stuff I’m not paid to endorse: my best stomach fixes
I think I’m going to start a series of posts of recommendations. Stuff that works for me, that I use/eat/refer to/get inspired by. I’ve had a number of emails asking me to share this kind of thing. Let’s make it a Thursday thing for a while. Yes.
Just as a note, if you’re looking for this stuff later, it will be filed on the “recommendations” page.
So, this week: what I use when my gut is playing up. I have a litany of stomach issues, many stemming from my auto-immune issues, some from just being an over-eater. It’s been called IBS over the years. I just don’t buy the IBS thing. Nobody just has a cranky gut. As in, it’s just cranky for the fun of it. There’s always something else behind it – a stress issue, an adrenal issue, a sugar addiction, an overly acidic system. Or, in my case, all of the above.
Now, I was going to apologise to anyone who’s eating. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably in my same boat – more interested in finding fixes for your pain than dancing around polite euphemisms. So…. shit, poo, week, diarrhea, squirts, farts… let’s get it out there.
Here’s my arsenal for my various crappy stomach states. Of course, I’m not prescribing anything here. I’m just saying, after much experimenting, the below tricks have come to work for me:
1. For when you’re bloated and gassy like Michelin Man: Mintec. These are capsules filled with peppermint oil that you can buy over the counter at all pharmacies and health food shops. Cheap, simple, natural. I take one before I go to bed when I’m in trouble, so I can sleep. The peppermint oil relaxes the muscles in the lower bowel and colon. Often I get bloated in the afternoon. If I’m going out for dinner, I take one just before heading out and it aids my digestion. They leave you with great minty breath, too.
2. For when you’re stuck, plain and simple: Nature’s Sunshine Lower Bowel Stimulant. I use these for emergencies. When things haven’t budged for a while. The container says to take 1-4. I generally find 1 or 2 at night ensures action in the morning that’s not too dramatic, if you get my drift. I’ll take one the following night, too, to coax my system back into the habit of morning movement, but never more than two nights in a row. They’re all natural and from various barks and roots.
3. For keeping things smooth (#1) slippery elm powder: this is a little wonder bark, this one. I add a teaspoon to hot water (sometimes I had cinammon…the flavour is quite nice…a bit mapley) and it becomes a mucilaginous tea that soothes the stomach. It works for both constipation and diarrhea, and is also good for insomnia when taken at night. I think both Coles and Woolies sell it in their health food aisles.
4. For keeping things smooth (#2) psyllium husks: another mucilaginous drink when combined with water, these husks are super cheap (a few dollars for a big bag) and easy to add to a juice in the morning. They taste of pretty much nothing, so can be added to gluten-free muffins and breads (they make them less crumbly), or to porridge or muesli. You know Metamucil? Pretty much a psyliium husks with added bits (and more expensive). Since they’re pretty much pure fibre, they’re also good for balancing out GI and great if you’re detoxing, cos they “drag” everything through your system.
5. For keeping things smooth (#2) Intestamine: A great nutritional supplement containing slippery elm and glutamine and aloe vera to help maintain the integrity of the gut lining longterm. More of a product you’d take in conjunction with advice from a nutritionist.
* I ingest one of the above most days, in the morning, just a teaspoon. I mix it up a little, so my system doesn’t get used to one or the other. With all three, it’s vital that you drink lots of water before and after because they absorb a lot. If you don’t drink water with them, they can have the opposite effect, turning into little hard balls of fibre (esp the husks)
6. For keeping things even smoother: chia seeds. I’ve written about these slippery little suckers before. They are really effective. Again, drink lots of water with them – they absorb 10-17 times their weight in water and will grind things to a halt if left unwatered. I sprinkle a teaspoon on my cereal, toss a few teaspoons in muffins or salads or stirfries.
