My Digestive Journey: Stress

March 25, 2013March 25, 2013 / ktbuchs87

If you were to ask anyone who knows me really well, they would tell you that I don’t handle stress very well. I tend to turn into a wreck, no longer a human, but one giant ball of stress. It’s not pretty and it is definitely not fun. All this stress has wrecked havoc on my gut in the past..

I come from a long line of worriers, and I tend to internalize that worry and stress. Whenever I start to worry about something, my gut goes haywire on me. While I was in college, I used to have to perform solo pieces on my French Horn in front of a panel of teachers. I do NOT enjoy playing by myself in front of an audience, as it pretty much terrifies me. But every semester I would have to begrudgingly stand in front of 5 professional musicians and try not to throw up while playing my instrument. Obviously this situation caused me great amounts of stress, and the weeks leading up to my performance I would think of nothing other than having to play my solo. This stress would in turn mess with all things digestive. I wouldn’t be able to eat, yet somehow would have to run to the bathroom all the time dealing with diarrhea. It would get so bad that literally I would have to go to the bathroom 2 minutes before my performance or risk having an even more embarrassing accident than playing a few wrong notes. The surprising thing though? The minute I was done with my piece and walked out of the room I would feel infinitely better. I could eat, I wasn’t racing to the nearest toilet, and my stomach wasn’t constantly swirling like a tornado.

Stress manifests itself in different ways for different people. Not everyone may experience my intestinal fireworks whenever they encounter a difficult or worrisome situation, but there is a significant link between stress and your digestive system. There are actually a ton of nerve endings in your digestive system, and when your brain experiences a stressful situation it will release hormones that directly affect your digestion. It even starts as soon as you eat, with stress decreasing your saliva production and causing food to not be properly digested right from the moment you chew. Stress doesn’t mess around. Many of the ways you can see stress affect the digestive system is through indigestion, ulcers, and even heartburn. Not really all that fun.

So are our digestive systems at the mercy of stress and our brain? You don’t have to let it. There are things that you can do to eliminate or reduce your stress and that can help alleviate stressful situations. For all you professional worriers like me, these habits can take some time to incorporate. I still have a hard time dealing with stress (just ask my wonderfully patient husband) but I keep trying to practice and get better!

Talk it out. One of the worst things that you can do is internalize your stress and bottle it all up inside. That will just eat you up and spit you out. Having someone you can talk to about your stress and worry will help you get all that bad energy out into the open and off your chest. Also, now you have someone who can help you work through that stress and ease your worries. Even if you don’t have someone you can talk to, writing in a journal works as well. I always felt like I would be a burden to my friends and family if I bothered them with my troubles, but I have found that they are always willing to listen and help. Those that love you don’t want to see you suffer, so talk!

Find an activity that will get you away from your stress. Even if it is for a few minutes, do something that will take your mind away from your stress. When I would be practicing for my performance, sometimes I would just have to stop for a few minutes and walk around the music building or read the school newspaper just to give myself a break. If you are constantly dwelling in your stressful situation, you will eventually break. Take a walk, drink some tea, do yoga, play a video game, ANYTHING just to give your body and brain some relief.

Eat healthy foods. This is the toughest advice for me to follow, but probably some of the best. When stressed, I tend to barely eat. This is not good at all. Your body needs fuel to function and it really needs fuel whenever you are stressed so that it can deal with that stress. It may seem like common sense, but along with eating regularly, eat HEALTHY. You do not need to be eating 20 oreos, even though that may comfort you. Junk food will produce junk results and you don’t need that when you’re stressed. How many times have you been worried about something, and in order to try and feel better, you eat your favorite comfort food? How many times has that food made you feel better for the 10 minutes you are eating and then you feel awful after you are done? You don’t need the added stress of bad food, as junk food will allow your digestive system to function properly. At a time when you need your gut working as best as possible, don’t feed it garbage. Stick to foods like oranges and broccoli and other foods that have vitamins and minerals that will boost your body and alleviate your stress. Your gut will thank you!

