EP.253/ Easing Stomach upset with dietary changes: Adding more healthy fats
This episode is part of a new format I am trying out. These are essentially going to be bitesize podcast episodes with tangible tips for real life, to help avoid overwhelm and to support you to make small, sustainable change.
Today I wanted to focus on something that came up with one of my clients recently, and that’s making dietary changes too quickly, leading to nausea and digestion issues.
This can especially happen with a sudden increase in fibre or fat, which many of us can do if we’re wanting to balance blood sugar or start eating more anti-inflammatory foods.
Today I wanted to talk about fat in particular. Fat helps us to balance blood sugar by slowing down the release of glucose to the blood stream, from the carbohydrates we eat. When a glucose release happens too fast, we get a spike in blood sugar, which can heighten inflammation and pain, and can also mess with hormones.
The rule of thumb for fat to support hormones and blood sugar is about two golf ball sized servings of fat, which I find easiest to measure as two heaped tablespoons. However, if you’re going from a low-fat diet, or you’re just increasing your fat in general, trying to go from what you’re used to, to this amount with every meal, in one day, is probably going to be too much for your body to handle.
This is because there are certain digestive enzymes in the gut, which help us to break down fat. If we don’t eat too much fat, we won’t have too many of these, and the body will need some time to adjust and increase the amount to do the job properly. This can happen with any food by the way, if you don’t eat meat and then suddenly start eating meat, you may struggle with digestion because the body has stopped or dramatically reduced the amount of enzyme required to break that food down, so it takes time to build these enzymes back up.
Additionally, people with endo and chronic fatigue and pain conditions are often low on all digestive enzymes in general, as stress significantly depletes digestive enzymes and stomach acid.
So, when we eat more fat and don’t have the tools to break it down properly, we can end up with nausea and stomach upset, including cramps, diarrhoea and in some cases, vomiting.
The best way to increase your fat intake is slowly. So, for example, if you’re very sensitive, start with one meal for one week, I would suggest breakfast, as this is the meal which will set your blood sugar up for the day. You could begin by bringing in an extra half a tablespoon of fat, and then doubling that a few days later or a week later, whatever feels right to you. If you feel some stomach upset, scale back a bit, allow your body time to adjust, and then when things have settled, try building up again slowly. Or you could try a different method of adding in a little extra fat with each meal, say a teaspoon – that means overall you’re probably adding in about the same amount as the person just focusing on breakfast alone, but you]’re improving the blood sugar impact of each meal you eat, not just one meal. Then, the following week, you can move to two teaspoons per meal, or whatever feels best. Remember, everyone is different, so listen to your body.
If you find that you’re still struggling, you’ll probably benefit from digestive bitters, which help to stimulate stomach acid, bile and digestive enzyme production, which can all help to break down fat. You can find lots of good digestive bitters with a quick google online.
https://www.urbanmoonshine.com/products/original-bitters
https://www.baldwins.co.uk/natures-answer-ginger-bitters-alcohol-free-fluid-extract-60ml
https://www.arrae.com/pages/gut-boost
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