Empowered Hormones with Sheradyn Dekker

Best and worst probiotics for IBS

One of the questions I get asked all the time is…

“What’s the best probiotic for IBS?”

And honestly? It’s one of the hardest questions to answer. Not because probiotics don’t work. But because IBS tells me almost nothing.

Two women can both be told they have IBS, both experience bloating every single day, and both be taking the exact same probiotic… yet need completely different treatment plans.

That’s where so much of the confusion comes from.

We’ve been taught to think probiotics are a one-size-fits-all solution. Find one with enough strains, enough CFUs, and eventually your gut will sort itself out.

Sometimes that works. A lot of the time it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, most women assume they simply haven’t found the “right” probiotic yet.

But before you spend another $80 on a supplement, I think it’s worth understanding why probiotics help some people, make other people feel worse, and why choosing one has far less to do with the brand than it does with what’s actually happening inside your gut.

That’s exactly what we’re unpacking in today’s episode.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why IBS isn’t enough: Why the label tells us what you’re experiencing but not what’s causing it.
• How probiotics actually work: What they’re designed to do inside the gut—and why that differs depending on your symptoms.
• The strains with the strongest evidence: Which probiotics have research behind them for constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal pain and post-infectious IBS.
• When probiotics backfire: Why feeling worse after taking one is often valuable information instead of something to ignore.
• What to look for in a probiotic: Why strain selection, formulation and quality matter much more than the biggest CFU count on the label.
• Why testing changes everything: Why I always want to understand what we’re treating before we decide what your gut actually needs.

The goal isn’t to convince you to take probiotics. It’s to help you stop guessing. Because sometimes probiotics are exactly what your gut needs.

Sometimes they’re not. Knowing the difference is what gets people better.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to heal your gut after antibiotics (prevent thrush, IBS & bloating)

If you’ve ever finished a course of antibiotics and thought, my gut has never been the same since… this is for you.

Because I know what you’ve probably been told. Finish the antibiotics. Maybe take a probiotic. Give it time. And while the infection clears… the bloating starts. Your digestion changes. You develop thrush. Your bowel habits aren’t the same. Food suddenly doesn’t agree with you anymore.

So you assume that’s just part of taking antibiotics. But let’s be clear. Antibiotics save lives. Sometimes they’re exactly what you need.

The problem isn’t the antibiotics.The problem is nobody tells you how to rebuild your gut afterwards.

Because antibiotics don’t just kill the bacteria causing the infection. They also wipe out many of the beneficial bacteria that support digestion, hormone metabolism, immune function, and a resilient microbiome.

Research shows that a single course of antibiotics can reduce microbiome diversity by up to 30%. Some bacteria recover within weeks. Others take months. And some may never fully return without the right support.

Today’s episode breaks down what antibiotics actually do to your gut, why symptoms like bloating and thrush happen afterwards, and how to rebuild your microbiome properly instead of simply hoping it recovers on its own.

In this episode, we cover:

• What Antibiotics Really Do: Why antibiotics reduce beneficial bacteria alongside harmful ones, and how that impacts digestion, immunity, hormones, and recovery.
• Why Thrush Happens: How wiping out protective bacteria allows Candida to overgrow, why this is so common after antibiotics, and what you can do to prevent it.
• The Gut-Brain Connection: How antibiotic use affects communication between your gut and brain, influencing digestion, mood, and overall recovery.
• The Five R Framework: How removing ongoing stressors, replacing depleted nutrients, repairing the gut lining, reinoculating beneficial bacteria, and rotating foods helps rebuild a healthy microbiome.
• Choosing the Right Probiotics: Which probiotic strains actually support recovery after antibiotics, when Saccharomyces boulardii is helpful, and why more probiotics aren’t always better.
• Feeding Your Microbiome: The role of fermented foods, prebiotic foods, and dietary diversity in helping your microbiome recover instead of simply masking symptoms.

Antibiotics aren’t the enemy.

But assuming your gut will automatically bounce back can leave you dealing with bloating, thrush, IBS symptoms, and hormone issues long after the infection has gone.