7. For when I get a little off-track: breakfast yoghurt. A guy in a health food shop in Bangalow shared this one with me. Take half a cup of yoghurt, stir in a teaspoon of slippery elm powder and drizzle with a tablespoon of hemp seed oil. Add frozen berries to make it palatable. I know it sounds seriously disgusting. It’s not all that bad. Hemp oil is a little like flaxseed oil - high in essential fatty acids etc. You could use flaxseed oil instead. With both oils (avail at health food shops; needs to be kept in the fridge and should NEVER be heated) you should be drizzling on salads daily…they are your friends!!
8. To fire things up every day: lemon juice in hot water. Easy, simple, every morning as soon as I wake up. I keep a bowl of lemon wedges in my fridge ready to go. Organic apple cider vinegar is also good for when my system feels sluggish (and bogged down by too much fat, or stodge, when I’ve been eating not so well). I’ll take a capful in the morning (straight), or before a meal. It gets the gastric juices well fired up. I sprinkle the vinegar with the hemp seed oil on my salads.
9. I avoid or just don’t eat the following: gluten (cutting it out has changed my life), dried fruit, fermented soy products, too many beans and pulses, alcohol on an empty stomach, eating fruit with other foods, fruit salad (it’s best to eat one fruit at a time because different fruits digest at different speeds), brown rice that hasn’t been soaked overnight (more on this later), deepfried food, unsoaked nuts (again, more on this in a later post) and….sugar!
10. What about booze? I seriously limit it these days. When I do drink, I go for organic red wine, vodka and soda, the occasional martini and Campari with soda. Actually, Campari before a meal works really well for me…it gets my digestion flowing, which is what the 64 herbs and spices it’s made from are meant to do. It’s literally a tonic and not too high in alcohol.
11. And the stuff I just want to mention briefly: definitely take probiotics (I won’t go into detail on this front…a specialist should be advising you on which to take), yoga is God-send, as is any kind of DAILY exercise (doesn’t matter what it is, just getting blood flowing through the stomach helps), fennel, chamomile and licorice root tea is ace (peppermint doesn’t agree with me for some reason) and also look out for Chi Nei Tsang, a Taoist stomach massage which, OMG, gets things so balanced. Not many people practice this…I know a woman called Laura at Gwinganna does…so if you come across it, share the deets here!
What about you? Share your tips now!!! And feel free to describe things in terms of poo, farts, shit, and other ablutive outbursts!
Oh Sarah one again you share your useful insight and knowledge.
Thank you so much, page is now bookmarked.
Keep the hints coming,
Chris
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Brilliant! Just brilliant. I suffer from the vagueness that is ‘ibs’ and I agree, gut problems don’t crop up just because it’s fun. For me it’s been a loooong journey of finding out why, and I believe it has been a combination of depression, stress, over-eating and under-eating, and probably more I’m yet to look back and analyse! (In fact…I have begun a blog about it but is as-yet a wee bit underdeveloped so watch this space…).
I have cut out gluten (and it is absolutely life-changing). I take a slippery elm/pro biotics powder mixed in with juice and also a pro-biotic capsule before I go to bed. Peppermint tea is great for me for a quick fix, and I also avoid alcohol, get plenty of exercise, sleep…basically all the things you talk about some where on this site Sarah!
Keep up the great work, I visit you every day! xxx
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Sarah, great post! So many people struggle in this area, and tried n tested advice is often more appealing than ‘expert’ advice.
My tip is to mix a decent pinch of real salt (I.e. Himalayan) in a glass water before bed, then drink it first thing. Definitely gets things moving and also is said to rejuvenate the adrenals. I follow it with some kind of fibre chaser and more water.
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November 30th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
You have my extreme admiration!
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Question: I have a stomach ulcer (duodenal), due to stress. Some Doctors say avoid vinegar, but I’ve heard that organic apple cider vinegar has an alkaline effect.
I have a big bottle of Braggs in the fridge but not sure if it’s making things better or worse.
Thoughts?
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Getting a lactose check-up changed my life. Turns out I can’t digest dairy at all! It’s been like this my whole life, but I didn’t find out before I was 22. If you’re having troubles, I definitely recommend getting this checked!
