United States
Diana is a registered dietitian-nutritionist and the owner of The Global Dietitian, an international nutrition consulting practice based in Seattle, WA and Luxembourg, Luxembourg. She helps individuals find the best eating approach for their specific lifestyle and family needs. She works with clients around the globe, and specializes in providing nutrition-based treatment for gastro-intestinal disorders, food allergies and intolerances, and nutrition for children and families. She also works with a variety of athletes on the local and national levels.
However, I like to think of the Challenge Phase as the most interesting and informative of the Low FODMAP Diet (LFD) process. This is where you learn the ins and outs of your own tolerances. This is the phase that helps you better understand what you can eat, how much, and how often.
The low FODMAP diet is a THREE-phase diet comprised of Elimination, Challenge and Integration. After many weeks of eliminating foods and the nail-biting (or gut-clenching) process of systematically reintroducing one by one during your Challenge Phase (sometimes called Reintroduction), you're now ready for Phase 3: The Integration Phase (sometimes called Personalization)!
COVID-19 (the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) has wreaked havoc on many areas of our lives and health over the past several years. "Long COVID," a diverse constellation of post-COVID symptoms and deficits, has been shown to affect many bodily systems, including (but not limited to) respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, and gastrointestinal.
As a gut health dietitian, in my clinical practice I typically see more women than men with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other gut issues. In speaking with other dietitians and reviewing the research, it is clear that there are indeed very real differences in terms of how and how often IBS affects women.
There are different ways to approach the low FODMAP diet. The Low FODMAP "Gentle" Diet might be right for you. The has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of , with around 70% of individuals studied showing marked improvement, however the multi-phased diet is quite restrictive and complex, and can be challenging to follow, or even harmful, in certain situations.
Research shows that there is a significant overlap between functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and eating disorders (ED). Nearly 50% of individuals with FGIDs have been shown to have disordered eating or a full-blown ED, and some 90%+ of those individuals with a diagnosed ED also have one or more FGIDs.
The Low FODMAP diet has been shown to be effective in reducing myriad symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) both in research studies and in clinical practice. As a registered dietitian-nutritionist , I utilize this diet with many of my IBS clients, either in its comprehensive three-phase form (it includes Elimination , Challenge and Integration phases), or in a simplified manner for individuals who should not undertake overly restrictive elimination diets.
In this article we explore the relationship between menopause and IBS . What is menopause, are gut issues affected during this time, and what can be done to help alleviate symptoms? Biologically, menopause is defined as the point in time when menstrual cycles permanently cease due to the natural depletion of ovarian oocytes (eggs) from aging (1).
Simply stated, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is an increase in the number of colonic-type bacteria (which are normally found in large numbers in the large intestine) in the small intestine. The presence of bacteria in our gastro-intestinal (GI) tract is normal and helpful.