IBS - Fitnosophy

June 27, 2020June 8, 2023

Why Fibre Might not be as Healthy as you Think

I first started questioning the role of fibre in my diet when I was diagnosed with IBS for the first time in 2009

Back then, I was told to cut back on leafy greens, pasta, bread and gluten containing grains. I recall experiencing significant benefits within less than one week. However, due to my lifestyle at the time, I slowly reintroduced most of those foods back into my life as soon as all my symptoms went away.

When my IBS reached its apex in 2018, however, I was put on a strict low FODMAP diet by my GP, which excluded way more food groups than those listed above. After cautiously testing which ones I could reintroduce back into my diet without triggering IBS symptoms, I realised that there were still a whole lot of foods, which I would never eat in my life again, if not on very special occasions (e.g. most grains, alcohol, cherries, watermelon, apricots, mushrooms, just to name a few).

Despite what the mainstream culture seemed to promote, I found out I was better off without fibre, or with just a minimum amount of it.

What is fibre?

Technically, fibre is a subspecies of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates can be thought of as long and complex chains of simpler glucose molecules (made out of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen). Even though carbohydrates are non essential macronutrients (in fact, through a metabolic pathway known as ʻgluconeogenesisʼ, glucose molecules are manufactured in the liver from carbon substrates found in amino acids and lipids), paradoxically, they happen to be the bodyʼs preferred source of energy. Indeed, they appear to be the most accessible source of glucose, which is essential to run vital brain functions, as well as one of the muscle-skeletal energy systems.

Not all carbohydrates, however, are broken down by the body to produce energy, and here is where fibre comes into play: both soluble and insoluble fibre, along with resistant starch, present a molecular structure that our enzymes are unable to break down. The function of fibre, therefore, is not that of providing our body with energy.

Fibre can be soluble or insoluble:

Insoluble fibre (roughage) passes through our GI and its only function is to create stool volume.
Soluble fibre and resistant starch are fermented by gut bacteria and dissolved in water, forming a gel in the colon.

Both soluble and insoluble fibre have been popularised in recent years, due to their positive association with: colon cancer reduction; blood glucose reduction; LDL reduction (which might not be as a positive thing as you think, after all, but it would be off-topic now). However, all those positive associations should be rediscussed if you have a GI pathology.

Some literature

Even though fibre (without differentiating between soluble and insoluble) was said to be effective in a small group of Chinese population (33 constipated patients and 20 healthy individuals) who underwent a 4-week kiwi fruit treatment (On On Chan et al. 2007), a causation fibre-relief from constipation is still controversial. In particular, the benefits found in the consumption of a kiwi fruit twice a day could come from water, vitamins and minerals and not necessarily from the fibre itself. A meta analysis of the existing literature from 2012 showed that ʻfiber intake can obviously increase stool frequency in patients with constipation. It does not obviously improve stool consistency, treatment success, laxative use and painful defecationʼ (Yang et al. 2012).

Two studies are worth being mentioned in this regard:

An interventional study from 1997 (Voderholzer et al) investigated the role of dietary fibre in the treatment of chronic constipation. What was found was a positive outcome in patients with no GI issues, whereas no significant change was seen in the other group: ʻEighty percent of patients with slow transit and 63% of patients with a disorder of defecation did not respond to dietary fiber treatment, whereas 85% of patients without a pathological finding improved or became symptom freeʼ. So, they concluded ʻSlow GI transit and/or a disorder of defecation may explain a poor outcome of dietary fiber therapy in patients with chronic constipationʼ.
A more recent study from 2012 (Kok-Sun et al) investigated the role of fibre in idiopathic constipation and found no benefits in introducing fibre in the diet. In fact, ʻpatients who stopped or reduced dietary fiber had significant improvement in their symptoms while those who continued on a high fiber diet had no changeʼ. So, the authors conclude, ʻidiopathic constipation and its associated symptoms can be effectively reduced by stopping or even lowering the intake of dietary fiberʼ.

