Gut Feelings - by The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. In this episode, we talk about how small things make a difference and how being in tune with your body can build trust with yourself.

0-6 minutes
Ashley talks about the ingredients she used in a gluten free and dairy free pizza she recently made. She mentions some gluten free and dairy free brands that don't taste terrible!  We talk about how carbohydrates are essential and not to be avoided.

6-13 minutes
Ashley discusses a client she recently worked with who was gaining weight but couldn't figure out why and thought maybe she needed to see a specialist. She was not eating much in the morning or for lunch, was working out and then crashing in the afternoon.  Ashley helped her to realize that she wasn't getting enough fuel and her body was in starvation mode. We talk about how sometimes we think we need complex solutions, but often simple things can help. We talk about how a perfectionist mindset around food is unattainable and we should give ourselves grace.

13-19 minutes
Rebecca brings up how trust with health professionals is key. It is natural to feel vulnerable or worry about judgment but it can help immensely to be open with those we trust. With IBD or other diseases it is normal to question things and try to figure out the causes of our diagnoses and sometimes there aren't clear cut answers. 
IBD is so unpredictable and complex. There can be grief when diagnosed or even years into the process when treatment or symptoms change. 

19-23 minutes
We briefly look at the role of IBD with pregnancy and discuss having kids when the parent has IBD. Keeping in mind that you have a plan in place and a supportive healthcare team can drastically improve our quality of life. We try to remember to not let IBD get in the way of living life!

23-33 minutes
IBD affects joints, skin, and mental health too; we talk about how it's all connected. 
We have fun with some mindfulness dice and cards. We talk about breathwork and  we practice ujjayi breath which can be helpful to induce relaxation. 

Ashley talks about some advice she received when making decisions based on how your body feels with each scenario. Does the choice make you feel restricted or expansive? We acknowledge that sometimes growth can feel scary, and in that situation is a good thing. The body is a great guide. With IBD we can sometimes disconnect from pain and uncomfortable feelings or symptoms but it is good to check in with yourself. We can start small to build trust with ourself and body.

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. On this episode, Ashley and Rebecca talk about supporting family members with IBD and delve into a recent blog post we published on the Top 10 IBD Myths Debunked.

0-9 minutes
Ashley talks about her sister's recent Crohn's diagnosis and how this reminded Ashley of her own experience of being diagnosed and the associated feelings. There can be anger about the challenges or from being dismissed by doctors previously. There can be fear of the unknown and about how much treatment will cost. We discuss the grieving process and how hard it can be to watch a family member go through all of this.  Ashley said that she felt helpless at times when seeing  her sister in pain and dealing with  factors that are out of their control, such as what insurance  will cover.  Rebecca gave Ashley a compassionate reminder that being present for loved ones is an important role and we don't need to have all of the answers right now. 

9- 23
We discuss that when someone has IBD or any disease it is important to process emotions,  and allow oneself to go through the grieving process when newly diagnosed and even years after. We talk about some of the phases we went though after getting diagnosed with IBD. We felt validation, grief, and would sometimes feel frustrated when hearing insensitive comments from others. We agree that having someone support us and just be with us is helpful but we don't want people to feel sorry for us.

Ashley references a Brene Brown youtube video at 18:15:  Empathy vs. Sympathy

23-27
Rebecca talks about how her husband understands her fears around living with Ulcerative Colitis because he has Crohn's disease. He reminds her to not let IBD control her life. Rebecca discusses some of her worries, such as traveling, and how IBD can feel overwhelming at times. We discuss how nutrition can feel overwhelming too because there is so much information out there and not all of it is good. We acknowledge that some things can be partially true but that doesn't mean it is helpful.  Danielle did a recent blog titled: Top 10 IBD Myths Debunked. Feel free to use this as a reference if you would like to clarify things for people!

27- 36
We discuss a few of the myths in the blog:
Myth: IBS and  IBD are the same thing
Myth: my bloodwork is fine so I don't need stool test 
Myth: IBD is my fault

36-47
We delve into more myths with IBD
Myth: fad diets will cure my IBD. 
Myth: if you have no symptoms, there is no inflammation
Myth: If you have symptoms you are not in remission
Myth: all fiber is the same
Myth: stress causes IBD
Myth: you have to eat low fiber for the rest of your life
Myth: diet doesn't matter
 
We hope this podcast is helpful and that you feel less alone if you are experiencing challenges with your IBD!

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. In this episode we discuss advocating for ourselves in health care, research, and the importance of nutrition and working with a dietitian.

0-9  minutes
Rebecca talks about a conversation with her GI doctor and how she was proactive and found a good middle ground when he had a different recommendation than what she expected.  She explains why colonoscopies and monitoring for dysplasia (abnormal cells) is important. These biopsies help monitor for colon cancer.  We agree that it's important to follow that inner knowing in our body and speak up for ourselves.  

