Gut health is an immensely important and popular topic that is also extraordinarily complex for the simple reason that every gut is unique. Our gastrointestinal tracts work hard to keep us healthy and happy. When gut health is compromised, we can face major health consequences.

Because of the presence of bacteria and other microorganisms in your gastrointestinal system, it plays an enormous role in how we feel. Maintaining a balance of “good” bacteria is essential to proper digestion and overall health. It’s important to be informed about what goes into your digestive system in order to maintain a healthy gut.

Each and every one of us responds to different foods in different ways, which is why it is so challenging to provide generic guidance on the foods that may benefit any individual gut. Our gut can be a source of sensory feedback; we are able to perceive things subconsciously before our conscious minds do and we’ll feel it (where else?) but in our gut. This is no accident. Our digestive tract and our central nervous system are intimately linked and you can’t optimize health of one at the expense of the other.

Microbiota are the trillions of bacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract. They’re critical for immune function, digestion, nutrient production, and overall gut health. More recently, microbiota have been shown to influence our mental state, too, impacting psychological and emotional well-being. They can affect our outlook, our capacity to respond to stress and possibly the strength of our memory.

It’s well established that bacterial diversity rules in the gut: study after study of intestinal microbiota composition shows that groups of people with a disease have a less diverse gut microbial community than groups without the disease. In some cases, the lack of diversity is referred to as a dysbiosis. The tricky part is figuring out how the principle of gut microbiota diversity can be used to improve human health.

FODMAP substances are found in the foods we eat. FODMAP is an acronym which stands for “Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols.” These are complex names for a collection of molecules found in food that can be poorly absorbed by some people. When the molecules are poorly absorbed in the small intestine of the digestive tract, these molecules then continue along their journey in the digestive tract, arriving at the large intestine, where they act as a food source to the bacteria that live there normally. The bacteria then digest/ferment these FODMAPs and can cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Symptoms of IBS include abdominal bloating and distension, excess wind (flatulence), abdominal pain, nausea, changes in bowel habits (diarrhea, constipation, or a combination of both) and other gastro-intestinal symptoms.

Where are FODMAPs found?
A few examples of food sources for each of the FODMAPs are listed below. The list is not complete. During a consultation, a registered dietitian can provide you with an up-to-date list of foods.

• Excess fructose: Honey, apple, mango, pear, watermelon, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids
• Fructans: Artichokes (globe, Jerusalem), asparagus, beetroot, chicory, dandelion leaves, garlic (in large amounts), leek, onion (brown, white, Spanish, onion powder), spring onion (white part), wheat
(in large amounts), rye (in large amounts), inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides
• Lactose: Milk, ice cream, custard, dairy desserts, condensed and evaporated milk, milk powder,
soft un-ripened cheeses (ricotta, cottage, cream, marscarpone)
• Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS): Legume beans (baked beans, kidney beans), lentils, chickpeas
• Polyols: Apples, apricots, avocado, cherries, longon, lychee, nectarines, pears, plums, prunes, mushrooms, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol and isomalt

What can I eat on a low FODMAP diet? For expert diet advice, please book an appointment.

More studies on diets are needed. But we do know this: whether you’re talking about trees, insects or gut microorganisms, an ecosystem is at its best as a tangled web of interdependent relationships. And if diversity is the name of the game, pay attention to your diet.

FODMAP Oatmeal Breakfast

This lovely, high fiber, low FODMAP oatmeal breakfast (also gluten-free!) will keep you going all morning! Off to a great start! If you don’t like warm breakfasts, just use this recipe to make yourself overnight oats.

COOK TIME 5 mins

TOTAL TIME 5 mins

SERVINGS 1 person

Ingredients:

• 40 grams oats

• 200 ml almond milk

• 15 grams peanut butter

• 15 grams flaxseed use ground flaxseeds.

• 10 grams sunflower seeds

• 10 grams pumpkin seeds

• 3 brazil nuts

• maple syrup

• ground cinnamon

Warm Oatmeal

• Take a small pot. Fill it with 40 grams of oats, 200 ml of almond milk and a dash of ground cinnamon. Place the pot on the stove on medium fire.

• While the oatmeal heats up, put the peanut butter, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts in a bowl. Stir the oatmeal in the pot occasionally.

• Once the oatmeal has heated and thickened enough (you can generally see bubbles start to form, the desired thickness can vary per person) put the oatmeal in the bowl and mix with the other ingredients. Drizzle a little bit of maple syrup on top and enjoy!

Overnight Oats

• If you like your breakfast cool in the morning. Combine all the ingredients, except for the maple syrup and peanut butter, in a jar (for example an empty jam jar) the night before and put it in the fridge. The next morning, just add some maple syrup and the peanut butter and your breakfast is good to go!

Impending knee surgery kicked Richard’s weight loss plan into high gear, and now he’s hitting the slopes!

