Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - The SHOCKING Reasons You’re So BLOATED (And Key Tips for Stopping It) with Dietitian Andrea Hardy

Starting point is 00:00:00 When our body is stressed, it can actually change the communication between our brain and our gut to not only change digestion, but change how we perceive digestion. Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, where I dismantle diet culture rules, call it the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. Today's episode is definitely a special interest of mine, because as I've discussed in a lot of detail over the years, I am part of the 10-15% of the population who suffers from IBS. And of all the joys of IBS, persistent and painful bloating

Starting point is 00:00:48 is probably one of the most unpleasant and reviled. This is really the reason why I wanted to develop a brand new digestive enzyme supplement at New Theory, which after 18 months in development is finally available. Yay! I'm gonna be telling you a lot more about that at the end of this episode, so if you also deal with uncomfortable bloating or you just want to improve your digestion, you won't want to miss that. My guest today, Andrea Hardy, is a fellow dietitian and IBS girly and runs a nutrition counseling team of dietitians and psychologists called Ignite Nutrition that specializes in digestion and women's health.

Starting point is 00:01:28 She's also the author of the new ebook backed up, The Ultimate Guide to Overcoming Constipation. In today's episode, we will be chatting about how diet culture has sneakily co-opted anti-bloat messages to be code for anti-fat. We're gonna to be talking about common causes of bloating including the biggest food culprits and what to do about them. We're also going to be talking about how not eating

Starting point is 00:01:54 enough may actually be contributing to your digestive woes and we'll discuss the role of mental health on the gut. A quick note that we will be talking about disordered eating so please feel free to skip this video if that is triggering to you, and also my general disclaimer that the information in this episode is for entertainment and educational purposes only and is never a replacement for personalized healthcare. Also I would really love if you would follow or subscribe to the podcast and leave me a review because honestly as a new podcast it really really does help me out.

Starting point is 00:02:30 Alright let's get into it. Okay Andrea thank you so much for joining me it's always a pleasure to chat with you. I'm very excited to be here today and talking about my favorite topic. Yes. Okay. So like mini rant here, but you know, one of the many toxic messages spread by extreme wellness culture these days that really irks me as somebody who has struggled with legit IBS probably my whole life is like pathologizing your stomach, not being completely flat and then calling that quote, unquote bloating. You know, I just feel like so much of the anti-bloat content

Starting point is 00:03:11 out there is just grossly E D coded when it is obviously completely normal for your stomach to expand and not look quote, unquote snatched when you put food and drink into it. So, you know, I think this has really created a lot of confusion around what normal healthy digestion looks like. So maybe could you talk a bit about what is normal versus, you know, when is abdominal distension and bloating something that we should maybe investigate further? On 100%. I mean, I see this all the time as well, is everybody expects this perfectly flat tummy.

Starting point is 00:03:48 You see these pictures, these really toxic pictures on social media of distention and people saying, oh, maybe it's SIBO, when in fact it is completely normal when you eat that your stomach needs to make room. So there's gastric accommodation, like meaning that your diaphragm lifts up and makes space, but there will still be some changes in people's bodies when they eat, and that is normal. And if you have a stool in your colon and you haven't gone to the bathroom yet,

Starting point is 00:04:20 you're gonna notice something different. But people really fixate on that and they see it as a problem. And I see lots of stuff online saying, you need to have two or three bowel movements a day. And that's just not true. In terms of constipation definition, the actual definition of functional constipation is including less than three bowel movements a week. However, when I look at my constipated patients, quality of life plays into that.

Starting point is 00:04:52 So a lot of times people are trying to aim for a bowel movement every day or every other day to feel comfortable. And when they start skipping more than that, that's when they start to notice pain and discomfort associated with constipation. when they start skipping more than that, that's when they start to notice pain and discomfort associated with constipation. So if you're experiencing normal abdominal fluctuations of like expansion and contraction, and it's not associated with pain,

Starting point is 00:05:16 it's not associated with changes in bowel habits, that's probably normal. As soon as there's like this pain, this discomfort, a lot of patients that have severe constipation experience a lot of pressure, nausea, that's the red flag there to say, OK, there could be something going on. I should get this looked at.