9-12
Rebecca and Ashley talk about wearing two hats as being a patient with IBD and as a dietitian working with IBD patients. We talk about the fact that an IBD patient may be asymptomatic but there can still be inflammation. It's best to check that everything is good from a lab and scope standpoint.  

12-17
Ashley talks about being a participant in a research study. She took a certain type of curcumin and remarks on the effects she noticed. She shares another update: she has taken a second job as a researcher. She has always been interested in research and is studying Ulcerative Colitis protocols and comparing it to other protocols. The research process is exciting and Ashley enjoys being a part of amplifying the idea that nutrition is important. 

17-25
We talk about a client who made one change and had a drastic impact, which is a great example of how important nutrition is in improving quality of life. We find that sometimes people or other health professionals don't understand the importance of nutrition and there is a  lack of exposure to the role that dietitians play. When people are looking for IBD focused dietitians we have found that there can be a fear about nutrition plans being too restrictive or extreme. We would love to shift the perception of what a dietitian is, so that people can understand that dietitians provide medical nutrition therapy, which includes treatment plans and education so that foods can be healing.

25-32
We look forward to when the role of a dietitian is more widely understood and valued and the impact dietitians and nutrition plans can have is also acknowledged. Dietitians are great at digging, gathering data and asking questions to uncover things. We discuss the nuance of looking at nutrients and labs and how looking at the big picture and understanding relationships of nutrients to each other is so important. 

Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. In this episode, we are joined by Danielle, one of the IBD specialized dietitians on our team! We discuss what it was like for Danielle to be diagnosed with Crohn's as a teenager and Celiac disease a little later in life.  We also talk about our big takeaways from the Digestive Disease Week conference we attended. 

0-10 minutes
We talk about how exciting it was to meet in person recently! Danielle shares one of her favorite experiences in the US: Trader Joe's! Danielle dives into her gut sensitivities as a child and her journey getting diagnosed at age 14 with Crohn's disease. Her illness sparked her interest in her current career as a dietitian. In 2018 she was diagnosed with Celiac.

10-15
Danielle discusses dealing with Crohn's as a teenager and sharing the news with her softball team. She talks about her biggest support system- her parents.

16-20
Playing softball with IBD; Rebecca shares about playing sports with IBD also. The experience made Danielle feel stronger and inspired her to help others with IBD so they feel supported.

20-27
Danielle discusses when she knew she wanted to be a dietitian working with IBD patients. She loved learning about the body and nutrition as a teenager. She shares her experience with a dietitian in the hospital.

27-35
We talk about our experience at the Digestive Disease week conference. Ashley's big takeaway: she enjoyed the connections she made. Rebecca found it invigorating to see how many people are dedicated and passionate about finding a cure for IBD. It was cool to see different ways to improve IBD patients' lives.  Danielle thought that some moments were challenging as an IBD patient.

35-39
favorite lectures from the conference:
Rebecca enjoyed the study on sulfur microbial diets in IBD . There is a higher prevalence of IBD in western countries. Foods with higher sulfur content are linked to an increased risk of Crohn's and colon cancer; but no association was found with UC, which was surprising. 

39-43
Danielle found the study about the Hispanic diet interesting and noted that there is some inclusivity lacking in research.  She wonders how many dietary patterns are we missing? 
We found it comforting that one meal isn't going to make or break anything. From an inflammatory standpoint it is more important to look at patterns and we can let go of black and white thinking.

43-51
Ashley liked the study about fiber and how it is important to reduce inflammation. She shares some notable facts about IBD patients and brings up a common bias. It was also brought up that rates of IBD are rising. We met some interesting companies including one who advocate for patients, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. It was so good to see nutrition valued, a big shift! We are hopeful for future research and detection, but acknowledge how the funding aspect of nutrition research is an obstacle.

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For Sensitive Guts & Symptom Relief
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We love helping provide quality content on IBD nutrition and making it more accessible to all through our podcast, instagram and youtube channel. Creating the resources we provide comes at a significant cost to us. We dream of a day where we can provide even more free education, guidance and support to those with IBD like us. 

We need your support to do this. You can help us by liking episodes, sharing them on your social media, subscribing to YouTube and telling others about us (your doctors, friends, family, forums/reddit etc). 

Can you do this for us? In return, I promise to continually improve what we offer to you on all of these platforms!

...

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. In this episode, we are joined by our very own Christa Smith, another IBD specialized dietitian, who we have loved working with, and her 3 year old daughter, Millie.

**Note: In this episode we had many interruptions in internet connection so we tried to salvage what we can. This is why it sounds like you are coming into it mid conversation. Enjoy.

0-9:00
-We enjoy some insights from Christa's daughter. We really appreciate her honest answer when asked if she likes broccoli: "I do but I don't"
-ASMR: sounds we enjoy.. or don't 
-We're impressed by the confidence of 3 year olds!