Take a deep breath. Breathe deep and realize that this stress will not last forever. You can and will get through it and you will be stronger for having done so. Try not to dwell on the immediate stress but think to the future and the outcome. Think about how great you will feel once you have worked past this problem and come out on the other side!

Like I said before, I still struggle with dealing with stress properly. In fact, yesterday Adam and I started to pack for our upcoming move (long story short: we did not plan on moving, we were told that our lease was not going to be renewed and thus had to find a new place to live. Woooo….). I started to feel overwhelmed by everything that had to be done in a few short weeks and I started to shut down. Luckily, I (with a lot of help from Adam) was able to vocalize that stress and work through it. While I am still a little stressed about the whole situation (I seriously hate moving), I am not experiencing any of my usual symptoms. That alone is reason to be happy, because seriously who wants to have to pack and have the trots? Not me! When you start to feel stressed, take a step back, breathe deep, and know that you are tougher than any problem out there and can handle this!

My Digestive Journey- Probiotics

March 18, 2013 / ktbuchs87

Last week I talked about eliminating certain things from your diet in order to help heal your gut. For me personally that meant getting rid of dairy as well as gluten. This week I want to talk about adding something to your diet: probiotics.

Little Biology lesson for you: You have bacteria and microbes all over your body, from your skin, to your eyelashes, to inside your digestive system. Before you freak out and douse your body with sanitizer, these are good bacteria and essential to your every day functions. These bacteria have various jobs, but the ones in your gut help to digest your food. A healthy gut can have upwards of trillions of microbes helping to breakdown your food so you can use it to function.

When you don’t have a healthy gut, your microbe count can drop way down. This in turn affects your digestion. You no longer have a billion little helpers and food can sit in your digestive tract and rot or pass through only partially digested. Clearly having rotting food sit in your gut is not an ideal situation. This can lead to stomach problems, bloating, gas, and just general unpleasantness. Many things contribute to unhealthy microbes. Taking anti-biotics can damage good bacteria as well as bad bacteria, as well as eating an unhealthy diet.

This is where probiotics come in. Adding probiotics to your diet can help restore and repair the bacteria in your gut, in turn helping your body to properly digest and use the food you eat. There are plenty of ways to get probiotics into your diet and I’ve tried a few here on this list. REMEMBER: I’m not a doctor or any type of certified medical professional. This is just a list that I have made based on my own research. Talk with your health care professional if you want to start adding more of these to your life.

Probiotic Pills There are a plethora of probiotic pills out there on the market. It can be overwhelming to try and find the right one for you. While I’m a believer in trying to get your nutrients/vitamins/minerals from food, I realize it’s difficult to get everything you need every day from food alone. When looking for probiotics you don’t need anything fancy, just probiotics. Here is a list, by all means not all inclusive, of different probiotics and their functions. Start here and go through and find the function that you need and then work from there. Look for pills that contain that strand of bacteria. Talking to your doctor or a nutritionist can also help as they are well equipped to help you sort through all the information out there.

Some forms of dairy This one I approach with caution. Obviously I do not eat any dairy, but there are products, such as yogurt, that have probiotics in them.. The downside is that many times they will also have added sugar and chemicals that don’t help your digestion. So be careful if you choose this approach. Plain Greek yogurt is a good start and you can add in your own flavoring such as honey or fruit.

Fermented Foods Tempeh, kimchi, kombucha. All of these are fermented food/drinks. Because of the fermentation process, these products have probiotics that can help with digestion. This is the route that I have been experimenting with lately and it has given me some great results. While these foods may sound weird and not as appetizing as, say, a plate of cookies, they really taste good and are immensely helpful. I have mentioned kombucha before and this is the fermented food that I have used the most. Kombucha is a type of fermented tea that you can purchase at most grocery stores. Unfortunately it is pretty expensive (around $4 for us here in the Midwest but the good news is that you can actually make your own! I recently purchased my own kombucha kit, and while I haven’t started to grow it yet (I’m going to wait until after we move in April), it is actually a fairly simple process and not at all intimidating. Plus once you start to grow your own kombucha you can have a never ending supply because it just continues to grow, as long as you maintain it. Once I get kombucha down I plan to start trying to make my own fermented vegetables. I’ll try to share that process with you as I go through it so that you can reap all the benefits of fermented food!