Starting point is 00:05:36 Yeah, yeah. That's great advice. And in your practice, what are some of the most common causes of bloating you see? And I want to talk about actual bloating, not just like I ate something and there's food in my gut. For sure. So in terms of bloating, one of the biggest causes of bloating that people haven't been

Starting point is 00:05:57 able to figure out is constipation. A lot of people do struggle with constipation, whether it's from diet and lifestyle or other things going on. But a lot of my patients, especially my women that are like 40 plus, maybe nearing perimenopause, they're like, I go to the bathroom every day, I don't think I'm constipated. But when we actually look at it,

Starting point is 00:06:20 they actually have quite a high stool burden or they're FOS or full of stool. And so stool volume, stool frequency all plays a role in that and you know as we age things can slow down, as hormones change things can slow down, women but even men can experience things like pelvic floor dysfunction which contributes to chronic constipation. So there's a lot of factors out there where people are experiencing constipation and they're like, Oh, maybe I have SIBO. Maybe I need to do all these crazy things when in fact, you know, constipation needs to be dealt with first,

Starting point is 00:06:56 before you start, you know, diving down that rabbit hole. Yeah, you know, back to kind of like wellness culture, I just feel like the same way it's more socially acceptable to talk about bloating than it is to talk about losing weight to look snatched. It is a lot cuter to talk about bloating than it is to talk about constipation. Right. So I think that's, you know, often left out of these conversations that we see online. When like you said, like this is often the root problem. This is actually something we have to be talking about and thinking about more. So you talked about being full of stool. FOS, I love that. What are some signs that you're not fully eliminating

Starting point is 00:07:35 your bowels? Because like you said, sometimes you'd be like, well, I went to the bathroom today. But how do you know, and not to get crude, but how much poop is normal per day? Like what should we be aiming for? Absolutely. So it can greatly vary based on how much fiber you consume because fiber bulks stool. But typically like one to two cups of stool is normal, but lots of my patients are passing,

Starting point is 00:08:00 you know, kind of rabbit poops or really thin pencil thin stools in very small volumes. And they may actually consume a regular or high fiber diet. They're complaining of bloating, they're complaining, you know, every time I eat, I just feel so full and uncomfortable. So they might be passing small amounts of stool every day, or they might be somebody who's, you know, can go three or five days without a bowel movement. The best way to actually diagnose somebody being full of stool is an abdominal x-ray. I always feel like it's a really underutilized tool.

Starting point is 00:08:35 But in absence of doing that, my patients end up pursuing all of these other things when if we would have just done the abdominal x-ray and seen that they're full of stool, we would have managed the constipation, not dove down all these other rabbit holes with motility studies and hydrogen and methane breath tests to diagnosibo. Just getting back to the basics with something like that can help your physician see, oh my goodness, their whole colon is full of stool.

Starting point is 00:09:04 So that can be a really helpful tool, especially when there's pelvic floor involvement. That is very helpful for folks to know. And aside from the general discomfort of it, of being full of stool, being constipated, are there any kind of short or long term risks of stool just kind of like sitting in the intestines for longer periods of time? Not like wellness culture says there is. However, it can create a lot of discomfort. It can create a lot of gas. The longer stool sits in the colon, the more fermented it gets. A lot of patients do complain of really stinky foul-smelling gas when they're full of stool. And of course,

Starting point is 00:09:47 the harder your stool gets, the harder it is to pass. People are bearing down or pushing more, which leads to hemorrhoids, which is the worst. Brutal. Especially after pregnancy. Yeah. Any pregnant person, anyone who's being pregnant just knows the hell of that. And it's kind of like almost inevitable once you've pushed a baby out of your vagina that that's, you know, you've pushed everything, let's just say out. So yeah, it's rough. So that's super good to know.

