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Some people feel better with a little

bit less fiber and I have actually

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had a few clients who were so into

trying to do well and trying to eat

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healthily that they were actually

overeating with IBS in terms of fiber.

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And this was negatively

impacting their digestion.

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However, most people need

to eat a bit more fiber.

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Fiber is probably something

that you've reduced down because

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it can trigger your symptoms.

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It doesn't mean that this is bad for you.

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And this is where working with a trained

nutrition professional is probably

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the best way to increase your diet

diversity and increase your fiber.

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Because you want to find fiber that

is not going to set off your bloating.

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The bloating is sometimes down

to bacterial fermentation.

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Some of that can be happening in the

small intestine which is SIBO, Small

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Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, where

you've got too many bacteria in your small

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intestine doing a good job, they're doing

the right job, they're fermenting fibre,

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but they shouldn't be doing it there,

they should be in your large intestine,

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or they should be not there at all.

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Now, you are aiming for around 30 grams

of fibre a day, That is the correct sort

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of target to aim for, however, most people

are around 18 grams on average in the UK.

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And so the best way to do it is

just to really gradually increase

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your intake small amounts every day.

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Just try to increase your

fiber by a little bit more

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than you were eating yesterday.

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It could be like one gram,

two grams of fiber a day.

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It doesn't have to be much, but what

we're trying to do is gently, over

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time, build it up so that you are

getting somewhere near that target.

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The ninth mistake I see people making

frequently is eating very late at night.

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And this could be either because you're

going to the gym in the evenings,

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or you're waiting for your partner

to get home from work, or maybe you

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don't finish work till 8 o'clock

and then you've got to cook and do

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all of that stuff when you get back.

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If you're eating late at night, however,

it could be contributing to a worse

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quality of sleep, symptoms such as acid

reflux and regurgitation or bloating.

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So if you're in the habit of eating

late at night, it may be affecting

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your body's ability to digest the

food and that is because When we're

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eating late at night, we've probably

got more food still in our stomach

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that is not gone down into the small

intestine by the time you go to lie down.

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So allowing around three hours before

bed is the best way to help prevent

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those sort of reflux symptoms.

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So you're sitting upright or you're

walking around after your dinner.

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And then that just allows the food to be

slightly digested before you go lie down.

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The other thing is that your body tends

to be better at dealing with glucose

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earlier in the day and we know that

people throughout the day on average

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Have a worse response to glucose.

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So kind of a higher insulin

resistance over the course of the day.

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And so if you're having a really large

meal really late at night, then your

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tolerance to that in terms of blood

glucose and insulin may be worse

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than when you ate that same meal.

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First thing in the morning, so

also need to think about over time.

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How often are you doing this?

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You know once or twice a week doesn't

really matter But if you're regularly

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eating your largest meal of the

day at 9 o'clock And then you're

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going to bed at 10 or 11 o'clock.

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It's quite late in the day So ideally

we want to front load the energy

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intake or at least try and have more

of your nutrition earlier in the day.

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The way it might be reducing your

sleep quality is just that your

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body's still digesting the food.

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Sometimes people will find if they

eat late at night, they wake up in

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the middle of the night and they're

getting like a blood glucose dip

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first thing in the morning as well.

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This is down to do with your insulin

and also your liver processing as well.

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This is basically meant to

happen, not when you're asleep.

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So just shifting it all forward might

help you get better quality of sleep.

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And we know that sleep also has a bearing

on IBS symptoms, especially things

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like pain, anxiety, and sensitivity.

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And then the final mistake.

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is something you've heard me talk about

a lot if you're a regular listener.

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And that is overly restricting your diet.

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A lack of diversity in your gut microbes

may be causing issues with your digestion.

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This is down to the way our gut microbes

interact with our immune system and help

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to build a good, strong lining of the

gut, like a good mucous layer, a good

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bacterial layer as well that are just

protecting us and keeping up it all intact

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that is better and stronger when we eat

a diversity of fibers, a diversity of

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nutrients that allow us to build a strong

immune system and that strong gut lining.

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The other thing is that if you have

removed a lot of foods from your

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diet, you may be low in certain key

nutrients that are important for

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your overall physiology and health.

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So things like iron, calcium,

zinc, B vitamins, these tend to

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be low in people who have IBS.

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I hope that's given you a few things

to think about in how you might be

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able to improve your IBS symptoms.

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Whether it's just making

some small changes or just

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addressing some of these topics.

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I know living with IBS is very

challenging and it's very hard to

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change your diet and your lifestyle.

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But the good news is that sometimes

making these small steps to manage your

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symptoms, you know, in a healthy way.

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can actually make things more

manageable so you're living with

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IBS but feeling better in yourself.

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If you want to work with me I run a three

month gut reset program where I take

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people on an individual basis through

diet and lifestyle changes that can

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really reduce unpredictable gut symptoms

like bloating, constipation or diarrhea,

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abdominal pain, and excessive gas.

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Follow me on Instagram for

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regular tips and content.

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I'm called goodness me underscore

nutrition on Instagram and you can

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sign up to my mailing list to get

regular Emails from me each week.

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I send out some tips on how to improve

your digestion Reflections from my gut

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reset program where I share things that

I found worked or Client stories and

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then I also send out one recommendation

per week and that might be a podcast

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that I've found interesting or a recipe

or an article that you may enjoy.

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I'll put the link in the show

notes if you want to sign up to

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the Inside Knowledge email list.

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That's it for this week.

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Thanks for getting the Inside Knowledge.

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Better digestion for everyone.