This is by no means a complete list of probiotic help. There are other things such as papaya and apple cider vinegar that also have probiotic qualities and will help with your digestion. Again, the key here is finding a method that works best for you. Perhaps you can’t stomach the idea of eating billions of microbes (don’t worry, it is a little creepy at first) and want the convenience of a pill. That’s totally fine, this isn’t about following the crowd and choosing what is most popular at the time. This is about finding the combination of digestive aids that works for you and gives you the best results.

Hopefully these last few posts and some of the advice have been helpful to you. I would love to hear from you readers with any questions, comments, and/or concerns. I write this blog to help you and your input is greatly appreciated! Have a great Monday and an awesome week!

My Digestive Journey

March 11, 2013 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

When I decided to change my diet a little over a year ago, my main goal was just to have better health. As far as I knew I had no major illnesses, I wasn’t overweight, and I had no big complaints. I felt that I ate fairly well, but when I read about eating clean I realized that there was a lot more I could be doing for my health I had no idea how big of an impact this switch would have on my life.

Once I cut out all processed food and focused on eating real, whole foods, I saw a lot of positive changes. I had way more energy, my acne started clearing up, my periods were less painful (sorry men, us girls have uterus’, deal with it), my body started to become more toned, and I never felt that gross nasty “food-baby” after eating a meal. I was ecstatic. For the first time I felt like I had found a lifestyle that I could follow forever. Sure, there were rough moments of temptation, and the longing for the ease of just going to a restaurant and ordering whatever. But the positives outweighed the negatives ten-fold.

Then things changed. After about three months of eating a whole foods diet, I started to get acne again, I was rarely pooping (yup, still like to talk about poop), and occasionally I would have horrible stomachaches after a meal. Katie before would have ignored these problems, but new Katie refused to feel anything but her best and healthiest.

Into research mode I went. I looked at my diet and tried to determine what could be causing my problems. After some trial and error (and a very long and terrible night spent in the bathroom following a homemade pizza) I decided to eliminate dairy for awhile.

Within a few weeks I was back to feeling like my old/new self. Why did I choose dairy first? Well, like I said I did a lot of reading/research and felt that for me this was a logical first elimination. I didn’t consume much dairy to begin with and realized a lot of my symptoms occurred after eating some form of dairy. So out went dairy, and to be honest, I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would. For me, I got more satisfaction feeling amazing and healthy than I did from devouring a grilled cheese sandwich.

What does this story have to do with you? Eliminating certain things from your diet can be one of the first steps to healing and strengthening your digestive system. Does this mean you have to stop eating dairy to have a healthy gut? Not necessarily. Remember, we all have different flora/microbes in our guts, meaning we will have different nutritional needs. For me eliminating dairy, as well as gluten, had helped put me on the path to better digestive health.

Take a look at your life and see what complaints you have about your health, whether it’s acne, achy joints, bloating or low energy. Then start to take notice when those complaints flare up and what you have eaten prior to that. Eliminate what may be your “trigger” food and give yourself a few weeks to test and see if your symptoms get better. I may just be a big nerd (ok, I am TOTALLY a big nerd), but it’s fun for me to be a food detective and figure out what might be doing me more harm than good. Don’t get frustrated if it takes awhile to pin point your problems. Just remember you’re doing this all for a healthier you!

Next week I’m going to talk about another step I’ve taken to heal my gut. I recently bought a kombucha tea starter and am in the process of growing (or fermenting) my own kombucha. I’ll share how that works and all the benefits I’m reaping from that! Until then, have a great week and see you next Monday!