Starting point is 00:10:16 Okay. And obviously when we're dealing with constipation, fiber rich foods along with hydration is super key. So like you said, like when it gets hard, it's harder to pass all that. But ironically, too much fiber can also be a source of bloating, gas, and distension for a lot of folks. So there's like this Goldilocks dose when it comes to fiber. What should we be aiming for? And how much is too much when we're trying to kind of balance the seemingly competing problems of like having constipation and also having bloating, but we're trying to get in those high fiber foods. 100%. So in my book in backed up, we talk about constipation subtypes and better understanding

Starting point is 00:10:58 your constipation subtype will better help you understand how to overcome the constipation and get in enough fiber because you're right. Some people are short on fiber. They have functional constipation where if we just bump up their fiber, bump up their fluid, we're going to get them moving. On the other hand, if you have something like pelvic floor dysfunction where you're just not coordinating a bowel movement properly, maybe your pelvic floor is too tight, it's not relaxing, maybe your diaphragm is not moving, you might not be helped by more fiber because the bulking effect of that fiber can actually make it harder for you to pass stool.

Starting point is 00:11:39 So I typically find that if you fall more into the severely constipated category, we got to get you cleaned out first before we start adding in fiber. If you're mild to moderately constipated, we can be a bit more aggressive with fiber without it making things worse. But when it comes to fiber, you know, choosing the right kinds of fiber and using strategic fiber strategies can kind of globally help all different types of constipation. And if it doesn't, it actually gives us a clue as to what might be going on with your constipation.

Starting point is 00:12:17 And can you give us a couple examples of like good sources of fiber that are helpful for constipation but also less likely to trigger bloating, gas, distension? Absolutely. So two of my favorites, I have a list of constipation superfoods, two of my favorites that perform well in the research and well with my patients in practice. One is kiwifruit. So two kiwifruit a day is not only a good source of fiber, but it

Starting point is 00:12:46 actually also contains an enzyme that's been shown to help with the movement of the bowels and soften the stool. And people tend to actually prefer that in comparison with prunes. Now I love prunes, they're a great way to resolve constipation. But the way that they work is that they, the type of carbohydrate in them, pulls water into the bowels. And with that pulling of water can create bloating and discomfort in certain people. So while prunes can be a helpful strategy in some, if you struggle with something like IBSC or IBS constipation, that bloating can lead to the perception of pain and discomfort. So sometimes kiwi fruits are a better option than prunes.

Starting point is 00:13:31 Yes. And that research you were mentioning about the kiwi, that is fantastic research. And it also actually showed that not only did it help with the constipation, it also helped with the bloating. So it really is that perfect superfood when it comes to those IBS symptoms. I love that. I also really like flax seed, ground flax, because the type of fiber in it isn't super fermentable, but it really lends well to good stool consistency and a quicker transit time

Starting point is 00:14:02 or how quickly things move through your gut. So ground flax, I like to just sprinkle it on my yogurt. It's a really easy way to up your fiber intake without contributing to excess bloating and gas. Amazing. Yeah, one of my personal favorites when it comes to supplemental fiber, I love partially hydrolyzed guar gum because again, really great for regularity gut health, but gentle and non-bloating for those of us who are more sensitive to FODMAPs, for example.

Starting point is 00:14:32 And you actually mentioned the fermentation, so I wanted to kind of touch on that because, you know, again, when we're talking about bloating and gas, like often we're talking about the fermentation of specific carbohydrates in the gut by our good bacteria. And most of that happens from FODMAPS and maybe people have heard that term. It stands for for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. It's a big, big, big, big word. But these include a wide range of foods like dairy and cauliflower and beans and garlic, onions, sugar, alcohols, like a lot of the foods that people, you know, often identify as triggering for them.

Starting point is 00:15:15 And I always like to talk about having like a FODMAP bucket, like we all have our little FODMAP bucket. Some people's are deep, some people's are shallow. So you know, some people can tolerate tons of FODMAPs and not have any kind of symptoms and others can feel like, oh my God, I get bloated after like two bites of cauliflower, which is me. And it sucks because a lot of really healthy and delicious, you know, nutritious, high fiber foods are rich in FODMAPs.

