Are you troubled by ongoing gastro symptoms including diarrhoea or constipation, tummy bloating, pain, wind or flatulence? It is possible you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). IBS effects around 10% of the population.
Dietitians are able to provide effective evidence based nutrition to identify common trigger foods (FODMAPs) which can relieve these aggravating symptoms in as many as 75% of all cases. As an APD, Susan Phillips is up to date with nutrition research in this area and therefore more able to correctly treat your condition than an internet based search because often the information on the internet is not current.
Diet treatment includes an assessment of your medical history, symptoms (which may include those unrelated to the gut), results of any tests performed, current diet and lifestyle factors. A dietary investigation approach is taken. This usually involves limiting high Fodmap foods from your diet for a period of 3-4 weeks while you keep a food and symptom diary. After this time a subsequent appointment is required to discuss symptom improvement or otherwise. Next a series of challenges may be planned.
It is important to note that a low Fodmap diet is a test diet only and you should . Many high Fodmap foods are important to maintaining healthy gut flora (microbiota / microbes living in your gut) which act to keep your healthy bowel. For this reason it is important that these foods do not remain unnecessarily restricted from your diet because this will limit your gut flora.
Red Flags which indicate when you should first see your doctor before include:
- Blood in your stool
- If you are aged over 50 years
- If you have not already been tested for Coeliac Disease ask your GP to do serology (blood test)
For further information on how the diet works check out this UTube clip, courtesy of Monash University.