You don’t need to fear antibiotics.

You need to understand how to rebuild your gut afterwards—and give your microbiome the support it actually needs to recover.

Your gut isn’t broken. It just needs the right environment to heal.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The top 10 causes of IBS (that your GP hasn’t told you about)

You’ve been told it’s IBS. Maybe you were given a low FODMAP handout, told to manage your stress, eat more fibre, or “just avoid trigger foods.” And maybe some of that helped for a bit.

But if you are still bloated, constipated, gassy, reacting to foods, or thinking about your gut all day — something has been missed. Because IBS is not a root cause.

It’s a label doctors use when your gut symptoms are real, but no one has properly figured out why they’re happening.

And that’s where women get stuck.

They spend years cutting foods, trying supplements, managing symptoms, and blaming themselves. Thinking they need more discipline. More restriction. More probiotics. But there is always a reason your gut is struggling.

And no — it is not “just stress.”

Today’s episode breaks down the most common root causes I see driving IBS symptoms in clinic, why generic IBS advice keeps women stuck, and what actually needs to be investigated if you want to fix your gut properly.

In this episode, we cover:

• SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth): Why bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine causes bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea, and food reactions — and why low FODMAP only masks symptoms.
• Methane-Dominant IMO: How methane-producing organisms slow gut motility and drive chronic constipation.
• Low Stomach Acid: Why poor digestion leads to fermentation, bloating, reflux, and bacteria thriving where they shouldn’t.
• Parasites & Infections: Why hidden infections are more common than women realise and can quietly drive symptoms for years.
• Dysbiosis: How imbalances in your microbiome affect digestion, hormones, inflammation, immunity, and overall gut function.
• H. pylori: Why this common infection contributes to reflux, nausea, bloating, and poor digestion.
• The Nervous System Connection: How chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation directly affect gut motility and digestion.
• Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Why some women are not dealing with a gut issue at all — but a muscular coordination issue affecting bowel movements.
• Food Fear & Restriction: How years of cutting foods and under-eating can make gut function worse over time.
• The Testing Gap: Why standard testing often misses the real drivers behind IBS symptoms — and why proper testing changes the whole treatment approach.

You are not failing because you ate broccoli, and you are not “bad” at gut health because another probiotic didn’t work.

If you’ve been stuck bloated for years, reacting to foods, planning your day around your gut, and feeling like nothing is helping… that is not something you just ignore and manage forever.

Something underneath is driving it, and until you figure out what that is, you’ll keep going in circles trying random diets and supplements hoping one finally fixes it.

You don’t need more guessing. You need proper investigation, proper testing, and a plan that actually matches what is going on in your body.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The perfect poop, laxative use & overcoming constipation

You have been pooping your entire life… and I would bet nobody has ever actually told you what a healthy one looks like, how often you should be going, or what it means when you’re not.

And honestly? That is a problem.

Because what happens when nobody talks about bowel movements is that women start normalising symptoms that are not normal. Going every three or four days becomes “just how you are.” Straining becomes normal. Living on laxatives becomes normal.

And the medical system has not helped.

You go to your GP, say you’re constipated, and get told to eat more fibre, drink more water, and take Movicol. But nobody explains why you’re constipated in the first place.

Because constipation is not a diagnosis.

It’s a symptom.

And treating all constipation the same way is exactly why so many women stay stuck.

Today’s episode breaks down what a healthy bowel movement actually looks like, what your poop tells you about your hormones and gut health, the different types of constipation, and why laxatives are not fixing the root cause.

In this episode, we cover:

What a Healthy Poop Actually Looks Like: The bowel frequency, consistency, colour, and ease of passing that actually tell us your gut is functioning properly — including how to use the Bristol Stool Chart.

Why Constipation Affects Your Hormones: How slow bowel transit impacts oestrogen clearance, contributes to PMS, bloating, painful periods, and leaves your body literally reabsorbing hormones it was trying to eliminate.

Why Pooping Matters for Detoxification: How your bowel movements help remove hormones, waste products, and endotoxins from the body — and what happens when that process slows down.