Starting point is 00:15:41 So yeah, I just wanted to kind of mention that because if you love these foods but they trigger bloating, you know, a good digestive enzyme supplement like a lactase for dairy and alpha galactosidases for legumes can be really helpful because we want people to enjoy these kinds of foods because they're nutritious for us and you know, great sources of fiber, but can be triggering for a lot of us folks. Absolutely. I want to talk about some other kind of sneaky causes of bloating that maybe people are less likely to think about. They might know the cauliflower makes them bloat. They might know that, okay, if I haven't pooped in two days, I'm going to feel bloated. But are there kind of sneaky things that people aren't really thinking about? Yeah. So one that I see that's actually quite common is a lot of people are consuming a lot of carbonated beverages

Starting point is 00:16:45 and they don't realize, they think, okay, well, it makes me burp, but they don't realize that any air that they don't actually burp out travels through the digestive tract and contributes to bloating. My husband, for example, is an air swallower, so when he talks a lot, he actually swallows a lot of air. So people that chew gum, people that smoke, you tend to swallow a lot more air. And they tend to look for what food could be contributing to this when in fact it's actually either behavioral or related to things like carbonated beverages. And so watching intake of that or getting to know whether you're an air swallower

Starting point is 00:17:27 can be a really helpful information in managing bloating. A lot of people don't realize that they do it. How do you know if you're an air swallower? Is there a test for that? Well, it's kind of funny. It's not a very scientific test, but if you know somebody that's like constantly burping, I always see on social media, they're like, oh, low stomach acid, drink apple cider vinegar or whatever, but chances are you're probably an air swallower. So what you can do is actually put a pencil in between your teeth, like bite down on it, and you can hold it there.

Starting point is 00:18:02 So if you're noticing like you're burping a lot and you know you're either talking or smoking or chewing bubble gum, if you hold a pencil between your teeth and it stops you from like creating these burps, you can actually prove that like you can't swallow air when you're holding a pencil between your teeth. So I learned that from an SLP, a speech language pathologist who can actually properly assess if you're on Air Swallow. But that's like a really easy thing. Like I shouldn't throw my husband under the bus. I was like, hold this pencil because he's like, I can't stop burping. There's something wrong with me. I was like, put this pencil between your teeth. And it prevented him from swallowing air for 15 minutes. He didn't have any burps at all. And I was like, see, this is behavioral.

Starting point is 00:18:44 There you go. Yes. And the smoking you mentioned, I mean, just another reason to quit, another reason not to vape. Or vape. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like all that, all that. So that's, that's a good reminder for our listeners as well. Okay. You know, back to what I was saying, kind of at the top of the interview about a lot of anti-bloating messaging being kind of e-decoded. The irony of this to me is that these messages can often encourage under-eating, which actually can perpetuate or cause bloating. And people don't know that. Can you talk about how not eating enough can affect our digestion and bloating?

Starting point is 00:19:26 100%. So a lot of them messaging around bloating online is very restrictive and it can actually perpetuate worsening symptoms. So while constipation related to underfeeding isn't a subtype in our book, we're like, you know, this isn't talked about enough. We added it as an additional subtype because we see so many people under eating and when you under eat you slow your bowels. You miss out on an opportunity to get in those foods that help to stimulate bowel movements. You mess with your body's natural rhythm because when you eat it triggers something called your gastrocolic reflex, which is the reflex where your nervous system stimulates motility

Starting point is 00:20:11 or movement in your bowels. And so every eating opportunity is an opportunity to stimulate normal motility in the bowels. And if you're skipping meals, you're missing out on that opportunity. So between inadequate intake, inadequate intake of things that are going to stimulate normal motility of your bowels, inadequate eating opportunities, all of those compounds to slower bowels and increase bloating. So a lot of times it's actually getting enough food at enough eating occasions to overcome the constipation and the bloating that

Starting point is 00:20:46 a person's created through restriction. Yeah, so interesting. And you know, another interesting kind of take on this as well is that I was speaking to another colleague of ours, Eric Williamson, when we were discussing metabolism, and that, you know, if your metabolism slows down because of extreme caloric restriction, as we would see in something like a knee disorder or disordered eating, all of your organs, including your digestive organs, will kind of pull back on their energy expenditure, which means that, you know, motility and peristalsis, which is key for, you know, moving things through the digestive tract so that you can have regular bowel movements and reduce bloating, that's all going to slow down.

