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Hi folks, just a quick note to share a hard lesson I've been learning recently about experimentation. If I look back about a week or so ago after a "good run", I was starting to feel a bit more confident in trying out some things I felt I really should test. These included pureed apple and soy yoghurts. I did experiments of both within a 2 day period. Combine that with some stress around birthday, an important midweek meeting to do with work, and some anxiety about a deeply personal issue of faith and I was all set for a deeper level of gut instability and suffering that can no longer be traced to food item A B or C. Don't do it! Also comma consider limiting experimentation to maybe two new items per week and integrate good conditions that are necessary for successful experimentation on a very sensitive gut, such as sleep and peacefulness. Be patient, we have all our lives to work out these details. Thanks for reading.

It's difficult not to get too excited too quickly, but this week has been my best week in ages. It began on Monday, Tuesday... Years ago, I had thought I might be gluten-intolerant, maybe have Caeliac's disease or something. However, all the tests ruled that out, and I've never really found any relief in gluten-free products. But I've never, ever questioned the category generally of carbs. Until now. In my previous post I began to sketch why the FODMAP process can be unhelpful, the big realisation being that cheese, no matter how little lactose it has left in it, has just the same impact on Casein intolerances (I have a detailed post about this in my drafts, coming soon). Since then, and on the plus side, I have noticed that apple purée appears ok and so do cooked onion and garlic. I can also generally eat more fruit than the FODMAP diet advises. Perhaps I'll be able to reintroduce later, but I'm currently down to a tiny sprinkle of carbs at some meals...

Hey folks, fellow IBS-sufferers and friends! I'd like to share a good audio resource for our personal foodsmapping (still trying to come up with a better word that includes beverages in the idea, see post 1 ):  The Gut Loving Podcast , with Laura Tilt and Huelya Akyuez. They've just done an episode on the "F" word, by which, of course, they mean F I B R E Along with protein, this represents some challenges. For instance, those who try to follow FODMAP diets, may have been encouraged to try lentils, quinoa, ground linseed. For me, these number among the most clear triggers of my discomfort (jumping off the discomfort scale onto the pains-scale!). But as GLP emphasise, it is important to keep our eyes set on moving on from elimination phases to reintroduction phases. For instance, I am not at all sure that cooked apple or onion have even the slightest effect on me. They're up for reintroduction soon now I have hit my 62kg goal (I wasn't prepared ...

Although  I have yet to experience any major breakthrough in weightgain, my broken collarbone is finally, after five months of difficulty, allowing me some physical activity again. This importantly includes household chores, driving and.... drumroll... RUNNING! Toward the end of today's 5K gentle run, having eaten or drunken nothing at all, from around end of morning and a successful breakfast, I felt a not-unfamiliar stomach tightness arrive. Obviously it is familiar, but what I mean is that I remember this from my running days - I have not been running regularly for 5 years, but I have had stomach issues for nearly double that. The point is: hydrating myself sufficiently to avoid this. When I specialised more in distance running at speed, I managed to teach myself to prepare in such a way that I did not dehydrate too much by ensuring during the hour prior to the activity I was drinking quite a lot. The point is with running, is that a lot of inexperienced runners, regardless...

As I hinted in my first post, I am very interest in the potential benefits, now I think fairly well proven, in the ever-honing FODMAP diet. I am just on the edge of seeing some longer spells of bloatation and pain-free eating. But I am not good at self-discipline. When things seem more settled, I naturally look quickly outward to the other many foods that I am dying to reintroduce. I am like a desperate dog, straining at the leash , and I sometimes introduce 2 uncertain foods/drinks within the same 24 hour period. Like, yesterday, resulting in seriously uncomfortable and meal-aborting gut discomfort that was not easily traceable. So what do we do with that desperate dog within us? How tightly do we reign her in? My answer until recently would have been to strictly limit to ONE new uncertain food or drink item at a time, and not at crazy quantities either. The fallout just isn't worth a massive dose of discomfort. BUT my answer for my map toward my free tum, is not ONE, no...

Hi and welcome to my brand new blog I am launching on freedom from digestive disorders. My name is John, I'm 38. As I write this, I still suffer from chronic IBS, which I first recognised as an issue back in 2010. It's been seven long years of increasing famine, and since then I have lost almost 10kg. That's swinging between 60-61 kg. I am 187cm tall (over 6ft 1in). This condition, as anyone suffering from similar issues will know, can feel terrible, especially around times of social gatherings like Christmas which has such a focus on eating, drinking and shared pleasure. Because life likes to throw just as many challenges, digestive-disorder sufferers can also have other unrelated problems which exacerbate the psychological challenge of staying positive and a pleasure to be around. Because life also puts fellow sufferers on our route, we often hear a thousand-and-one titbits of advice and haphazardly (and expensively) try many of them, confused and lost between con...