I met Richard in March of 2019 but I met his wife years ago (another feature coming later in 2021). His wife is what prompted him to come see me. He was a former gymnast back in the day…I won’t tell you how far back. He knows what it was like to be an athlete. That being said, life continues, we get married, a job, we have kids, our life and time is no longer our own. Weight slowly creeped up over time. A motivator to change his weight was his knee. As a former athlete (particularly as a gymnast), it took a beating over the years. He knew he needed surgery but wanted to have the best outcome possible. He wanted the knee to have to deal with less load alongside strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee. He started his journey at 170lbs and now currently weighs 126lbs. This is his #RiseAbove story.

What do you think was the largest contributor to your weight gain over the years?

Like for many of us – it just crept up gradually over the years.  I wouldn’t say that it was because I’d “let myself go” as they say.  I ate nutritionally, I exercised regularly. But there was never any thought, planning or judgement to it. 

• I ate (and drank) as much as I wanted to, whenever I wanted to.

• My exercise program – such as it was – never changed. There was there was no variation or challenge – just routine. I just went through the motions, and all I was doing was wearing down some muscles and joints.

 And then I snapped my ACL, which I believe was a milepost. It was a result of the problem, and the cause of its’ acceleration and worsening. I’m convinced that it would not have happened if I’d not gained that extra 25 pounds over the years.

I think it was the catalyst for gaining another 25 pounds more quickly, as it restricted the extent to which I was able to do more challenging sporting activities.

And then in turn, signs of impending health issues began to pile up – just when I needed to present myself as a suitable candidate for ACL replacement despite my age.

So I saw my choices as: I could either get younger or smaller.  Smaller seemed to be the more likely of the two.  

There are many factors to your weight loss over the year. What do you think was the largest contributor to your weight loss? 

Actually, I don’t see too many factors over the year that were more crucial than Group23’s plan. You designed a plan that was simple.  I mean that it was simple to understand, if not to actually execute.  I just had to put more thought and planning into a given day. I didn’t have to worry about the science – that was your job. I just plugged in the numbers you gave me. 

Being mindful didn’t mean that I had to overthink things or do anything weird or unsustainable with my diet. I didn’t have to drastically alter my lifestyle. I still enjoyed my beer – it was just budgeted within the whole day now.  

What advice would you give to anyone that is starting their lifestyle change?

Following are several random observations that I have come up with as they occur to me – in no particular order:

• You have to be ready. This requires work. It requires effort. It requires prioritizing. It’s a commitment. You can’t cheat it. Maybe my athletic background helped with that. I don’t know.

• That first couple of weeks were the hardest part. That was just a time to get through and move on from. But that’s also where the first five pounds came from. So momentum also started there.

• My main focus was to go one day at a time. That probably made it – not easier – but more of a habit.

• Goals need to be manageable. And predominantly short-term. In fact, I didn’t really have a fixed end number in mind for my weight. My main focus just moved in increments of five pounds – “get to it, good, now to the next level”.

• I did not consider setting a deadline. (Except that I kind of ended up with one because one day the surgery suddenly got moved up a few months to September, 2019, with only about 8 weeks’ notice). 

• At the beginning, I kind of thought I’d like to end up down around 150lbs. Then when I hit that, we just kept going to see how far the loss would go.

• The only real hard number I ended up settling on was right at the end – 123lbs. And that was mainly just to see if I could get to the weight that I’d competed at back in the late ‘80s. Once I saw the number 122 on my scale, I took a picture, and then proceeded to get back up a bit to where my rings and new clothes fit better.

• Sometimes, sh** happens. I never consciously planned to take a day off from when I started in March, 2019 right through to August on that last night of a trip to Europe. Who counts carbs and fats their last day in Paris?

• There was the odd situation I’d find myself in – out with friends and the beer was going down well. If I knew about it ahead of time, I’d go virtually carb-free ahead of it for the day. If it was a spontaneous thing, I rolled with it and got back on the horse the next day. I still do that. I’ll always have to do that.

• And lastly, but truly the most important is family support.  It’s crucial.

What do you think will always be a struggle in keeping your weight off?

 When the weight settled into around what it is now, I said “I’m done.”  But I knew what that meant. It meant that I WAS DONE but that I’ll NEVER BE DONE.  I had to start eating a lot of vegetables. So I did that. Now, I’ll always have to eat a lot of vegetables.    

There are certainly days where I indulge or celebrate. But the next day,  I “pay it back” and get back to the plan.   

And I wouldn’t call this a struggle so much as an irritant – it has been a bit expensive.  Nothing I wore before fit me.  Completely new wardrobe was required. I mean I’ve even had to discard shoes that are now too big.  And sporting equipment – new skis because I didn’t trust the bindings anymore and a completely new set of hockey gear.  But the bike seems easier to manage up hills, so there’s that.  First World Problems.

Richard has had his surgery, he’s been able to keep the weight off, and now he’s starting a new journey in his #RiseAbove goals. He started skiing this year. Its been a dream of his to get back on the slopes and try out his new knee with his new strength and weight (along with his new skiis). His focus on body fat percentage has changed to frequency of exercising and how many daffy’s he can do on the slope (okay maybe not quite there yet). He has inspired me to overcome physical challenges and continue to focus on health even though not everything goes according to plan. I hope his story inspires you. 

To learn more about how to start your #RiseAbove weight management journey, click learn more below.