Yesterday, I went to get my nails done. I do this once every three weeks so that in between I don’t have to fuss about them since I have weak nails and I always seem to be filing them. I now don't think about them at all - except to admire them. Anyway, while I was at the salon, there was another lady also getting her nails done and she spent the whole time talking about how busy she was - how she didn't even have free-time to watch TV. But perhaps this was only her perception of her life because she was after all able to find time to have her nails done. Busyness is still often worn as a badge of honour, and she exasperated me with her monologue of all the things she managed to fit into her life. The inference was that her busyness somehow made her superior to the rest of us. I felt like engaging her in a reality conversation but I know that few people are ready to hear the truth so I refrained. Is that woman you? Do you mention the “busy” word multiple times a day? Are … [Read more...] about Getting your nails done is busy work
Never trust anyone – 10 Trans-Siberian Low Fodmap Lessons Learned
As some of you may know, I have been away for a little over three weeks on a Trans-Siberian adventure. We travelled from Beijing in China through Mongolia, then through Russia up to St Petersburg, all by train. It was wondrous, eye-opening, disconcerting and at times painful. The painful part came from food choices that were made for me with a promise they were onion and garlic-free, and from the restrictive use of shared toilets on the trains. [Tweet "Set menus and shared toilets are an IBS sufferer’s worst nightmare."] Following is what I learned from this journey, which I knew from the get-go would be a tricky one to negotiate but which I was determined to undertake nevertheless. I don’t let my IBS stop me from travelling. My main triggers are onion, garlic and fructose. The only things which can be hidden in food are the garlic and onion so they are the only things on my laminated cards, which I always carry with me when I travel – in the language of the country, of … [Read more...] about Never trust anyone – 10 Trans-Siberian Low Fodmap Lessons Learned
Safe Low Fodmap Condiments
Many IBS sufferers worry about having to eat food that is lacking in flavour if they start the low Fodmap diet. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can eat most herbs and spices and quite a few condiments like sauces as well. All three of those groups is how we inject flavour into any cuisine. If you were a good cook before the low Fodmap diet, you will be a good cook on the diet. If you were a poor, uncreative cook before, then nothing will change - unless you go to cooking school, perhaps. Today in the video, I go over the main sauces that are low Fodmap and therefore safe for us to use in specific amounts. Also check out the spices and sauces at Fody Foods HERE. … [Read more...] about Safe Low Fodmap Condiments
Hydrogen Breath Test Update
I did my last hydrogen breath test video a few years ago and there have been updates since then on whether it is accurate or not. I tell you about the latest research in the video. Welcome to this video. Today I want to give you an update on the hydrogen breath test. I did my last video on this quite a long time ago and there has been some research done since then. They recently did a research study on the efficacy of the fructose test. The hydrogen breath test tests fructose, lactose, and in some parts of the world also sorbitol, but not the other groups. So, I don't really advocate the hydrogen breath test because it doesn't test for the other groups, for the oligosaccharides and mannitol. So you still have to do the low Fodmap diet to find out whether you react to them or not. So you might as well just do the diet and not go and do the hydrogen breath test, which is time-consuming and expensive. Anyway, the research study that they did on how efficient the fructose test … [Read more...] about Hydrogen Breath Test Update
Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Today in my video, I'm going to talk to you about fibromyalgia. Many people with irritable bowel syndrome have fibromyalgia. They seem to be very closely connected - both involve of an over-sensitivity to stimulation. We feel pain more acutely. In the video, I go through the different signs that you might have fibromyalgia. Today, I'm going to talk to you about fibromyalgia. Many people with irritable bowel syndrome have fibromyalgia. They seem to be very closely connected, both because of an over-sensitivity to stimulation. In the case of fibromyalgia, it's over stimulation to the senses in a way. We feel pain more acutely, and we can also suffer from the other senses. But let me go through systematically the different signs that you might have fibromyalgia. I'm pretty sure I've got this myself, though I've never been tested for it. The first sign is chronic headaches, especially if your headaches are located in your forehead. But the pain radiates around and down the … [Read more...] about Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Can we heal our gut?
Many people ask me if we can heal our gut with irritable bowel syndrome – perhaps if we are on the low Fodmap diet. That’s a great question. In this video I tell you the answer and explain why. Welcome to this video. Today I want to talk to you about healing your gut. You've probably never heard me talk about this before because with IBS there is no cure and there is no healing of the gut, but I get this question a lot. Why is it that now I can tolerate so and so, when I couldn't tolerate it before? Perhaps my gut is healing. And of course, the answer to that is, you could always tolerate it. It was something else that you were eating it with, or something else you had eaten during the day that was causing the issue but you were blaming that particular food and it was perhaps inaccurate. I see this a lot with clients who have even been convinced for decades that they have an issue for example with lactose, and when we test it there is no problem at all. So things don't … [Read more...] about Can we heal our gut?
