As my children are still relatively small (4 and 6 years), I am a newcomer to the “school holiday” experience, which I have mostly found to be chaotic, busy and with all semblance of routine thrown out of the window. So I was well and truly ready for us to return to routine at the start of this week – my sanity was noticeably starting to fray and my exercise routine and sugar-free state also in tatters. Then, one by one, we have come down with a virus-y, cold-y thing. In Australia we are entering the cool season, which in Brisbane never gets very cold, but nonetheless the change of season sparks the first series of colds and viruses which seem to hit children first, and then of course, their parents! My best laid plans and urgent non-child commitments have had to be pushed to the back-burner while I care for my little family as well as myself…
So as well as feeling unwell I find myself also struggling with rising stress levels as deadlines loom and washing piles climb… Of all the mundane challenges of being a mum, I find the toughest time is when the kids are sick, as everything else (quite rightly) get gets pushed down the priority list. I’m managing to keep my head above water and hopefully next week will be a better one.
In the past I would have been tempted to stray from the low fodmap diet but I am pleased that I am keeping to the diet – thank goodness for Sue Shepherds Low Fodmap soup which is what we lived on yesterday! I was less restrained with a bar of chocolate that was calling out to be eaten on the couch last night in my semi-comatose state, but if that’s the worse that happens then I think I am doing pretty well. I am also aware that in the past I would have gotten a lot sicker with these passing virus’s so it is testament to how well I have been looking after myself.
On a more positive note I have started experimenting with green banana flour (a resistant starch) as well as milk kefir and I am reading a lot about the benefits of pro and pre-biotics at the moment which is fascinating. Intuitively I feel that these might have a role to play in improving symptoms of IBS… Has anyone had personal experience of these? Please tell me about it!
You probably won’t hear from me for a while (I have a few super busy weeks coming up), but I will continue with my experiments and let you know how I get on.
All the best,
Sacha
Love your blog Sasha ! thanx for sharing so much of your emotion and high quality information ! Your blog is me helping a lot managingy IBS since there’s virtually no information about the fodmap diet here in france. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your lovely comment, it really made my day!
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Thank you for sharing your struggle Sacha. I too go through the same experience when life gets busy, stressful, and I am tired. I try to stay strong and eat well because I know eating badly will only make me feel worse but there are days when I eat that piece of chocolate. It is good to know that I am not alone.
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See my comment below Alexandra ! 🙂
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Hello Sasha,
I’ve been digging into pre an pro biotics and listened to this great postcast : http://chriskresser.com/how-to-restore-healthy-gut-flora-over-the-long-term/
This guy is unbelievable, his website is FULL of info, scientically based, and through a smart ancestral approach. Hope it will help you too !
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Hi Alice,
Thanks for sharing this article, it is really interesting and informative.
Alexandra
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Thank you for sharing the link, I will listen to it tomorrow. I’ve had to go on a 4th round of anti-biotics this week, so really need to keep boosting my pro-biotics! Kefir is working well so far, and I am open to more ideas. Thanks again,
Sacha
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I thought about you again listenning to Chris Kresser, as he mentions IBS-C in this video about methane https://youtu.be/TuLnO2SxL-4
Good luck with it all ! 🙂
Personnally I’m in terrible health right now, but the more I learn, the more I have hope for better future ! ;-P
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I hope you both feel better soon. Sacha, I find that yogurt and Kefir are the best ways to increase probiotics. I saw an article that mentioned miso soup. I cannot eat that because it bothers my digestive system but I have added miso paste to enhance the flavor of my dishes and the little amount is not an irritant for me. Maybe that would help?
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Thanks for the tips on Miso. I have some in the fridge and I do use it on fish occassionally but I haven’t considered the probiotic aspect before! I am trying to eat some sauerkraut every second day too, and find that a couple of tablespoons seems to be OK.
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That is good to know. I have been avoiding sauerkraut but maybe I will try it.
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Hi Sacha!
I’m not telling you what to eat here, but personally I would be careful with Probiotics, and even more careful with Prebiotics…
My thought is that most of us with SIBO and/or IBS, that has a tendency to get constipated, usualy has a lower metabolism, and a lower body temperature, and a tendency, to just get overall “low”…
My conclusion, as of very lately, having eaten Low Carb for a loooong time, is that we (I and a lot of others..) actually need to do whatever we can to get more carbs in to our diet. And that means eating as little Fodmaps as possible, unless we want to feel like were 9 months pregnant, and that in turn means being very careful with Prebiotics.
Specific Probiotics might help, but it is very difficult to know wich ones were missing, if were missing anyone.. And feeding the overgrowth, wich we most likely will do with Prebiotics, is something, at least I, want to avoid.
I wanna get in as much carbs as possible, to raise my body temperature, to raise my metabolism, make me more energised, and raise overall well being, and I wanna make sure things are “moving along” to keep the SIBO in check, and hopefully for a long, long time.
Just a couple of thoughts..
//. Patrik
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Hi Patrik,
Thank you for taking the time to write. I like your ideas about the “low”, I must admit that sounds similar to my story… So far I seem to be OK with the extra probiotics, I think they are really helping things along, so to speak. I am still unsure on the prebiotics – I am using a little green banana flour a few times a week and the jury is still out. I need to “test” it properly when I am finally off medications. I’m glad to hear that extra carbs are helping your energy levels and you are feeling better with – you’ve always gotta go for what feels good for you! Good luck! Sacha
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