Further Reflections

Gut Dysbiosis

One more thing to be considered is the dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) characterising IBS sufferers and its relation to the efficacy of a low FODMAP diet: according to the most recent hypothesis on IBS, most of the symptoms appear to be triggered by an excess of bacteria in the colon, that can be overfed, when too many prebiotics are ingested, leading to an excess of fermentation, and, therefore, gas and pain (see Lyra and Lahtinen 2012, Collins 2014, Simrén 2014, Shukla et al. 2015, Putignani et a. 2016, Benno et al. 2016, Principi et al. 2018, ).

High FODMAP foods, by definition, are fermentable sugars: some of them (mono and disaccharides) are very small molecules, others are bigger polymers (e.g. polyols), others are long glucose polymers, known as polysaccharides. Fibre and starch are also polysaccharides, which makes it easy to understand why many fibrous or starchy foods also happen to be high FODMAP. However not all polysaccharides are highly fermentable, and nor are all other mono and disaccharides, which explains why some fibrous foods are still tolerated by IBS sufferers.

Soluble and Insoluble Fibre and IBS

Moreover, the tolerance level is individual and depends upon each individual’s unique microbiome. Consuming soluble fibre and resistant starch will obviously increase the chance of the bacteria being overfed, even within the recommended intake for average population.

Consuming insoluble fibre might also aggravate IBS symptoms. Indeed, due to the impaired fermentation in the colon, also the stool transit appears impaired: in so called ‘IBS-D’ (IBS-diarrhoea) sufferers, excess water is drawn and bowel movements are accelerated; by contrast, in so called ‘IBS-C’ (IBS-constipation) sufferers, bowel movements are slowed down. Ingesting a bulking, such as insoluble fibre, might potentially interfere with the transit, especially in the case of IBS-C sufferers, as happened in the populations of the constipation studies discussed above.

SIBO, IBD and Other Conditions

A similar discourse could surely be done in regard to SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), which differs from IBS in that the overgrowth appears to be localised predominantly in the small intestine (it is possible that someone with IBS is also affected by SIBO, whereas someone affected by SIBO might not experience IBS symptoms). In that case, fermentation might occur in the small intestine, at the stage of absorption and assimilation of nutrients, which would in turn be impaired even more by the excess of bacterial population.

Lastly, also IBD (Inflammatory Bowl Disease), an umbrella term describing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis also appears to be characterised by dysbiosis (see Putignani et a. 2016) and therefore might be impaired by a diet high in fibre.

Conclusion

Including both soluble and insoluble fibre in the diet of a healthy individual, with no GI issues, is not only harmless but even beneficial. In the case of IBS, SIBO or IBD sufferers, however, an overconsumption of fibre might aggravate some of the symptoms.

These days we find ourselves surrounded with all kinds of diets and lifestyles, each of them advocating to be ‘the best one’ and/or ‘the most suitable for humans’. Even celebrities popularise certain diets or lifestyles, and other ‘gurus’ claim tons of scientific evidence behind what they promote. It’s important, instead, to understand that not every diet or lifestyle can be suitable for everyone.

To cut a long story short, before jumping into a fad diet, or before making any relevant dietary intervention, please, do your own research and seek professional help.

Need simple, gut-friendly recipes?

My recipes are all low-FODMAP and gut friendly. Make sure you check them out!

References

Benno, Peter; Dahlgren, Atti-La, Befrits, Ragnar, Norin, E., Hellström, P. M., & Midtvedt, T. 2016 . ‘From IBS to DBS: The Dysbiotic Bowel Syndrome’. . Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/2324709616648458

Botschuijver, Sara; Guus Roeselers; Evgeni Levin; Daisy M.Jonkers; Olaf Welting; Sigrid E.M. Heinsbroek; Heleen H. de Weerd; Teun Boekhout; Matteo Fornai;Ad A.Masclee; Frank H.J. Schuren; Wouter J.de Jonge; Jurgen Seppen; René M.van den Wijngaard. 2017. ‘Intestinal Fungal Dysbiosis Is Associated With Visceral Hypersensitivity in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Rats’. Gastroenterology 153(4): 1026-1039. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2017.06.004

Collins, Stephen M. 2014. ‘A Role for the Gut Microbiota in IBS’. Nature Review Gastroenterology Hepatology 11: 497–505. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.40

Lyra, Anna and Sampo Lahtinen. 2012. ‘Dysbiosis of the Intestinal Microbiota in IBS’. In Godfrey Lule (ed.). Current Concepts in Colonic Disorders. Rijeka (Croatia): InTech:261-276.