The Different Types of Constipation: Why slow transit constipation, pelvic floor dysfunction, IBS-C, and methane-dominant IMO are completely different problems that require completely different solutions.

Methane-Dominant IMO: How methane-producing organisms chemically slow gut motility, why fibre can actually make symptoms worse, and why breath testing matters.

Laxative Dependency: What actually happens when stimulant laxatives are used long-term, why dependency develops, and why the laxative becomes the management strategy instead of fixing the problem.

What to Do Instead: Simple, practical strategies to support motility naturally, including toilet posture, magnesium, meal spacing, nervous system regulation, and supporting your migrating motor complex.

You are not constipated because your body is lazy.

And you are not “bad at digestion.”

There is always a reason your gut is slowing down — whether that is methane overgrowth, stress, pelvic floor dysfunction, nervous system dysregulation, or impaired motility.

Big difference.

You don’t need to keep cycling through fibre supplements and laxatives hoping something finally works.

You need to understand what type of constipation you actually have — and what is driving it underneath.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IBS or IBD? What’s the difference & how do you test?

You’ve been told it’s IBS. Maybe you’ve had tests done. Maybe you’ve even had a colonoscopy that came back “clear.” And then… you’re sent home and told to manage it. But if you’re still dealing with bloating, urgency, diarrhea, constipation, or pain — and no one has properly explained what’s going on — something isn’t adding up.

Because IBS and IBD get confused all the time. And when that happens, women either get over-medicalised… or completely dismissed. Same symptoms. Completely different problems. And that’s where things start to fall apart.

Because here’s the reality. The symptoms overlap — cramping, bloating, bowel changes, food reactions, fatigue. So it’s easy to assume it’s “just IBS,” especially when nothing serious shows up on initial testing. But let’s be clear.

IBS is not a diagnosis.
IBD is.

One is a structural, inflammatory disease. The other is a label for symptoms when no one has found the cause. Big difference.

Today’s episode breaks down what IBS actually means, what IBD actually is, why they get confused, and what testing should be done if you actually want answers — not just another label.

In this episode, we cover:

• IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease): What conditions like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis actually involve, how inflammation damages the gut lining, and why proper diagnosis requires colonoscopy and biopsy.

• Key Inflammatory Markers: How tools like faecal calprotectin, CRP, ESR, and blood markers help identify inflammation and distinguish IBD from IBS.

• The IBS Label Problem: Why IBS tells you what is happening — your gut is irritated — but tells you nothing about why.

• What Gets Missed in Standard Testing: Why colonoscopies don’t show bacterial overgrowth, parasites, stomach acid issues, or microbiome imbalances.

• SIBO and IMO: How bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine drives bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhoea — and why it requires specific breath testing.

• Parasites and H. pylori: Why these are more common than you think, often missed, and can quietly drive chronic gut symptoms.

• Dysbiosis and the Microbiome: How imbalances in your gut bacteria affect digestion, immunity, and overall health — and why you need proper mapping to see it.

• What to Test Next: The functional tests that actually give you answers — not guesses.

You’re not confused because this is complicated. You’re confused because the explanation you were given was incomplete. You don’t need to keep guessing whether it’s IBS or something more serious. You need to understand what has been ruled out — and what hasn’t even been looked at yet. Your symptoms are not random. This isn’t “just your gut being sensitive.”

And it’s not something you have to manage forever.

Your gut isn’t broken. It just hasn’t been properly investigated.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IBS is BS (A personal battle & 4 easy fixes)

You’ve been told it’s IBS. Eat more fibre. Drink more water. Try low FODMAP. Manage your stress. And just… manage it.