Starting point is 00:21:27 And you know, it's I can really empathize with people who kind of get trapped in this cycle because the bloating kind of can perpetuate a lot of the disordered eating because you're feeling uncomfortable if you eat, you know, anything which just reinforces this fear of food so then you eat less and then you And then it keeps you trapped in this. And I just think also the unpleasant symptoms of the bloating and the distension, that can further exacerbate that hyperfixation on how your body looks and feels.

Starting point is 00:21:58 So it's very messy. And that's really where working with an expert like yourself comes into play. 100%. I mean, it's the restriction that is really hard to overcome. And so there are so many non-food strategies to resolve constipation. And in somebody that's struggling to meet their energy needs, maybe has a fear over meeting their energy needs, using other strategies to resolve constipation so that we can improve symptoms enough to actually be confident in

Starting point is 00:22:31 meeting those energy needs can be really helpful. Medication is a huge part of constipation management in severe constipation or constipation where diet intervention is not appropriate, like in an eating disorder or disordered eating. I don't want people to lose sight of that because all of the information online is like, do it naturally. Well, for some people that's not a good fit, it's not possible. They are on meds, they have other medical conditions. They maybe have an extra long colon that we need medication to overcome some of those

Starting point is 00:23:04 structural abnormalities. So there's so many contributing factors to constipation that really do need a zoomed in look. So that's important. Super helpful. Yeah. Okay. Now speaking about disorder eating and mental health, can we talk about the impact of stress and anxiety when it comes to just general bloating, IBS, you know, how does our mental health affect our digestion? We know that irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder of gut-brain interaction where our brain and our gut aren't communicating appropriately. We actually think of our gut as our second brain because our nervous system and our gut is so extensive and responsible for so many things.

Starting point is 00:24:05 And so when our body is stressed, it can actually change the communication between our brain and our gut to not only change digestion, but change how we perceive digestion. And so a lot of patients with irritable bowel syndrome actually perceive normal digestion inappropriately. So when they do have fermentation,

Starting point is 00:24:26 so production of gas from consumption of fermentable fibers, or we talked about those prunes pulling water into the bowels, that stretch creates an inappropriate communication between the brain and the gut to say like, hey, perceive this as pain. And so with that, that can then create a cycle where digestion changes because the body feels under stress from that.

Starting point is 00:24:50 Yeah. And it is amazing. Again, it's something that not enough people talk about in, you know, typical wellness culture online. We're not talking enough about the impact of our brain and mental health. But studies suggest that around like 60% of people with IBS have psychological comorbidities. So this is clearly, you know, deeply intertwined. And, you know, as an IBSC girlie myself, I realized that like managing stress is easier said than done.

Starting point is 00:25:20 So I think, you know, self-compassion is so important here because dealing with IBS symptoms like bloating and constipation is so stressful at times. Like when I'm traveling and I just go one day without pooping I literally start to freak out because I and I just get my head oh my god I'm gonna be constipated for three days I'm gonna not be able to dry myself like it's all I can think about it It's all consuming. Do you have any tips or hacks for helping manage stress-related IBS? Yeah. Same over here. When I'm stressed, I definitely notice an uptick in pain related to digestion. I think both you and I are probably people that, you know, operate well under stress, we're really kind of like high performance anxiety. Yep, yep. And with that,

Starting point is 00:26:14 you know, our bodies in that fight or flight more often than it should be. We're probably ruminators, for folks, catastrophizers. And so you kind of actually hit the nail on the probably ruminators, for folks, testifiers. All that. Mm-hmm. And so you kind of actually hit the nail on the head. Self-compassion is such an important skill when it comes to managing digestion. And it's actually, it's really hard at the beginning. I was like, oh, this feels so stupid.

Starting point is 00:26:39 I hate doing this. I don't want to be compassionate to myself, but I can be compassionate to other people. Right. So it's simply just like stopping, I hate doing this. I don't want to be compassionate to myself. But I can be compassionate to other people. So it's simply just like stopping, taking a moment, sitting with the discomfort of being a human being. So just like, OK, it's OK to feel this way. Everybody feels this way sometimes.

