I have had a lot of experience with stomach issues for well over a decade. Some food sensitivities were part of it, as I was diagnosed as gluten intolerant (Celiac) around 15 years ago. I had a variety of tests done to determine that I had a “leaky gut” and that I was deficient in a certain probiotic bacteria. There are so many factors involved in digestion including emotional state that it is impossible to attribute issues to a single thing most of the time. A doctor I saw years ago about my issues is one of the leading experts in the country on Celiac disease, and is just an extremely sharp and informative guy when it comes to all aspects of nutrition and gut health. His name is Dr Thomas O’Bryan. Pretty much all I am including here comes from his suggestions, as well as personal experience based on what I have tried under his guidance. None of this should be considered medical advice. I am a personal trainer with some knowledge of nutrition and gut health, I am not a doctor. But the things listed here are pretty basic and natural, and assuming you are not allergic to any of them, they might help.
FIBER/PSYLLIUM. One thing that wound up helping as much as anything else was taking psyllium, a fiber supplement which is basically what Metamucil is (without the unnecessary sugar that makes Metamucil questionable). Among my issues was a very active colon. I had assumed that with that issue, the last thing I needed was more fiber. But when I started using psyllium consistently, everything firmed up and my colon became less active. I have no doubt it was the fiber. Apparently psyllium goes into the intestine and sucks all of the excess water out of loose stools, among other things. I felt I should mention it because of the huge difference it made, after many years of a bland diet and trying a lot of other things. It is natural and plant based, so I highly recommend it for just about anybody with stomach issues. You can try it and perhaps it makes things a lot better without needing to do a whole lot else. I take one tablespoon before bed, rather than the 2 that some suggest, that seemed to be enough for me. I have also read that when taken with food, it slows down digestion and helps to lower blood sugar levels. It is also a prebiotic. Prebiotics are the food that probiotics feed on to survive. Psyllium may then be helpful toward the overall bacteria condition of your gut as well.
AVOIDING VEGETABLE SEED OILS. As mentioned on the diet/nutrition tab, seed oils are very unhealthy and inflammatory. Based on personal experience, I know without a doubt that my stomach issues got better once I made a concerted effort to remove them from my diet. I used to eat chips several times a week that were all organic ingredients, but had seed oils. When I ditched them like 4 years ago, my stomach issues definitely improved in a positive way, beyond any doubt. I am sharing one more time b/c that is one of the most important health tips I know about, the negatives certainly appear to have been part of my own digestion issues, and the info was new to me until about 4 years ago. Again, healthy oils to cook things in are olive, avocado, and coconut oil, as well as butter, ghee, lard, and tallow. Unhealthy oils are corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, canola, peanut, and cotton seed oil.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (UNFILTERED). Some of the many claims about the benefits of ACV are reduced blood sugar, improved acidity in the stomach to help digestion, anti-bacterial properties helping to kill bad bacteria in the gut, and helpfulness with weight loss (probably due to blood sugar/insulin spikes and a reduction in appetite). It is recommended to take on an empty stomach. I do not take daily, but sometimes take a tablespoon with a glass of water upon waking or before bed. I have seen several cautionary warnings including not taking more than 2 tablespoons a day. ACV is highly acidic, and is not advised for people with inflammation or sensitive conditions like ulcers, as it may act as an irritant in that case. Start small, maybe a teaspoon with a full glass of water on an empty stomach to make sure you tolerate it well.
L-GLUTAMINE/BONE BROTH. Something else that I think was helpful is bone broth. One of the things I have seen advocated for “healing the gut” is L-glutamine, an amino acid that you can take as a supplement. I read up on bone broth, which can be chicken, beef, or turkey, and what I read suggested that it contained L-glutamine and was great for IBS issues. Any time you can get something like that in a natural, food based form it is superior to a supplement, in my opinion. I do believe bone broth has helped me, taking like a cup per day on an empty stomach, either between meals or before bed. You can find it at the store, and it is not the same as chicken broth… it has to be bone based, I believe that is where the L-glutamine comes from. It tastes pretty good and hearty, is high in protein and pretty healthy in general I think. I have seen several that were extremely high in sodium, so it is probably a good idea to look for one that is lower in sodium. Pacific Foods Organic Bone Broth – Chicken/Unsalted is one that is lower in sodium, and one I have taken.
COLOSTRUM. Yet another good thing to take is colostrum. Per a quick blurb, “colostrum is a naturally occurring substance secreted by all mammals just prior to the production of milk. Containing high protein levels and growth factors, it also carries immune factors that help to prevent infection in the form of immunoglobulins.” Dr O’Bryan talked a lot about its benefits for the immune system, and how many symptoms of illness including heart disease may have their origin in immune system dysfunction. He suggests that colostrum may be great toward a lot of immune based issues. One of the first things he asked me when I became a patient of his was whether I was breast fed. The reason being that people who were generally have much better immune system function than those that were not. One thing I had read was that colostrum was supposedly 3 times more effective against the flu than a flu shot. This was info from a study done in Italy, and from a website promoting colostrum. But even if there is some bias in that, strengthening our own immune system in natural ways including colostrum probably goes a long way toward not needing as many external things such as a flu shot. This is not medical advice or a suggestion to take colostrum instead of a flu shot, but the benefits of colostrum seem to be well supported. And bovine colostrum is supposedly identical enough to human (I read the term “molecularly identical”), so the fact that it is not from a human does not make it as different for us as say cow’s milk.