But if you’re still bloated, constipated, gassy, and uncomfortable — despite doing everything “right” — something isn’t adding up.
Because the women I see are not unhealthy. They’re active, they’re eating well, they’re tracking their food, and they are still dealing with symptoms that don’t make sense. So at some point, you start thinking this is just how your body is.
But let’s be clear. IBS is not a diagnosis — it’s a label. It simply means your symptoms don’t have a structural cause that can be found on standard testing, not that nothing is wrong. It doesn’t explain what is actually driving your gut issues.
Today’s episode breaks down why IBS is one of the biggest dead-ends in the medical system, what is actually causing your symptoms underneath, and what you can start doing differently.
In this episode, we cover:

• Low Stomach Acid: Why digestion breaking down at the very first step leads to fermentation, bloating, and bacteria feeding where they shouldn’t.
• SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth): How bacteria in the wrong place create gas, constipation or diarrhoea, and why low FODMAP only reduces symptoms without fixing the problem.
• Parasites: Why they are more common than you think, often missed on standard testing, and can drive ongoing bloating, fatigue, and gut disruption.
• Dysbiosis: How an imbalanced microbiome affects digestion, immunity, and even your mood, and why restrictive diets can make it worse over time.
• The IBS Label Problem: Why being told “everything is normal” doesn’t mean nothing is wrong — it just means no one has looked in the right place.
• What You Can Start Now: Four practical ways to support stomach acid, digestion, motility, and your microbiome while you investigate properly.

You’re not bloated because your body is “just like this.” You’re bloated because something in your gut isn’t functioning properly — big difference.
You don’t need to keep managing symptoms or guessing your way through this. You need to understand what is actually driving your gut issues and fix it properly.
Your gut isn’t broken. It just hasn’t been properly investigated.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Post Bali Belly — Why your gut has never quite healed

You had an infection. You recovered. And yet… your gut has never been the same.

The bloating. The gas. The constipation or urgency. The foods that suddenly don’t sit right.

And no matter how “clean” you eat or how much you try to fix it… it never fully resolves.

Because when your symptoms started after a gut infection — Bali Belly, food poisoning, traveller’s diarrhoea — it’s easy to assume your body just needs time.

But let’s be clear.

The infection being gone does not mean your gut recovered.

Those are two completely different things.

Today’s episode breaks down what actually happens after a gut infection, why your symptoms don’t just “go away”, and what is really driving post-infectious gut dysfunction.

In this episode, we cover:

• Post-Infectious Gut Dysfunction: Why your gut not recovering after an infection has a name — and why it’s massively under-recognised in conventional medicine.
• Gut Lining Damage & Inflammation: How infections disrupt your intestinal lining, increase permeability, and leave your gut more reactive long after the pathogen is gone.
• Microbiome Disruption: How infections and antibiotics wipe out protective bacteria, allowing opportunistic species to take over and drive ongoing symptoms.
• The Motility Breakdown: How damage to your gut’s nervous system (the migrating motor complex) allows bacteria to build up in the small intestine — leading to SIBO.
• The IBS Label Problem: Why IBS is not a diagnosis, but a description — and why it gives you no answers on what to actually treat.
• The Testing Gap: Why standard GP testing often misses what actually matters, and how SIBO breath testing and microbiome mapping give you real data.

You didn’t just “get sick and recover.”

Your gut changed.

And until you understand what changed — and where the problem is — you’ll stay stuck managing symptoms instead of fixing them.

You don’t need another diet.
You don’t need another generic protocol.

You need data.
And a strategy that actually matches what’s happening in your body.

Your gut isn’t broken. It just hasn’t been properly investigated.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why you’re so gassy (and it stinks!)

You can eat the same foods. Follow the same routine. Do everything “right”… and still end up bloated, uncomfortable, and wondering what just happened.

Because when your gas feels completely unpredictable — no pattern, no trigger, no logic — it’s easy to assume you’re doing something wrong.

But you’re not.

The problem is not your effort.
The problem is that you’ve been given symptom-management tools for a root cause issue.

Today’s episode breaks down why your gas feels so random, why nothing you’ve tried has worked, and what is actually driving it underneath.

In this episode, we cover:

• Methane-Dominant SIBO: Why gas can be produced by what’s living in your gut — not just what you eat — and how methane slows motility, increases fermentation, and keeps you stuck in bloating.

• Dysbiosis and the Gas-Producing Microbiome: How an imbalanced microbiome creates gas regardless of how “clean” your diet is, and why food tracking alone will never give you the full picture.

