Food elimination to improve gut health?

You are not alone. Everyone has that day when your stomach feels blah and you just want to feel better in your own skin. It's important to acknowledge that your body will change shape throughout the day. Sadly, there's no instant fix that will immediately change the way that your body looks or feels. In other words - don't restrict food and overexercise in order to try to escape this uncontrollable feeling.

When you eat, the shape of your digestive tract changes. Your stomach may protrude and as your body breaks down food, you will retain water, develop gas and produce stool. This can all contribute to feeling bloated, "big" or heavy. Your physical weight (not body fat) can also increase due to constipation, sodium, water, hormones, exercise and medications.

To optimize digestion, we want to be in a relaxed state - rest and digest. For athletes, this can be rather difficult as our body becomes rather stressed during (or in the hours after) a workout - fight or flight. Couple this with life stress and anxiety, normal digestive processes can easily get out of whack.

As a sport RD, I often find myself in a complicated situation when dealing with athletes who suffer from digestive issues. On one hand, no person should feel uncomfortable after eating, which may mean recognizing what foods are not well tolerated and should be minimized or avoided. However, on the other hand, one of the worst things I can do for the athlete is give a list of foods that he/she should avoid when in reality, the underlying cause is not food related. It can be a very challenging situation. Sadly, in today's society, when someone has digestive issues, gluten, dairy and fructose are quickly blamed and avoided.

Because everyone is different, if an athlete comes to me with digestive issues, the athlete needs to know it's going to take some time to improve gut health. Food restriction is not always the first resort. While temporarily eliminating/reducing some foods may be needed, the diet will likely evolve and change overtime. Ultimately, my goal is to optimize digestive health with the least amount of food restrictions. In other words, I want my athletes to be able to eat as many foods as possible for physical, emotional and mental well-being, while also taking care of the gut.

Because gut disorders are extremely common among individuals with a current or past history with an eating disorder/disordered eating, a trusting relationship with my nutrition athletes is extremely important. Regardless of past history, athletes need to know that I may not be able to solve all GI problems but with a good relationship with food and the body, there's a good chance that the athlete will feel better about the foods in his/her diet and improve gut health.

Because not all GI issues are food related, here are a few reasons why your digestive system may not be functioning properly:

• Stomach is full of food 
• Constipation 
• IBS, SIBO
• You recently ate fermentable, gas-producing foods such as onions, garlic, beans, dairy, apples, honey, sugar alcohols and cauliflower. 
• Dehydration 
• Stress and anxiety
• Inflammation 
• Delayed gastric emptying (gastroparesis)
• Endocrine responses to an extreme/chronic energy deficit
• Shifts in fluids and electrolytes
• Water weight
• Shrunken stomach from chronic low volume of food
• Change in gut bacteria/lack of healthy gut bacteria
• Underlying medical issue
• Food intolerance/allergy 

As mentioned above, digestive issues can make it very difficult for an athlete to (want to) change eating habits. If an athlete is already restricting food/carbs/calories in the diet or struggling with body image, more food elimination is not the answer. Yes, it's very difficult to try a new style of eating when you are struggling with gas, bloating, constipation or loose stools or you struggle with your body image, but to improve gut health, it can't just be about food elimination. At first, you may have some food intolerances but this doesn't mean that you will forever need to follow an off-limit food list. 

When you've been limiting the foods in your diet, eating a nutrient-poor diet and/or dealing with anxiety and stress (life and/or training), the body/stomach is going to be a bit out of whack. It's going to take time to "heal" the gut through a change in lifestyle choices.  The answer is not a strict off-limit food list. Of course, if there is an underlying health/medical issue, it makes sense to avoid certain foods but for the common digestive issues that most athletes suffer from - specifically bloating and gas - it's important to identify the root of the problem instead of assuming that a restrictive diet will "heal" your gut.