HI THERE! WELCOME TO GOOD GUT FEELINGS.
It is said that the root of all health lies in the gut: it’s where good health stems from, and it’s where health problems can begin. This is due to the major and crucial role our gut plays in our overall immunity. As such, it’s in everyone's interest to have as healthy a gut as possible. This is obviously even truer for anyone with any kind of digestive complaint.
Gut issues can fall anywhere between mild and irritating, to chronic and crippling. So if you’re looking for ways to support your gut and “eat for health”, Good Gut Feelings is the place for you!
My Health Story
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2001, aged 17. To be more precise: pancolitis and proctitis – I don’t do anything by halves! Around 2014 there was some debate over whether that diagnosis was correct, or whether I actually had Crohn’s Disease. Either way, the bottom line (pun intended) was this: I had IBD (aka chronic inflammation in the large intestine). And it sucked.
In 2018, during the worst flare since my initial diagnosis, that very diagnosis was in fact confirmed as Crohn’s and not colitis. In March 2019, I ended up needing emergency surgery, and a temporary ileostomy was created. I later ended up having a pan-proctocolectomy in November 2019, and I am now an ostomate (aka ‘Bag Lady’) for life, or at least until medical science is able to come up with an alternative plumbing solution!
I have been diagnosed with, and recovered from, cancer twice: thyroid cancer in 2006 - resulting in a thyroidectomy to remove the entire thyroid gland, followed by radiation treatment - and colon cancer in 2019 - discovered after my emergency surgery, and the reason I later had the proctocolectomy.
I cannot overstate the importance of the role of diet/nutrition, along with certain complementary therapies, in the maintenance and improvement of my health, be it in the form of mere symptom management during an IBD flare, getting myself into remission when standard medical options could not, managing to restrict IBD’s extra-intestinal manifestations, or recovering from major surgeries faster than anticipated.
I have been an ‘active patient’ from the very beginning, asking infinite questions, doing my own research and demanding to understand the ins and outs of any diagnosis and recommended course of action. This has proved to be my most valuable contribution to my own health journey: being the co-pilot of my own health, taking back some of the control that chronic illness makes you feel robbed of. It is something I would encourage everyone to do, and luckily, one of the easiest, and most important, ways to be that co-pilot, is to take control of what you choose to eat, of the food you put into the body you are trying to heal.
From early on in my diagnosis, hearing that “what you eat makes no difference” never made any sense to me, simply because, I could feel that it did. I just felt better when I avoided certain things, and worse when I didn’t. When I finally found myself sitting opposite a doctor with a more holistic approach, he said the words that I had always known to be true: “diet is key”. I decided then and there that I would do anything and everything I could to help myself. After a lot of research over the next few years, I reached a point where I knew a lot of the theory of what I should/shouldn’t eat, and the why’s behind it, but was struggling to put it into practice and onto my plate on a daily basis. I always felt I was missing out on so much yummy food, and I hated relying on processed, pre-packaged ‘free from’ foods. The next step was clear: it was time to get into the kitchen and just get cooking!
An eternal student, I am constantly researching and learning: about IBD, about the body and its chemistry, about food and dietary protocols, anything and everything! In 2017 I trained as a Culinary Nutrition Expert and Instructor with the Academy of Culinary Nutrition . I have also been a Program Coach for the Academy’s 2022 Culinary Nutrition Expert Program. I have been meal planning, recipe creating, and enjoying the process of cooking from scratch and maximising the healthfulness of my meals for my own benefit for years. In other words, I have been my own guinea pig!
Want to support your gut and overall health through food?
You’re in the right place!
Good Gut Feelings is about helping you achieve your best health, STARTING WITH THE GUT!
I believe in a holistic, multifaceted approach to most things, and even more so when it comes to health. It’s a simple fact that one of the most important contributors to health is something that is within everyone’s grasp: the food we choose to eat.