• Impaired Motility: How your gut’s natural clearing system (the migrating motor complex) breaks down, allowing bacteria to accumulate and symptoms to become chronic.

• Post-Infectious Gut Dysfunction: Why a past infection — even years ago — can still be driving your symptoms today through disrupted gut function.

• Why Nothing Has Worked: The problem with low FODMAP, restriction, and generic protocols that reduce symptoms temporarily but never address the underlying driver.

• The Testing Gap: Why standard GP testing often misses what actually matters, and how proper breath testing and microbiome mapping give you the data you need.

You’re not gassy because you ate the wrong food.

You’re gassy because your gut environment is compromised.

Big difference.

You don’t need to keep cutting foods.
You don’t need to keep guessing.

You need to understand what is actually driving your symptoms — and fix it properly.

Your gut isn’t broken. It just hasn’t been properly investigated.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stop taking probiotics (they are making your gut worse)

One of the biggest mistakes I see in the wellness space is women taking probiotics, hoping they will heal their gut..

Women with IBS, bloating and constipation are told they need more “good bacteria”..So they double down on probiotics.

But so often you’re not lacking bacteria, you have TOO much bacteria!

In this episode, I break down exactly why your “gut healing” protocol isn't working, what's actually happening in your gut, and how to fix it properly.

In this episode, we cover:

The SIBO Reality:
Why IBS is not a deficiency problem and how bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine completely changes your strategy.

The Probiotic Mistake:
What actually happens when you add billions of bacteria into an already overgrown gut, and why this drives bloating, gas and pain.

The Brain Fog Link:
How excess bacterial fermentation produces D-lactic acid, impacting your brain and leaving you foggy, flat and exhausted.

The “Doing Everything Right” Trap:
Why clean eating, supplements and probiotics can still make you worse when the root cause hasn’t been identified.

Test, Don’t Guess:
Why guessing your way through gut protocols doesn’t work, and the exact testing we use to get real answers.

The Correct Healing Order:
Why we remove and treat first, restore motility, then rebuild — not the other way around.

When Probiotics Actually Help:
The specific strains and situations where probiotics make sense, and why timing matters more than the supplement itself.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should active women with IBS avoid intense exercise?

If you do Hyrox, CrossFit, heavy lifting, boxing, strength training or hard cardio… but your gut flares every time you train, this is for you.

Because I know what you’ve probably been told.

“Stop training so hard.”
“Just walk.”
“Do yoga.”
“Your body is too stressed.”

And look, sometimes pulling back temporarily is part of healing.

But let’s be clear.
Exercise is not the root cause of your IBS.

In fact, the research shows physical activity can reduce IBS symptom severity, improve motility, support your microbiome, and help your gut-brain axis.

So if you’re bloated, crampy, constipated or running to the toilet after training… we need to stop blaming the workout and start looking at what is actually going on.

Because most of the time, it’s not the exercise.
It’s the context.

It’s the fasted training.
The pre-workout on an empty stomach.
The coffee.
The artificial sweeteners.
The underfuelling.
The food fear.
The inflamed gut that was already struggling before you even touched a barbell.

In this episode, I break down:

• what the research actually says about exercise and IBS
• why movement is protective for the gut, not harmful
• how blood flow shifts during training can trigger symptoms in an already inflamed gut
• why your pre-training meal timing matters more than you think
• the problem with fasted training, coffee and commercial pre-workouts
• how restriction and under-eating slow motility and keep you stuck in bloating and constipation
• why IBS is a label, not a root cause
• the deeper drivers I look for in clinic, like SIBO, parasites, dysbiosis and fungal overgrowth
• when reducing training volume for a short period can support healing, without giving it up completely

You do not need to choose between a strong body and a healthy gut.

You should be able to train hard without mapping out bathrooms before a run.
You should be able to lift without looking six months pregnant by the end of the session.
You should be able to fuel your body without being scared of food.

This isn’t normal.
And it’s not something you just have to manage forever.

We fix this properly.

If you’re done guessing and want an actual plan, book your free Gut Health Planning Call.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.