Yang, Jing; Hai-Peng Wang; Li Zhou; and Chun-Fang Xu. 2012. ʻEffect of dietary fiber on constipation: A meta analysisʼ. World Journal of Gastroenterology 18(48):7378–7383. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378

Kok-Sun Ho; Charmaine You Mei Tan; Muhd Ashik Mohd Daud; and Francis Seow-Choen. 2012 ʻStopping or reducing dietary fiber intake reduces constipation and its associated symptomsʼ. World Journal of Gastroenterology 18(33):4593–4596. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i33.4593

On On Chan, Annie; Gigi Leung; Teresa Tong; and Nina YH Wong. 2007. ʻIncreasing dietary fiber intake in terms of kiwifruit improves constipation in Chinese patientsʼ. World Journal of Gastroenterology 13(35):4771–4775. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i35.4771

Principi, Nicola; Rita Cozzali; Edoardo Farinelli; Andrea Brusaferro; Susanna Esposito. 2018. ‘Gut dysbiosis and irritable bowel syndrome: The potential role of probiotics’. Journal of Infection 76(2): 111-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2017.12.013

Putignani, Lorenza; Federica Del Chierico; Pamela Vernocchi; Michele Cicala; Salvatore Cucchiara; Bruno Dallapiccola. 2016. ‘Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis as Risk and Premorbid Factors of IBD and IBS Along the Childhood–Adulthood Transition’. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 22(2):487-504. https://doi.org/10.1097/MIB.0000000000000602

Simrén, Magnus. 2014. ‘IBS with intestinal microbial dysbiosis: a new and clinically relevant subgroup?’ Gut http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2013-306434

Shukla, Ratnakar; Ujjala Ghoshal; Tapan N. Dhole; Uday C. Ghoshal. 2015. ‘Fecal Microbiota in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Compared with Healthy Controls Using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction: An Evidence of Dysbiosis’. Dig Dis Sci 60:2953–2962. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-015-3607-y

Voderholzer, Winfried A.; Schatke, Winfried; Mühldorfer, Birgit E.; Klauser, Andreas G.; Birkner, Berndt; Müller-Lissner, Stefan A. 1997. ʻClinical Response to Dietary Fiber Treatment of Chronic Constipationʼ. American Journal of Gastroenterology 92 (1):95-98

December 12, 2019June 13, 2023

Is Keto a Powerful Lifestyle? Free Life Advice

My 6-Month Experiment

My Reasons, Motivations and Expectations

After quitting veganism in April 2019, I started experimenting with a ketogenic diet, to see if I could: 1) fix my digestion, 2) improve my performance at the gym, 3) burn some body fat more easily. I was also curious to understand what kind of impact it might have on my energy levels and overall focus. I officially began my experiment the last week on May, and concluded it at the end of November.

My Protocol

As I was expecting (based on the literature I had read and the video I had watched), the first couple of weeks were the toughest ones. The principle of ketosis is that, instead of using glucose from carbs as your primary source of energy, your liver produces ketone bodies from short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) which travel across your body and supply energy to organs and tissues (thus sparing glucose supplies for your brain — as it can’t work without). Shifting from carbs to fats can take some time and can cause brain fog, lack of energy, headache (the so-called ‘keto flu’). So, as you can imagine, the first couple of weeks can be very painful. To reach ketosis and stay in it, all you need to do is:

Fast until you’ve depleted all of your glycogen stores
Consume a diet high in fats (60-75% of your calories), moderate in proteins (20-30% of your calories), and very low in carbs (5-10% of your calories, usually coming from low GI vegetables and fruit, such as cruciferous veggies, green beans, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, berries etc.)
Avoid high GI foods (starch, grains, most fruit, sugar, syrup, honey, etc.)
Limit your daily meals to 2-3, as you don’t want your insuline to spike, or it’ll prevent lipolysis (the process of fatty acids being released from the adipose cells to be used for energy).