So, I created Good Gut Feelings in order to share valuable health resources as a way to support others living with IBD or other gut issues, and anyone else who believes in a food-focused approach to health. It’s about ensuring we are as well-equipped as possible, both through having access to important and necessary information, and of course, through “eating for health”. Our every action can have a consequence on our health, so when we are well-informed, we can make empowered health choices, and make more of those consequences, positive ones.
Here, within my little corner of internet real estate, you will find:
A focus on gut health: “starting with the gut” is key, not just for digestive complaints, but for any health issue.
Frank discussion and sharing of information on health matters - IBD and autoimmunity in particular.
Information on nutrition and how to use food to support your gut and enhance your health.
Reviews of health-related books/articles and their key takeaways.
Gut-friendly recipes: I am a big foodie and refuse to miss out on yummy things just because I avoid certain ingredients, so kitchen experiments (and failures) abound!
What I have learned about the importance of being the co-pilot of your own health journey, and how to go about it.
My experience with various treatments/approaches/diets which I have tried and tested over the years.
Tips and tricks for living with an ostomy.
Reviews of ostomy products.
Discussion of, and tips for coping with, the depression and anxiety that so often accompanies chronic illness.
As the kitchen is a great starting point for anyone seeking better health, I offer meal plans, both general and personalised, as a starting point for you to try out a different, gut-supporting way of eating.
My Diet
I have found that I generally do well on a modified Paleo diet.
During active IBD flares or when trying to heal and recover, I have followed a strict Paleo/AIP diet. I have at times also had to follow a low-residue diet, and even a liquid diet. Fortunately, I am currently able to tolerate several non-Paleo foods quite well, namely white rice, potatoes, gluten-free oats, chickpeas, some goat/sheep milk products, and dark chocolate (hallelujah!).
I avoid gluten and cow-milk products, and have found that if I have these only occasionally, in isolated instances, then I generally don’t suffer any unpleasant consequences. However, should I commit ‘repeat offences’, my body soon makes me well aware of it!
Since getting an ileostomy I have had to adjust my diet in new ways to reduce the risk of a blockage. I avoid having too much fibre in one go, as well as foods that simply do not digest well, such as mushrooms. I also eat minimal raw fruit and veg, always remove skins and seeds, and avoid nuts and seeds in their whole form. If I am concerned that something may be too fibrous or may not break down well, then I often purée it. With time, I am testing out more and more foods in small doses to see how I tolerate them, and have gradually been able to reintroduce things that I could not initially handle after ileostomy surgery.
some random things about me!
In addition to being a damaged (and partially absent) gut within a body, I am also a person! Here’s a few random tid-bits about me:
I live in two places: on a Mediterranean island, and in my head. There are elements of isolation in both.
I am a fully qualified, but non-practicing, lawyer.
I’m a total INFJ (according to the Myers-Briggs criteria: www.16personalities.com).
I love nothing better than getting lost in a book, and I’m the kind of person that will obsessively binge-read books or binge-watch series and get attached to the characters, so when it’s over, I miss them.
Animal lover and essentially part canine, I often prefer the company of dogs to that of humans. 🐶
I am the human manifestation of a duck on water: it looks like nothing much is happening, like I’m just slumped on the couch, but under the surface the feet are kicking furiously, my mind is racing, thinking about everything and anything you could possibly imagine, from the profound to the ridiculous…usually the ridiculous.
I have a sartorial obsession with stripes (socks in particular).
Chocolate is my love story (and my desert island food!).
Some songs make me cry.
Sometimes it feels like I am fuelled solely by anxiety.
I overuse ellipses… (case in point).
I sniff books.
I somehow manage to be equal parts spiritual and cynical, a dreamer and a realist suspended in pessimism, introverted and sociable, as well as a health-obsessed glutton, a sane loony, a functioning and friendly misanthrope. I am perfectly imperfect in every way.
Want to know more? Check out the FAQs!
I hope you find something interesting, helpful, and even funny here, and I wish everyone good gut feelings!