Copy, Paste… Healthy?

March 4, 2013 / ktbuchs87

My past few posts have been about your digestive health. Your nutrition and health have SO much to do with the particular microbes you have in your digestive system as well as how healthy those particular microbes are. Many problems that people experience these days have to do with their digestive system not being in top performing mode. The obvious solution is to take steps to fix or heal your gut, right? The best way to do that is to follow a gut-healing diet, right? You can just find one on the internet or follow what your friend is doing, right?

WRONG! Just like your fingerprint, your digestive system is unique to you. No one else has one that functions in the exact same way that yours does, therefore you can’t just follow a “cure-all” or “blanket” diet. Sure, there are certain things that you can try that might be similar to someone else’s journey, like perhaps take probiotics. But the type of probiotics your body will need will be totally different than what your neighbor’s body needs. To really fix your gut, you are going to need to be a dedicated sleuth to your body’s functioning. This is tough! Who has time to constantly be monitoring how your stomach reacts to every single piece of food that they ingest? Who wants to deal with eliminating foods (maybe foods that you REALLY like) and having a “boring” diet? And who wants to slog through a bunch of boring research to find advice about where they should start their healing process?

I didn’t. It was so much easier to ignore my problems or tell myself that it wasn’t such a big deal. I wasn’t dying of a terminal illness, I could function fairly well and I was intimidated by trying to “heal” myself. Especially since there was no way to copy someone else who had done all the work already (admit it, we’re all a little lazy). But the more and more I read, and dealt with my not-that-bad issues, the more I realized I needed to practice what I preach. I needed to put in the effort and work towards getting my best health. How can I keep telling you to to step it up if I won’t step it up? Hypocrite much? So I’ve started the task of healing myself and I want to be able to help you start yours. While I won’t be able to tell you exactly what to do, I can offer help and suggestions.

A few things I CAN tell you are a few what not to do’s. These were some of the pitfalls that I fell into and to be honest they are pretty easy to avoid.

Ignore. This is pretty self-explanitory, and I mentioned it earlier, but please do not just ignore what can become a serious problem. Whether it be because you don’t want to deal with it or don’t know how to deal with it, neither are a good enough excuse for turning a blind eye to your health. If you feel crummy, you need to FIX IT! If only someone had shouted that at me years ago, I would have had a much easier go at this!

Be a lemming. You can not just follow the crowd on this one. There is no band-aid that is going to fix your problem just like everyone else. Fad diets or pills or drinks or magic potions or whatever are not going to make you better. They might just do the opposite and wreck your digestive system even more and that is so not cool. You obviously have to start somewhere and it is ok to see where others have started. But remember, just because they eliminated dairy from their life and are tons better doesn’t mean that it will cure you as well.

Obsess/Worry/Stress. Yes, this can be a daunting task. Some of you are probably saying, “I’m not a nutritionist! I have no clue what’s going on inside me or how to fix it!” I felt the same way too. Take a deep breathe and focus on little changes you can make. Don’t try to completely overhaul your diet/lifestyle overnight. That will just cause you to freak out and that doesn’t help your problem at all. The more calm and stress free you remain, the easier it will be to stay in tune with your body and figure out what direction to take. Take it from someone who stresses over LOTS of things, it is much easier to take it slow and save yourself the headache.

My next few posts will be about steps that I have taken to make my digestive system healthier I think it helps to read through someone else’s journey and know that while it is different for each individual, in the end it is just about trying to get healthy so you can enjoy life to it’s fullest. If you would like to read more about gut health and the research that is behind it I would suggest reading this article from Mark Hyman, MD, as well as this article by Dr. Elizer Ben-Joseph. Both are really great scientific articles that can help you understand a little more about what’s going on inside your body. I also encourage you to head over to the purely twins blog. This is a blog written by twin sisters (go figure) and they have been writing about their day to day experiences with healing their guts. I have been following them since day one and it has been really helpful in my own journey.