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Hi Sarah, great post and great timing.
I’m on day two of four weeks of being digestively good, as naturally and gently as I can (I’m not even taking herb pills – all the details are on my blog). Water, exercise, fibre, fruit, vegies, etc. So far I have a caffeine withdrawal headache and lots of nausea. So at least I know something’s happening
I’m pretty sure I’m lactose or gluten intolerant, but I want to set a normality bar before I find out reliably (which means MUCH less chocolate – hence the headache).
I have found out that the digestive system is meant to take about thirty hours, and can be observed (as it were) using corn. To me, that’s both delightful and fascinating.
Oh, and I once invented a fart potion for a children’s book. Brussels sprouts, raw onion, garlic, lime and milk. It was *highly* effective. For a week.
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I’m happy to jhave the label IBS, I just know now that I have things behind it, things in my power.
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I’ve been using the lower bowel stimulant ever since i started a six-week enema program. The specialist also reccomended taking psyllium hull, rather then the husk as you only need 1tsp of hull to get the fibre equivalent to 4 or so tsp of husk. One tip – drink it out of a jar once you add water to it. I’ve been told that stirring the psyllium causes the mixture to gel to quickly so chug it back and chase it with a glass of water, quickly!
I’m also taking swisse liquid chloraphyll which i’ve found gives me more energy. My partner started to try out aloe vera as he has IBS symptoms but was told by a Chinese doctor that having cold drinks actually can cause more harm then good. Whats you’re thoughts on this? From my understanding it disrupts short-term homeostasis in the digestive trace, but I can’t come to think of how it could cause harm!
I love reading your blogs, especially ones like this as i’m a bit of a nutrition nut.
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I think mint irritates the stomach as with skin when in beauty products
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Coffee! Never again will it pass my lips.
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Am currently having a really bad bout of IBS symptoms (medically diagnosed) so am trying very hard to find out which foods might be the culprits – can anyone tell me how long after you’ve eaten something it will affect your lower bowel i.e. I’m trying to figure out food from which meal I’ve eaten is the culprit to cause terrible bloating and wind.
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I am a big fan of apple cider vinegar too – particularly mixed with hot water, honey, ginger and cayenne pepper – to get you over the Winter woes. Awesome for that sore throat.
Psyllium husk is ace too! Have some every morning in my superfood smoothie – along with flaxseed, crushed almonds, Vital Greens, bee pollen, Maca, Acai, berries or other fruit and juice.
All organic preferably, then you just bounce off the walls with energy all day.
Great tips Sarah!
Cheers
Mel
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Ginger as a tea or a tablet (you can get straight ginger in a travel sickness prevention tablet made by a major Australian supplement company) is great for bowel or abdominal pain. Sure, it’s better to avoid the foods/drink that might trigger the discomfort in the first place but a ginger tablet or two works quickly to decrease the pain. It’s also the cheap and effective for period pain.
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People who suffer from gastric disorders may wish to explore the wonderful world of food combining.
Essentially it means not eating animal protein with carbohydrate at the same time/meal. So if you want to have fish or steak you don’t eat chips as well. You can have vegetables or salad with them. Alternatively you can just eat the chips and the salad.
So no more poached eggs on toast. There is heaps of info on the web about it as well as the need to reduce consumption of acid forming foods and increasing consumption of alkaline foods.
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Ok, here is the indication of how much I enjoy your writing and insight: I just read all of this, and don’t even have a stomach problem so to speak of! (I actually still found some useful bits and pieces in there…)
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jo Tracey, sarah wilson and sarah wilson, YaGA. YaGA said: stuff I’ve not been paid to endorse: my best stomach fixes http://bit.ly/bfB2k3 – Makes for awesome reading waiting for more to come!! [...]
I love this post. I didn’t know Mintec was all natural so I might pick some up now next time I’m shopping. Also, soaking your brown rice makes it cook faster. It was a pleasant surprise and luckily I checked before it burnt.