As I work out everyday, and as I like to keep my workouts’ volume quite high, I adjusted my macros so that my carbs would never go below 50g a day, to be split between pre- and post-workout meals (what is commonly called a ‘modified or targeted ketogenic diet’). So my typical day looked like this:

4-6:30 am. Breakfast: water and lemon, coffee, peppermint tea
10-11am. Lunch: 3 duck eggs, butter, rocket leaves, sardines or mackerel, anchovies
2-3pm. Pre-workout shake: whey isolate 97% protein powder, 1 small green banana or 1 cup of grapes
6pm. Dinner: salmon/lamb mince/beef mince/steak/liver/kidneys/lamb heart cooked in butter or coconut oil, steamed or baked vegetables (courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, green beans), coconut yoghurt with frozen berries, 100% dark chocolate.

My Results

As I’ve anticipated, the first 2 weeks were really tough and my performance at the gym suffered quite a bit. Due to the lack of glycogen in my muscles, I couldn’t cope with high volume training, so I decided to lower my rep range and increase the weight (this way I could solely rely on the phosphocreatine energy system, in which ATP is more efficiently replenished than in the lactic acid energy system). Once in ketosis and fully adapted to using fats, however, I was able go back to my usual workout routine for most exercises. As the body becomes more efficient at using fats, indeed, the process of gluconeogenesis (namely the production of glucose out of fats and amino acids) also becomes smoother and glycogen can be stored in muscles just as easily as when running on carbs. However, I never managed to go back to my usual range of reps in exercises such as hack squats and pull-ups, in which the demand for glycogen is too great for the tiny amount produced by my liver and kidneys from other macronutrients. According to some studies on rats (Fournier et al. 2002) and on humans (Fournier et al. 2004), glycogen can be replenished even in the absence of food. However, it also depends on genetic predisposition, and, at this point, I think my body is not as genetically efficient at producing glycogen as someone else’s.

The other aspect I wanted to scrutinise was my digestion. Although I was on a low FODMAP version of a ketogenic diet, the high amount of fats would occasionally get me bloated and slightly constipated. However, my energy levels were always high (after the first couple of weeks), and my appetite significantly decreased (as I wasn’t relying on insulin anymore). This subsequently improved my focus and my sense of balance and stability.

Surprisingly, although most people go keto because it is one of the most effective ways to lose weight, I must admit that the aesthetic effects of the diet is the only aspect of my experiment that has disappointed me. Regardless of what the literature says, my muscles never seemed to be fully replenished with glycogen and would appear flat most of the time (as I said, it might be that my genetics is not really efficient at producing glycogen). Moreover, even though staying in ketosis can be an excellent way to lose fat, it makes it really hard to gain weight. When I started my usual bulking after summer, I found it really difficult to put on weight beyond my maintenance. For this reason, at the end of November, I decided to go back to my typical 5-6 meals a day, increasing my carbs and lowering my fats until next spring (at least).

My Advice for You

Overall, I’ve become more efficient at using fats and much less sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations. Moreover, increasing the amount of fats also increases the amount of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) that can be absorbed and can be beneficial for your health. For both these reasons, I would encourage everyone to try. Here’re my tips and strategies if you’re interested in trying:

Set a realistic timeframe for results to occur (at least 8-12 weeks) and be mentally prepared for the first 2-3 weeks being extremely tough
Plan your meals and shopping list in advance: although most keto recipes are very easy to make, you might not be used to cooking with butter and eating fatty cuts of meat or fish, or, in the initial phase, you might have some sugar cravings that you might want to satisfy the ‘sugar-free way’ (there’re plenty of keto-friendly dessert recipes online and many require just a few ingredients). The further you go with your diet, however, the less cravings you’ll have
Make sure you eat enough calories (i.e. make sure you replace the calories you’re taking away from carbs with the same amount coming from fats). The rule of thumb is this: 1g of fat has slightly more than twice the amount of calories of 1g of carb. Therefore 50g of pasta or rice can be easily replaced with 20-25g of butter or hard cheese, to give an example
Make sure you keep your diet varied and never boring. Try to learn 1 new recipe every week using 1 different low GI vegetable and 1 different fatty cut of meat or fish. You’ll be surprised by how delicious such recipes can be!
Enjoy the process and don’t be too hard on yourself if you cheat from time to time. Remember to embrace the growth and the wisdom that experimenting with a new lifestyle will bring you but keep it fun, easy and realistic!

