Strangely enough, it’s not so much the food we’re eating which might be damaging our health, but our eating habits. But is snacking bad for our gut health? Snacking is one of those habits which might not, it seems, be especially great for us.  Read on to discover why, and how you can stop snacking if you’re currently a grazer.

I wouldn’t mind betting that this will leave you scratching your head. It’s confusing isn’t it? We’ve been advised in recent years that ‘little and often’ is the way to go with eating. That ‘five small meals’ are better for us than ‘two or three large ones’ each day.

Recently we’d been advised that if we ate less, but more regularly, it would help to balance our metabolism. Not only that but it would stabilise our energy and stop us getting ‘hangry’. It seemed a much more sensible approach, so what’s the problem then?

Is Snacking Bad for You? A brief history.

Before we get to the problem with our digestion, it helps to first look at this from a historical perspective. Until recently snacking wasn’t a thing – people had three square meals each day and that was it. Fast forward to the 1980s and the snack, processed and fast-food culture started to get a stranglehold. At this point we start to see the appearance of microwave ready meals, low-fat products and increasing numbers of highly processed foods.

Along with it, the snack market starts to explode.

And it’s not just salty and sugary snacks I’m talking about. There are plenty of healthy snack bars on the market too. It’s not to say that these products don’t have a place, they absolutely do – it’s great to have something to grab to tide you over every now and again. But it really shouldn’t be a regular thing.

Is snacking bad for you?  The problem with your gut.

When we snack we’re constantly filling our digestive systems with food and not allowing time for it to rest, heal and have a spring clean. The process of digestion is very complex, with lots of intricate signalling going on. If we’re continually eating we’re in danger of these signalling processes being messed up.

The migrating motor complex (MMC)

You can think of your migrating motor complex as your digestive system’s housekeeping process. It’s the reaction that kicks in about 3-4 hours after you’ve finished digesting, and is a series of muscle contractions that sweeps through your gut, giving it a good clear out. This series of peristaltic contractions clears out any undigested food that remains in the digestive tract, preventing it from sitting around for too long. If food stays in the gut it can start to ferment and cause bloating, gas, constipation and dysbiosis.

It’s not just snacking that can cause the MMC to not kick in – stress and anxiety can have the same effect. You can read more on that here.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Stick to three main meals each day, and only snack if you have to.  These days I only snack if I know I’m not going to be able to eat a proper meal for a long time.  You definitely don’t need to be eating anything more frequently than every four hours – this allows your MMC to kick in.  

Also, don’t tempt yourself by having salty or sugary snacks lying around the house.  If you have to go to the shop to get snacks it can act as a great deterrent!  Keep healthy snacks on hand in case you do get ravenous – carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus, for example.

Experiencing a zinc deficiency isn’t a big problem if you’re generally well nourished. However, those with a comprised digestive system are far more at risk than the average person, due to potential absorption issues. 

Zinc is an important nutrient that plays many vital roles in your body. You don’t need loads of zinc, but you do need some and you need to obtain it from your diet and supplements, because the body doesn’t produce it.

Zinc is vital for –

• Immune health – including fighting infections and healing wounds. If you’re low in zinc, you’ll be more vulnerable to infection and disease.
• DNA repair
• Vision, particularly age-related macular degeneration
• Taste and smell
• Growth
• Gut health
• Conception – If you’re trying to conceive then ensuring your zinc levels are optimal is extremely important.
• Thyroid health
• Stress resilience and mood – through the regulation of the stress hormone, cortisol

There are two groups of people who are more prone to deficiencies – they are those suffering with GI complaints, and those who mainly eat a plant-based diet, so strict vegetarians and vegans.

You need optimal gut health to ensure not only that your zinc is absorbed properly throughout the small intestine, but that you’re producing enough stomach acid to ensure it’s broken down and absorbed properly.

Adequate levels are also necessary for the production of stomach acid.

If you’ve got digestive problems then you could be at risk of impairing your absorption of zinc.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Signs and symptoms of a zinc deficiency include:

• Diarrhoea, as mentioned
• Vision problems, including age-related macular degeneration
• Mouth ulcers, skin ulcers and acne
• Loss of taste or smell
• Poor appetite
• Depressed mood
• Decreased immunity
• Delayed wound healing
• Histamine intolerance

Although many plant-based foods contain plenty of zinc, it’s trickier for us to absorb it due to the high concentration of phytic acid they contain. Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient which binds to minerals and prevents absorption by us. Hence the problems vegetarians and vegans will have. However, all is not lost as if you take a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement it should contain adequate levels of zinc – you ideally want between 10-15mg per day.

‘Having candida’ is a much bandied about and over-used phrase. The fact is, the candida albicans yeast is a normal part of our gut flora and should always be present in our gut in small quantities – keep reading to discover ten of the main candida symptoms.

The problems start when candida begins to overgrow. If it gets out of control candida can grow into your gut lining, start to break it down and cause ‘leaky gut syndrome’ which can give rise to many immune related issues.

Candida Symptoms

Normally, our ‘good’ bacteria will keep candida in check. However, when candida starts to overgrow you may experience any of the following symptoms –

• Exhaustion
• Sugar Cravings
• Cravings for yeasty food (like alcohol or bread)
• Brain fog
• Recurrent UTIs
• Sinusitis
• Allergies
• Gas and bloating
• Low immunity
• Thrush and other itchy, fungal patches on the skin such as athletes foot

What causes candida?

If you’ve experienced any of the following scenarios, then you could well be looking at candida as the cause of your issues –

• A course of broad spectrum antibiotics
• Ongoing antibiotic treatment
• Taking the contraceptive pill
• Eating lots of sugar
• Prolonged stress
• Diabetes
• Corticosteroid medications
• Drinking a lot of alcohol

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

5. Digestive symptoms

Again, another common cause of ‘IBS’ type symptoms, candida can often give rise to bloating, cramps, diahorrea and constipation.