9:00-18:00
-Christa, a busy mom who wears many hats,  talks about what she does when she feels overwhelmed. She tunes out unnecessary noises and tasks, prioritizes and focuses on issues of most importance
- Christa discusses how these parenting challenges can be rewarding 
-We agree that asking for help can be difficult. A lot of the time we think, "I'll figure it out on my own."
- Dealing with the ups and downs of IBD made Christa realize that she does need to ask for help.

19:00- 28:00
-Christa talks about the postpartum period and how she paces herself and provides herself with more grace and patience.
-Christa talks about raising children and how they are expanding their family to 4 kids!

28:00- 35:00
- Christa talks about IBD during pregnancy- what her experience was like, the treatments she went through, and why she felt like it was worth the difficulties and unknown.
- We remember when Christa first met Ashley.

35:00- 46:37
- ASMR and movie theaters
- Ashley talks about how she loves her noise cancelling headphones because certain sounds really bother her.
- We talk about icebreakers and what we do and don't like about them

Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. On this episode we talk about interpreting nutrition recommendations, and why looking at "the how" and the rationale behind these recommendations is so important. We discuss what has improved our outcomes as Ulcerative Colitis patients and how things have changed for us since we were first diagnosed. 

0-12:00:
- we talk about the role of the dietitian and how they help patients with "the how" of implementing new recommendations
-how dietitians can clarify terminology, interpretations and the rationale behind recommendations.
-how beneficial plants are and their powerful properties
-looking at our approach vs. the Mediterranean diet

12:00-18:00:
-nutrition guidelines can be complex and dietitians can bridge the gap and interpret this information
- maintaining a healthy relationship with food 
- we don't want it to be just about restrictions but an overall good balance

18:00-27:00:
- nutrition is very individualized
-when looking at the Mediterranean diet and we see something recommended in "moderate" amounts- what does that even mean? We'd like to see more clear guidelines.
-Ashley likes to understand "the why" of recommendations. She wants to understand the concept and degree of importance and impact on the individual.
- We have fun and talk about how we would approach things if we were each others' dietitian.

27:00-32:00:
-Ashley explains how someone can understand a concept but can only implement it to the degree that you understand the impact of it.
-If we understand what is possible, we are more likely to make positive change and have trust in the process

32:00-38:00:
- Rebecca discusses the process of researching Ulcerative Colitis, especially when she was first diagnosed. 
-Rebecca talks about how implementing plant foods changed how she felt and improved her symptoms. 
-Rebecca emphasizes how her family and support system, therapy and looking for ways to ground herself greatly improved her quality of life and improved her outcome as an Ulcerative Colitis patient. 

38:00-41:00:
- Ashley talks about what has helped her Ulcerative Colitis. She shares that her access to meds, a nutrition plan, connection with others and stability all have helped her tremendously.
-Ashley still struggles sometimes with overdoing it, especially since she enjoys her work so much. She is aware that she surpasses her threshold at times.

41:00-48:00:
-Rebecca discusses how things have changed since her Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis. She has a better awareness of her self and what she is able to handle.
-Rebecca and Ashley explore their social capacity and honoring when they need a break.

48:00- 53:23: 
-We talk about how it's not easy to be vulnerable and share all that we do on the podcast, but it is so meaningful to hear that it resonates with people and that is why we keep going!

Send us Fan Mail

Need Support from an IBD Dietitian?
🌟Work with us here
One-on-One Coaching

🌟Affordable Membership
IBD Nutrition Collective

Want our Top E-books?
🌈Get our top e-book here
Flare Guide + Meal Plan

For Sensitive Guts & Symptom Relief
🌈We developed a product for you
Back to Balance Plus

Support our Growing YouTube by Subscribing🎊
Subscribe to YouTube

We love helping provide quality content on IBD nutrition and making it more accessible to all through our podcast, instagram and youtube channel. Creating the resources we provide comes at a significant cost to us. We dream of a day where we can provide even more free education, guidance and support to those with IBD like us. 

We need your support to do this. You can help us by liking episodes, sharing them on your social media, subscribing to YouTube and telling others about us (your doctors, friends, family, forums/reddit etc). 

Can you do this for us? In return, I promise to continually improve what we offer to you on all of these platforms!

...

Send us a Text Message.

Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. On this episode we talk about how we deal with overwhelming feelings and fears that come up with IBD symptoms. We also talk about a conference we were excited to attend, research and communicating needs. 