Next week I will have more about my personal experience as well as some things I have done (look for a post about kombucha tea coming soon!). Remember, this is going to be a very individual experience. But that doesn’t mean you can’t gain strength and insight from others! I hope you have a great week and I’ll see you soon!

food for thought!

Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah….

February 11, 2013 / ktbuchs87

It’s probably no shock that I love to be in the kitchen, cooking and creating delicious (and healthy!) meals. For me, there is something therapeutic and fulfilling about the whole process of putting a meal on the table. I love searching through recipes, gathering the ingredients, tying my apron around my waist and getting down to business. I’ll be the first to tell you that I am not a gourmet chef by any means. I wouldn’t even claim to be an amateur chef. Just a gal who likes to cook and serve meals.

I’ve heard many times that people would love to be able to cook all their meals, but they aren’t good cooks or don’t have time, or (gasp!) hate to be in the kitchen. All of these (except for that last one!), are legitimate problems when it comes to eating healthier. One of the best ways to make sure you are getting proper nutrition, is to be the one in charge of all the food that goes into your body. Easier said than done right? I understand that not everyone will share my love of all things kitchen/cooking. I do however have a few tips that can help you navigate your way through the kitchen maze and start to take your health into your own very capable hands!

Have some confidence! My mom always told me that if you could read you could cook. At it’s very minimum, cooking is being able to read a recipe and follow the instructions. Of course there are some exceptions to this and cooking does have a lot more involved, but don’t second guess yourself. You are at the top of the food chain! You are an intelligent being (I assume!). You are more than capable of tackling that chicken noodle soup recipe!

Keep it simple. Going along with the first point, keep your cooking simple. Don’t make your kitchen debut with a fancy schmancy recipe that has hard-to-find ingredients and will chain you to the oven all day using crazy techniques like braising or caramelizing. Find simple, short recipes that have a few steps and common ingredients. You will feel so much more calm and proud of yourself when you can place a complete meal on the table as opposed to a failure when your souffle deflates half way through cooking! As you cook more and more you will get better and be able to “graduate” to more complicated meals.

Read the whole recipe BEFORE you start. It’s a rookie mistake (one that I have made at least once…) to not read through the whole recipe before you dive right in. There is nothing worse than being halfway through your cooking and realizing you need fresh basil and there is none to be found in your kitchen. By making sure you read through all the ingredients and all the steps, you will be able to make sure you have everything and save yourself a big headache later on.

Schedule out your meal. What I mean by this it make sure you time out your cooking. If you are preparing a whole meal (entree and side dishes), you’ll want to make sure everything will finish generally around the same time. I still struggle with this sometimes, and estimated cooking times aren’t always right. Create a rough time table of when you need to start preparing the food, then when you need to start cooking. I find it’s easiest to decide when you want to eat and work backwards from there.

Have fun! Yes. I know this is a cliche piece of advice. But in all seriousness, you will enjoy your time in the kitchen a lot more if you have fun. Don’t stress if something doesn’t turn out perfectly the first time you make it. You’ll have to eat again in the very near future and have your second chance at getting it right! Pick recipes with foods and ingredients you know you will like, involve your family or friends in the prep work, have music playing in the background, dance! The more fun you have while in the kitchen the more motivated you will be to keep practicing and the better you will get!

I know this is just a short list and that it probably won’t be enough to convince some of you that cooking can be simple and fun. Humor me though and give one meal a shot. This would be a great way for those of you who made the resolution to eat better to take charge of your nutrition! Trust me, I know you will feel super proud of yourself when put that plate of yummy food down on the table with the knowledge that YOU put in all the work and love it to took to create that dish. So throw on your aprons, fire of the stove, and get cookin’!

If you need some ideas for quick and healthy recipes, follow me over on Pinterest! I pin recipes pretty much everyday and they are all fairly easy to follow! Katie Buchanan http://pinterest.com/ktbuchs87/