For so long as Liz Lengthy, 57, can bear in mind, she struggled with meals and digestion. “It’s all the time been my Achilles heel by way of well being,” the Print & Packaging Artworker for a meals retailer mentioned.
She continued: “In my twenties and thirties, I had irritating jobs, deadlines and lengthy hours, and if I used to be working too arduous, I’d have days the place it felt like I had a abdomen bug.”
Throughout a convention in Stockholm when she was 30 years outdated, Liz’s signs bought “so dangerous” that she needed to be seen by a health care provider within the resort, who advised her that she wanted a prebiotic to rebalance her intestine.
Liz, who lives in Buckinghamshire, mentioned: “I discovered it significantly irritating and bewildering as a result of I’ve all the time been an lively, sporty individual. I like horse-riding, scuba diving and going to the fitness center recurrently and but I used to be all the time feeling sluggish and bloated.”
Seven years in the past, Liz ended up being recognized with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a situation that impacts the digestive system and causes signs like abdomen cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation.
“IBS is taken extra significantly now and recognised, however seven years in the past it was dismissed,” she mentioned.
The 57-year-old would attempt to make dietary tweaks however stress stored flaring up the cussed situation.
Liz mentioned: “Because of my abdomen points, I’d follow sure meals that I knew have been secure territory for me and because of this, I placed on weight.”
Her abdomen points reached “a large low” this Easter, when she spent the entire vacation weekend on the couch alone as a result of she didn’t dare to enterprise too removed from the bathroom.
She mentioned: “After my expertise at Easter, I knew I needed to converse to a GP about my IBS.”
She was prescribed tablets referred to as Colofac, which labored brilliantly, however she nonetheless wasn’t dropping any weight.
Over time, Liz tried many diets however none of them labored within the long-term till she trialled the Mediterranean weight loss plan and Dr Michael Mosley’s The Quick 800 programme.
These two dietary tweaks made a “vital enchancment” to her IBS in addition to her weight-loss journey.
She mentioned: “I felt courageous sufficient to strive coming off my tablets. I had no flare-up and no response and realised that the recent, wholesome meals I used to be now consuming was working for me – not simply by way of weight reduction, however extra importantly, for my IBS signs.
“I discover that consuming two meals a day fits my metabolism. I reduce out sugar which I discovered surprisingly simple and I really did not realise that it was so inflammatory and was having such a damaging impact on my intestine.”
Liz shared that each one the recipes on The Quick 800 “calm” her abdomen, and he or she doesn’t discover the meal plans restrictive both.
She mentioned: “I can nonetheless have the odd glass of pink wine as a deal with. As a deal with now, I’ll have Greek yogurt with some nuts and cocoa and I’d add a bit maple syrup. I like prawns, fish, cottage cheese, peanut butter and due to this manner of consuming, I’ve shed 1.5 stone because the begin of the yr.
“I don’t endure from IBS signs anymore and I’m a lot much less bloated and extra comfy.
“I don’t expertise any abdomen gurgling, there’s no wind, no illness within the morning, and I don’t have to fret about having to run to the bathroom.”
She additionally looks like her newly discovered weight loss plan provides her way more vitality, leaving her feeling nice.
The 57-year-old is now planning to lose a bit extra weight and be “a bit stricter”. “Now, that I’ve bought my IBS totally underneath management, I really feel like I’m able to tackle the subsequent problem,” she added.