Starting point is 00:26:59 This is part of being human. This is part of living with a digestive disorder and reminding yourself this is just like a moment in time because I get caught up and I'm a catastrophizer and it's so easy to spiral and fixate and like you're a fixer, I'm a fixer. We wouldn't have ended up in dietetics anymore. Nope. It's true.

Starting point is 00:27:21 So we're always trying to fix it but my friend Casey Berglund does a lot of work in the mind-body space. And you've got to sit with that discomfort and feel it and remind yourself it's OK to feel this way. Everybody feels this way sometimes. You can use a turnaround phrase like, I'm learning to trust my body or I'm learning to sit with discomfort.

Starting point is 00:27:44 It might not feel right in your body to be like, OK, I'm learning to trust my body or I'm learning to sit with discomfort. It might not feel right in your body to be like, okay, I'm learning to trust my gut. A lot of people are like, that doesn't feel really true for me. So just learning to sit with discomfort can be a really helpful skill. And it is hard to do it when you're in it. But if you're consistent with it, if you consistently try and try and try self-compassion, it's going to be your default. So you're going to actually rewire your brain to default to that when you're struggling.

Starting point is 00:28:12 So that's a really helpful tool. I think there's a lot to be said about cognitive behavioral therapy when you struggle with digestion because, you know, a lot of digestion, I often see like self-fulfilling prophecies where my patients have had an emergency with their bowels. And maybe it's on the way to work when they're stuck in traffic. And that one incident precipitates

Starting point is 00:28:38 a lot of stress and fear. And when we're experiencing stress or fear, guess what? Our brain and our gut are talking to one another inappropriately and starting to do things that we don't actually want to happen. And so working on cognitive behavioral therapy, working with a therapist specifically on strategies around reducing rumination or catastrophization can be extremely helpful. I find that to be one of the most beneficial things

Starting point is 00:29:06 for our irritable bowel syndrome patients. 100%. 100%. And you know, for at home support too, I love the Nerva app. I don't know if you've ever tried the Nerva app. I mean, I'll leave a link to that in the show notes. Not sponsored. I just have used them myself. It's like gut hypnotherapy. There's like lots of different, you know, any kind of mindfulness meditations and breathing practices, like all of that can be so helpful for when you're just having those those moments. And again, like when you're busy, it's easier said than done to take those moments, you know, especially, you know, we talk about like bathroom habits and having like a good like poop routine in the morning. And like sometimes that's just not possible with you have a, you know, early morning flight or an early morning meeting or your kids are,

Starting point is 00:29:51 you got up late or your kids are, you know, on top of you. It's like, you know, it is very hard to, to be able to, to find that space for yourself to, to take that moment and, and kind of breathe through it. Um, but for a lot of folks who do struggle with digestion, that relaxation piece is so, so key. 100%, yeah. Well, this was so helpful, as always, Andrea.

Starting point is 00:30:16 Of course, I'm gonna be leaving links in the show notes for people to follow you online and to reach out for one-on-one counseling through Ignite, and also to get a copy of your new ebook. So thank you so, so much for joining us. Yeah, thank you for having me. That was so insightful.

Starting point is 00:30:38 I always learn so much from talking to Andrea. She really is one of the best in the gut health biz. And this discussion really helps set the stage to introduce you to new theory's newest product, Digest and Debloat, which I carefully designed to help ease digestion and uncomfortable bloating. You know, I have been really critical of so-called anti-bloat products in the past for various reasons. You know, most offer sub-optimal dosages buried in these proprietary blends, or what my scientific advisory and I would call low-hanging fruit, when it comes to ingredients with strong efficacy. Not to mention, the supplement world is enormous

Starting point is 00:31:21 and far too few brands are third-party testing their products for safety and purity. And if they are, those results aren't often shared publicly. So pushing for products that I could trust and also that my followers could trust was a huge part of why I felt I needed to start a wellness and supplement company in the first place. So at New Theory, we are proudly woman-owned, dietitian-founded, and committed to evidence-based, transparent, effective supplements that can help you live your healthiest, happiest life. More importantly though, we're really all about self-care. And as I mentioned earlier in the episode, so