For me, a cup of peppermint tea before bed smooths my digestion. In the morning, lemon with hot water is a must for me as well. I find it rehydrates me after a sleep and in half an hour I’ll have a nice satisfying poo!
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Really generous post. Love it all and thanks for the excellent tips.
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haha sarah i just love you! that post made me smile and nod cause we both use a lot of the same stuff. i was a vegetarian for over 10 years and suffered terribly from ‘ibs’. have just had a baby and as i did with my first pregnancy, i ate meat (big fab of listening to the body here!). ibs gone!! maybe i was overdoing carbs/gluten as a vego? who knows? baby now 9 weeks and am still eating meat. anyway, thanks for your candid insights! a…
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June 30th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
meat works for me, too!!
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Sarah,
Can you elaborate on how cutting our gluten was so life changing for you?
What foods exactly did you have to cut out and how has it effected your body?
ThankYou!
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June 30th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Joanne, check out my earlier blogs on auto immune disease…. I cut out all wheat, barley products, which includes all kinds of things (soy sauce, couscous etc). It’s so easy now. I don’t even notice the inconvenience. When I eat gluten now, the next day I swell up, have a gut ache and can’t exercise because my joints feel really weak. The difference is instant now. Hope that helps
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I never eat gluten because i am a coeliac but when i go out and get an attack because the restuarant does not know what is in their food, ie indian curry made with coconut milk that contained a wheat thickenener in the milk, then i normally have gut issues after that, same thing happens with dairy although nowhere near as bad as the gluten, because gluten will also effect your immunity if you are a coeliac as well as a range of skin disorders and not to mention the irritable mood and grumpiness.
I went to a naturopath for this and she gave me digestive herbs to have before meals, enzymes with meals and a formula for after meals containing slippery elm, psyllium, pre biotics and marshmallow, problem with this is that i also reacted to some of the binders in the product so after reading your info on buying the psyllium and slippery elm on their own that sounds great for me as binders equals issues. Thanks for the tip and i will try the seeds and oil. I find glutamine is great too really soothing on the gut as well as aloe vera juice in the am and pm in my lemon juice with water.
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June 30th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
you’ve taught me something, too…the coconut milk thing. I’ve totally gone off it recently because it knocks me about.
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Amiable dispatch and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you as your information.
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[...] 5. On my salads: hemp seed oil. I mentioned this lovely oil last week. Perhaps you know about how flaxseed oil is high in essential fatty acids? And is great for increasing HDL (good cholesterol) and reducing LDL (the bad stuff)? Well hemp seed contains even more EFAs and in a better balance that its flaxy cousin. It’s also more stable and doesn’t go rancid as easily. I also love the flavour. A warning: it’s rich and rather herbaceous in flavour. But works really well with apple cider vinegar as a dressing on salads. For my bowel-friendly breakfast recipe see my previous post. [...]
This is something that I was prescribed by an Ayurvedic doctor in India:
http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/products/triphala.htm
It was the bomb. It not only hurried things along down there, it helped to clear up my angry, cystic acned skin (there is, IMO, a very strong link between the state of one’s bowels and the state of one’s skin).
Now, I occasionally still take triphala, but more regularly take two dessertspoons of aloe vera juice every morning.
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Thank you for so many inspiring tips and simple reminders on how to nuture yourself. I am a fan of Chi Nei Tsang and can recommend Rob Stalbow for this treatment who works out of Edgecliff, Manly and Annandale – contact with his persmission :robstalbow@gmail.com
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July 4th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Yay, thanks for the contact!!!
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I am having a great time relaxing tonight by reading back through your archives. This post is just wonderful for me. I suffer from Crohn’s Disease and systemic arthritis and am constantly trying to pinpoint why I feel well one day, and horrible the next. I have been tested for coeliac disease about four times now, but the results have always been negative. Could it be worthwhile cutting it out anyway just to see what happens?
