I can’t remember how long I’ve been having gut problems and how many anxious Google search I’ve done to try to find “home remedies” to tame my moody gut. My problem with online researching over the years is that there seems to be 100k different causes to why I have these gut issues and just about as many remedies that I can try. There is no consistency whatsoever which makes me think there’s no cure for me. And I can’t blame any Health Guru out there because I can always find something from them that’s useful to me and some others that are completely not applicable to me. You get the frustration!?
It is definitely not the first time that I take actions to improve my gut health but certainly the first time that I write a diary about it! When you finally start to feel OK about writing in public on how many times you fart a day and how your significant other tells you that “honey, your breath stinks today”, you know you can do just about anything! (It kinda does make me feel like I’ve achieved something great today! Haha).
I created this page to share how my gut feel every day, what I come across in my personal research on gut health, and hopefully find people that are as frustrated as I am on their journey to better gut health – I’m sure there’re lots of you out there! Let’s connect!
Anyways, since this is my first post (just created my domain 5 minutes ago), I thought I should give you a brief background on where I stand today in terms of my gut health:
I started to have mild gut issues about 8 years ago (bloating, acid reflux, excess gas), and it worsened progressively in the past 2 years especially. About a year ago, I started to cut down on dairy and wheat intake. I’d say I am gluten-free and dairy-free 70% of the time (well…I cheat sometimes. Let’s be honest, pizzas & cheesecakes are just so good). I’ve also been eating less and less grains so I could say that I’m on my way to the “Paleo Diet”. I have a normal body weight in terms of BMI (18.8), although I was slightly underweight when I was young. I poop everyday (pooping is important…). I educate myself a lot about food, nutrition and wellness and I know how to cook and make healthy food taste good (I think I’m good at it). However, I still find myself having painful bloating, excess smelly gas and sometimes bad breath no matter how well I think I eat (lots of veggies, low carb, low wheat and dairy intake).
My personal “philosophy” in improving gut health is :
- MODERATION IS KEY (this applies to occasional rewards…)
- Lots of Water
- Limit Dairy & Wheat Intake
- Less Grains & Carbs In General
- Moderate Exercise
- No Need To Count Calories (at least for now)
- Find What Feels Good To You
Today I was especially bloated, gassy, and felt sad, angry and helpless about it. For dinner, I made my boyfriend a nice plate of grilled cheese (with homemade bread!), sausages, and a small side salad and I had to make myself a separate meal that was so much less exciting (plain rice congee/porridge with a few pieces of fermented vegetables – that’s what I eat when I don’t feel well). When I look at how much junk food he can eat and still have absolutely no gut problems, it irritates me!!! Life is so unfair.
OK, enough rant for the day. I hope my gut feel a little better tomorrow.
Good night.
My Gut Diary 