Starting point is 00:32:05 much of the online conversation around bloating is actually just wellness culture code for quote-quote look skinny. The marketing tends to focus on eating massive amounts of cakes and pizza quote-quote guilt-free, insinuating that as long as you look snatched, what you eat doesn't actually matter. I don't know about you, but I just feel like obsessing over how flat your stomach looks after you eat a slice of pizza is like the furthest thing from self-care. Not to mention, as we discussed earlier in the episode, a lot of the foods that cause

Starting point is 00:32:44 bloating are actually inherently very nutritious for us. So like think salads and beans and dairy and whole grains. As a dietitian, my goal is to help empower you to make food choices that nourish your body and help you feel your best. So if a digestive supplement can help you make those choices without discomfort, that to me is an invaluable act of self-care.

Starting point is 00:33:13 So in my life, for example, I really heavily lean on dairy as a satiating source of protein and bone supporting nutrients that I just truly enjoy. But eventually my FODMAP bucket just gets too full and even though I love it, I know I'm gonna get an IBS flare. So leaning on a digestive aid like Digest and Deep Loat really just helps me make food choices that serve me best in the moment without anxiety and fear of symptom repercussions.

Starting point is 00:33:46 And this really has been such an integral part of my own food freedom journey. But yeah, let me briefly tell you about New Theory's newest product. As Andrea and I discussed, the cause of someone's bloating is often multifactorial and individualized. So we designed Digest and Deep Bloat to attack digestive symptoms from a multitude of angles. Our potent formula features a combination of evidence-based, gut-soothing herbal extracts and powerful digestive enzymes to address different potential sources of bloating, gas, abdominal pain and general digestive distress. So to tackle inadequate digestion at the source and enhance nutrient absorption from the foods

Starting point is 00:34:32 that we eat, we use a combination of evidence-based digestive enzymes. So we got lactase for all you cheese and ice cream lovers, alpha-galactosidase for beans, legumes, and cruciferous veg, and fructanase for onions, garlic and all of those inulin packed health foods. Then we combine those enzymes with ginger, curcumin, fennel seed, DJL licorice fruit and chamomile extracts, which collectively and independently have been studied for their antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-motility properties. So for example, ginger extract has unique pro-kinetic effects, meaning it's been shown

Starting point is 00:35:16 to increase stomach and intestinal muscle activity to effectively move food along the GI tract, which in turn helps to support regularity and digestion. And as we discussed earlier, regularity and motility are key players in bloating reduction. Then, the combination of curcumin and fennel seed extracts has been shown to help reduce abdominal pain by 50% and significantly improve quality of life. While chamomile and DGL licorice have powerful antispasmodic effects, which helps to relax the muscles in the GI tract to reduce bloating, abdominal cramps, gas, diarrhea, and other common symptoms of IBS. Yes, you could incorporate more of these whole foods into your diet, and they are super nutritious,

Starting point is 00:36:04 so I definitely encourage you to do that but drinking like chamomile tea for example it's just not going to have the clinical benefits we would see from extracts in efficacious dosages and I am all about supplements that actually work. After months of consulting with our advisory team and countless iterations and group testing of this formula, we are so excited about where we landed. And to celebrate the launch, my listeners are going to get a 20% discount to try the product first. So you can check out newtheory.com, that is N-E-U-E theory dot.com and you can use the promo bite back 20 at your checkout.

Starting point is 00:36:48 I am so excited to hear what you guys think and what meals and foods you have found that it's made the biggest difference with. But alas, I have a big glass of wine and a cheese board waiting for me to help celebrate this milestone of a day, so I'm going to go get to that. But thank you again to Andrea Hardy for helping me bite back against pseudoscience online, and please don't forget to leave me a review and subscribe to the channel, it really really does help me out. Signing off with Science and Sass, I'm Abbey Sharp, thanks for listening.

Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - The SHOCKING Reasons You’re So BLOATED (And Key Tips for Stopping It) with Dietitian Andrea Hardy

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