PROBIOTICS. There are many probiotic supplements out there, a broad spectrum is probably a good choice. Probiotics can also be found in things like yogurt, kefir, or kombucha. Make sure that the yogurt or kefir is not high in sugar, and does not have high fructose corn syrup in it. Kefir has a much higher concentration and variety of microorganisms than yogurt, and seems to be a much more highly rated choice for a probiotic.
Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, kimchi, or pickles (not all pickles are fermented) are not a substitute for a broad spectrum probiotic, but have good probiotic content, and help with overall digestion. I sometimes eat a couple forkfuls of sauerkraut first thing in the morning, 20-30 minutes before I eat anything. I have read that some of the probiotics from yogurt or kefir can get destroyed at the stomach level, while the probiotics in fermented vegetables survive and get into the large intestine. From what I have listened to and read, kefir and fermented vegetables are both great things to include in your diet for microbial gut health.
DIGESTIVE ENZYMES. Another issue I had when I was experiencing stomach problems was weight loss. Even if I ate more calories than usual, it did not seem to help. This suggested that even though I increased my intake of calories, my body was not breaking down/assimilating them very well or I would have had an easier time keeping weight on. So another suggestion per my doctor was digestive enzymes, to help break down what I was eating and turn it into caloric energy. He suggested that the best kinds of enzymes to take are ones from companies that specialize in that and do not make other supplements. One such brand he recommended was Enzymedica, as they specialize in digestive enzymes. I would put these lower on this list of things to try, as I think the need for them may stem from other problems, and they are the least likely to have a big positive effect. They did not do much in my personal experience, and actually Apple Cider Vinegar seemed to help more with breaking down food, potentially making the enzymes unnecessary.
Summary:
It is a good idea to get some tests done depending on the severity and duration of your symptoms, but tests can be very expensive. If you want to try some things that might help improve your digestive issues before getting expensive tests, I would recommend (in order of what were most helpful to me) psyllium, cutting out vegetable seed oils, bone broth, colostrum, a broad spectrum probiotic, fermented vegetables, apple cider vinegar (unfiltered), as well as digestive enzymes. I would put digestive enzymes last on this list as I tend to think the other things helped more, and digestive enzymes are kind of expensive. Psyllium is inexpensive and was perhaps the most helpful thing for me. No matter what your issues are or what test results might show, those things may be about the best things you can do to improve your digestion and gut health anyway, and a large part of what a doctor would recommend. Don’t expect overnight improvements, it can take a while to see the effects. If those things don’t work (again, it can take a while), you may have a food sensitivity issue like a gluten intolerance, which you can only find out by test or by adopting a gluten free diet which may take several months to see the effects of. If you can afford tests and feel they would be appropriate, I would recommend a Gastro-Intestinal specialist or naturopath rather than just a primary care physician. A general practitioner is not likely to know the spectrum of tests needed to analyze and really get to the bottom of what your issues are the way a GI specialist would. Anyway just my experiences with IBS and doctors, that I thought I would pass along to hopefully help save people time and money, since gut issues are not quick and simple to solve and involve many factors. And since there is a lot of belief that many if not most diseases and things like fibromyalgia have their origins in the gut.
Digestive issues and their relation to weight/obesity issues
It has been suggested that weight issues for many people can be rooted in poor digestion and gut health. Dr Amy Lee is one doctor who talks about this, and she states that the enemies of good digestion are: 1. food preservatives. 2. bad gut bacteria 3. overeating 4. slow metabolism. I would include inflammation, which makes seed oils an enemy of good digestion and a goal of a healthy weight as well.
She cites digestive enzymes as helpful in breaking down food preservatives, and mentions amylase, bromelain, and lipase as the 3 enzymes she recommends for breaking down fats, protein, and sugar. For bad gut bacteria she recommends prebiotics and a broad spectrum probiotic. For overeating, she mentioned a supplement called Caralluma Fimbriata, which is an edible cactus found in India. There have been studies done that show it is quite effective at reducing appetite. Caralluma fimbriata is not recommended for longer term use, although it has not been proven dangerous either. But it has been suggested that it may cause stomach issues if used over too long a time frame (longer than 60 days), and to stop using it if you notice any stomach upset. And lastly she cites that EGCG, which is found in green tea, is a metabolism booster that inhibits the storage of excess carbs as bodyfat and preferentially diverts to muscle cells.
Asymmetrical Awareness 