0-16 minutes: 
-we talk about joint pain and the fear response with flare ups
-we are excited for the DDW (Digestive Disease Week) conference and would love to see more of a focus on nutrition at events like this.
-we would love it if every GI doctor had a dietitian on staff!
-the varying factors in research and how we hope to see more research in nutrition

16-26 minutes:
-The IBD scaries: symptoms that bring up fear and remind us of flares
-how our emotions tie into our gut issues
-what we feel when we have symptoms and how we feel a loss of control
-how we try to take it step by step when experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions
-the fear response can be hard to pause 
-Rebecca talks about how she doesn't make important decisions when feeling these strong emotions

30-44 minutes:
-Rebecca talks about when she was very overwhelmed and in a flare and first reached out to Ashley as a patient to work with her
-giving ourselves space to process and go through what we need to go through
-Rebecca talks about  a recent shopping experience trying on jeans when Ursula (her IBD) reared it's ugly head and started causing her pain. 
-why communicating needs is so important
-Ashley talks about the experience as a HSP- highly sensitive person. She has difficulty with tags in clothes, certain sounds and focusing in noisy environments.

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. In this episode, we talk about keeping a balance with our healthy habits and how it can be challenging to incorporate necessary rest. Ashley discusses her days of being a runner and the strategy involved and Rebecca reflects on playing water polo and swimming in college.

We think about the origins of IBD and any illness. It is common to ask ourselves: what is my role in this? What is the cause of my disease? As patients, we want answers but have to remember with IBD it is difficult to pinpoint one specific cause. There are multiple risk factors and sometimes we just don't know exactly why we have IBD. Adding guilt and blame to the mix makes it more challenging. It is important to remember that we didn't cause our IBD but our daily choices and nutrition matter significantly. And those are things that are under our control! 

We also talk about the book The Happiness Trap and the questions you can ask yourself about certain beliefs and thoughts. Asking if these thoughts are true or helpful helps us to keep in mind that we don't have to respond to every fleeting thought. We end our talk today reflecting on how joy and celebrating other's happiness can feel vulnerable but is so rewarding!

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. We cover many topics today, such as our early days as a dietitian, asking good questions and how sharing our vulnerabilities can help others.

Rebecca shares one of Ashley's beliefs that has inspired her: What if it works out in the end? We dive into an interesting conversation about belief vs. feeling and what that means to us. We talk about gratitude, nostalgia and choice.

We bring up how processing the emotions that we feel when dealing with a chronic illness can empower us to make different choices and can influence our beliefs. Also sharing our hardships with others that we trust can help us lead a more authentic life.

0-5 minutes:
-Can we stop calling IBD irritable bowel disease? Also, what is a dietitian really?
-How Ashley learned about what a dietitian does

5-10 minutes:
-Rebecca's journey to become a dietitian
-Rebecca's random deep dive into the urea cycle

15-20 minutes:
-The importance of asking questions
-How talking about IBD can be for those not familiar with it

20-30 minutes:
-How people respond to discussing IBD
-There is room for opportunity for learning in being open to questions
-Teaching Rebecca about the "more you F around" meme
-What is the difference between feeling & believing
-Our missing podcast
-What Ashley taught Rebecca: What if it all works out in the end?
-What it means to validate our feelings but also choosing to believe optimistically

30-40 minutes:
-The difference between feelings & belief:  Belief involves choice and how you interpret your own feelings and thoughts
-A feeling can change, belief is the meaning you attach to the feeling which can impact your actions and choices
-Changes in our company, and our sad feelings or really gratitude for it all
-Greif and gratitude are intertwined

40-50 minutes:
-Accepting all feelings as ok helps us move through them
-Knowing you aren't alone in your IBD can help
-How rebecca felt more freedom when she started working with us
-Connection with others with IBD helps us feel seen

Links:
The more you F💩 around the more you find out: https://www.tiktok.com/@rogerskaer/video/7147844411915783470
 

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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related.
**We do have a 3 part webinar series starting this Friday, June 9th- we would love for you to join us! Here is the link to join this informative series on What to Eat with IBD, including group coaching!**

Rebecca talks about a recent experience of gathering with friends that she hasn't seen in a long time and how she feels like a completely different version of herself now. She worked through the feelings of missing the person she was before her diagnosis and realizing how different her lifestyle is now. With chronic illness we can sometimes feel like a part of our identity is lost but we also think there is opportunity there to embrace the new changes. We notice that social events and food can trigger these uncomfortable feelings because food can represent so much: memories, socialization and fun. 

Ashley talks about some recent networking events where it felt a little challenging as an introvert, but she ultimately wants to bring awareness to IBD and educate others. Sometimes talking to people who aren't aware of what IBD is can feel uncomfortable and there is a lot of room for improvement in education and understanding this disease. We always recommend the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation (CCFA) website if you would like to share information about IBD with someone who wants to learn more. 

We find that there is a big knowledge gap about IBD with friends, family and the general community. We have noticed discomfort in others and sometimes their comments can feel dismissive and like they are minimizing our experience with IBD. Please remember you aren't alone and we will always advocate for all of the IBD warriors out there!