For more tips of getting rid of gut aches and pains have a look here.

6. Brain fog

Another huge symptom of candida is the dreaded brain fog – this is so common. Do you ever have that feeling of having cotton wool between your ears? Or that you can’t concentrate, have a poor memory or lack focus? Again, if this is bothering you it may well be worth getting tested.

The best way to get on top of candida symptoms?

The first thing to do is to get tested. (detail on tests) Although candida can commonly cause a lot of these symptoms it’s definitely not the only trigger. There are many different yeasts, parasites and bacteria that can cause similar issues and testing is the only way to know for sure where your symptoms are stemming from.

Once you know what you’re dealing with, the usual course of action would be to modify your diet – taking out sugary and very high carb foods and replacing with lots of fresh vegetables, lean proteins and good fats.

Anti-fungal supplementation is also usually recommended, along with replenishing levels of good bacteria. Beware – anti-fungal supplements are very strong, although you can buy them freely I wouldn’t use them unless under the supervision of a practitioner.

It’s a good idea to work with a nutrition specialist when dealing with candida, as its not advisable to restrict your diet too much when doing battle with a yeast overgrowth. It’s also essential to make sure all your detoxification and elimination pathways are functioning optimally so you don’t get too much of the dreaded die-off reaction.

If you’re female and pre-menopausal, a vegan or vegetarian or you’ve got any kind of digestive problem you may well be at increased risk of iron deficiency symptoms.

Iron is an essential nutrient that is instrumental in performing many functions throughout our body every single day. One of the most important functions of iron is to help transport oxygen throughout the blood.

Iron deficiency is most commonly linked to the development of anaemia, which is a condition where there’s a lack of healthy red blood cells being produced.  Iron is needed to produce haemoglobin, a type of protein found in red blood cells that has the role of carrying oxygen from your lungs and transporting it throughout your body to your cells.

An iron deficiency can mean that you aren’t able to produce enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells — therefore, your body struggles to transport oxygen to your brain, tissues, muscles and cells, leaving you feeling exhausted and weak.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Iron deficiency symptoms: Gut health

Aside from preventing anaemia, iron is a nutrient needed to maintain general well-being, energy and a healthy metabolism because it helps support overall cellular health and is involved in many enzyme functions. Iron plays a part in many enzyme reactions that help our bodies to digest foods and absorb nutrients. These reactions also balance hormone levels and support brain, heart, skin, hair, nail and metabolic health.

Iron deficiency symptoms

The symptoms of an iron deficiency are many and far-reaching, but the more common ones tend to be –

• Anaemia
• Chronic fatigue or low energy
• Paleness or yellowing of the skin
• Shortness of breath
• Abnormal heartbeats
• Signs of a hormone imbalance
• Trouble exercising
• Muscle weakness
• Weird food cravings like craving ice, or dirt.

So who’s more at risk –

• People with gut or absorption issues, or who restrict their diet.
• Women with heavy periods
• Pregnant women
• Vegetarians and vegans

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll want to be careful about getting enough iron and may want to consider taking an iron supplement. This is because the type of iron found in plant foods is known to not be as absorbable as animal sources of iron are. Iron from meat, poultry and fish − heme iron − is absorbed two to three times more efficiently than the iron from plants (non-heme iron) is absorbed.

Variety is key

It may seem complicated to pair the right foods together in order to absorb iron in the best way, but if you eat a varied diet overall that includes plenty of whole foods, you’re unlikely to need more iron.

So in general, try to eat a varied, whole-foods based diet that includes good sources of iron like grass-fed meat products, organic free-range poultry, cage-free eggs, organic (ideally unpasteurized) dairy products like raw milk, plenty of different fruits and vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

If you suspect you may be low in iron a simple blood test from your GP will tell you if you are or not, and then you can supplement appropriately, if you need to.

Firstly, it’s important to recognise that IBS is unique to each person who has this diagnosis. Symptoms, and the reasons for these symptoms, vary from person to person that’s why the standard ‘one size fits all’ treatments tend not to be very effective a lot of the time.

These symptoms are very real and disruptive to everyday life BUT thankfully there is plenty that you can do to help your situation. With that in mind, here is a rundown of some common areas we need to consider when we look at the cause of IBS symptoms, and how to go about addressing it. 

It’s important to note that these are only four out of a whole array of different areas to consider. 

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

Parasites in IBS

You might also have parasites present in your digestive system.  This is not normally as horrifying as it sounds, I can assure you, although these parasites can give rise to all sorts of unpleasant digestive symptoms.

If you’ve been eating a diet high in sugar, lots of white carbs or alcohol, for example, this may also have been feeding the bad guys a bit too much and allowing them to overpopulate.

Have a look here for more information on having disrupted gut flora and the symptoms this may cause.

 Can food sensitivities cause IBS?

There could also be some food sensitivity going on and people who come under the IBS umbrella tend to find their symptoms are a lot better when following a low FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols.
This simply means that foods which are ‘high FODMAP’ contain starches which are a bit harder to digest than others. So avoiding them – usually just for a short time whilst you heal your gut – can prevent pain, bloating and all the other symptoms you may be experiencing.

Gluten and dairy tend to be the main offenders here, but there are other fruits and vegetables which contain high levels of FODMAPs and can cause IBS symptoms.

Undertaking a low FODMAP diet really should only be a temporary measure whilst your gut heals. It’s OK to be avoiding one or two foods long term, but IDEALLY the aim is to get you enjoying as wide a range of different foods as possible. This is so much more likely to happen once your digestive system has had a chance to heal.