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August 22nd, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Hi Amber
what kind of test did you have for coeliacs? I tested negative on a blood test many years ago but have since had it confirmed by a positive gene test, my symptoms & vitamin deficiencies (D & Iron). For many years I had no help from doctors with my symptoms, but found the effects were obvious once I eliminated gluten, I felt so much better, and now get a very clear reaction when I have it by accident. You can’t have a bowel biopsy for diagnosis unless you are still eating gluten, so that may be worth considering as Coeliacs is an auto-immune disease that can indicate increased risk of other things, so it is worth knowing for sure. I went off gluten first and am now not willing to eat it again for the sake of a test!
Another food group that can be a culprit with joint pain and inflammation is the Nightshade family. (Tomato, Eggplant, Potato, Chilli and Capsicum). I have discovered that my reaction to these is as bad as my reaction to gluten. I too was feeling well one day and horrible the next, so suspected another food was messing with me, particularly with joint pain (although I don’t have arthritis or Crohn’s). Many arthritis sufferers find an improvement on eliminating Nightshades. I noticed feeling quite zonked after a big tomato based or potato based meal, but the real reaction was only clear after eliminating nightshades completely for 2 weeks, then challenging. Despite the obvious sacrifices with meal options, I am now completely off Nightshades and it is so worth it.
Its not easy trying to be your own food allergy detective, but it can really make a difference. Good luck and hope this helps!
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By “it” I mean gluten, of course!
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I’ve had IBS symptoms since I was a teenager. In my twenties I figured out I was lactose intolerant, so stopped having dairy. While things improved I still wasn’t 100%. I seemed to react to wheat so had a test for Coeliacs diseases and it came back negative – the Dr said it must be IBS. I cut gluten out of my diet which made a difference but I still got symptoms on and off. It wasn’t until I got talking to a friend of a friend who had fructose malabsorption that i realised that is what I may have – it means that I can’t digest fructose or fructans which are found in wheat, brown rice (white is ok), honey, coconut milk, some fruits (e.g. apples, pears) and some vegies (e.g. onion, tomatoe paste). While haven’t been tested yet, it is remarkable the difference I have noticed following a low fructose / fructans diet.
Here is some more info about fructose malabsorption:
http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-information/fructose-malabsorption
I recommend trying a low FODMAP diet if you are suffering from IBS and have been tested for other disorders and haven’t yet found an answer:
http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-information/low-fodmap-diet
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This is fabulous, thank you so much! One small issue though: lemon juice with hot water first thing in the morning can be very acidic and actually bad for the stomach. A dietitian informed me of this, and ever since I’ve just switched to a glass of warm water and have found this to have the same beneficial effect without creating acid. I’m sure everyone is different and some can probably tolerate the acid, but I thought I’d share this anyway.
Thanks again,
Cat
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Hi All
Love Jen’s post above, I have finally gone and had the breath testing myself and it is confirmed that I have fructose malabsorption (which means cutting out gluten in my diet as well)
A couple of things I have picked up – if I have an ‘attack”drinking aloe vera juice settles the stomach, stops cramping and eliviates the gas (or African malnutrition baby stomach – rock hard – and gets you mistaken for being pregnant) You can get it in supermarkets (health food aisle) or health food shops
Fructose malabsorption is heredity! Check your family history – Dad was diagnosed, me two years later and now I am sending my sister off to get checked.
It seems to be common in those with auto-immune conditions/low resistance (Hashimotos’ in my case). I also have horrendously low Vitamin D levels which my doctor has noted that her other Fructose patients have so take a supplement!
Nic
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Hi Sarah,
I’ve been looking through your archived posts but found nothing.
Do you take any other supplements other than this?
I am in general having quite a good diet. Don’t really have any digestion/stomach issues.
But I do feel tired most of the day which I am on my iron tablets.
I know it needs incorporate exercise which i do as well, and it has no quick fix.
Is there any thing good for getting back energy, getting balance?
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I’m SO glad I stumbled across this. I struggle with internal issues at times, and beyond a cup of peppermint tea or some Eno’s I’m never sure what else to try. I’m definitely printing this out to refer back to.
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