If you’ve liked this post, stay tune because I’m planning to share some ‘guilt-free’ keto recipes for delicious cakes or desserts. 🙂

References

Fournier PA, Bräu L, Ferreira LD, Fairchild T, Raja G, James A, Palmer TN. 2002. ‘Glycogen resynthesis in the absence of food ingestion during recovery from moderate or high intensity physical activity: novel insights from rat and human studies’. Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology (Nov)133(3):755-63 (DOI: 10.1016/s1095-6433(02)00254-4).

Fournier PA, Fairchild TJ, Ferreira LD, Bräu L. 2004. ‘Post-exercise muscle glycogen repletion in the extreme: effect of food absence and active recovery’. Journal of sports science & medicine (Sep)1;3(3):139-46.

April 27, 2019May 3, 2019

Why I’m No Longer Vegan. My Shocking Revelation

Yes, it seems like every ex vegan is coming out right now, and I happen to be one of them indeed. Although this phenomenon might appear as a propagandistic tendency, it has in fact much deeper roots, which very easily translate into: veganism is not a sustainable diet. The reason why everyone is quitting veganism at the same time is because we all nearly started at the same time, and are now experiencing its effects on our health. My main reason for quitting it, however, is an ethical one, to which a psychological component is to be added too. I’m briefly breaking down my argument in the following paragraphs, but you can also watch my latest video, in which I not only discuss it extensively, but also share some rare footage of me trying beef for the first time after 15 years.

My Main Reasons

Ethics

As you might remember, a few month ago, I wrote a post about Veganism and the Paradox of Living an Ethical Life, in which shared my many doubts on the ethics of a plant-based diet, versus eating grass-fed beef. My reflection on the subject had become so intense and overwhelming, that I could no longer look at my plate of quinoa without thinking of those poor ladies in South America consuming their hands and starving themselves just to produce my “cruelty free” meal. A similar discourse applies to cotton (check out what’s going on in Mexico because of cotton production), avocados and legumes. On top of it, I couldn’t stop thinking about all those poor rabbits, birds, insects and lizards that get unjustly killed every time a crop field is created. As I wrote in my previous post, if you compare the figures, you’ll find exponentially less cruelty in a grass-fed ox liver than in a plate of lentils. It’s impossible to grow grains and vegetable without killing thousands of lives in the process.

As I educated myself on meat and dairy industries when I went vegan, so I decided to educate myself on crop production. The first thing I found out about is the figures. The most shocking discovery is this: other than in the US, cereal and soy (!!!) crop production is for HUMAN consumption. There’s only a small percentage (around 20%, if I’m not mistaken), which isn’t fit for human consumption and is therefore used to feed livestock which are, however, mostly grass fed. This means that the horrific deforestations that are taking place worldwide have nothing to do with the meat industry and could potentially be aggravated if everyone went vegan (as the crop demand would significantly increase). Moreover, CO2 cow emissions are not as dangerous for the planet as some vegan propaganda is trying to advocate: bovines have always been around and in pretty much the same amount (we have definitely more cows now, but how about those poor bisons that are slowly extinguishing?). How can one even think that their natural CO2 emissions might cause harm to the planet, more than the aircrafts used to transport tempeh, avocados and quinoa across the globe? Lastly, did you know that farms actually protect lots of animals which would never survive otherwise, by providing them with food, shelter and good care? Most of the bovines and chickens out there would never make it to 2 years of life, as they would fall prey of bigger predators.

Factory farming is surely evil. But so is the crop field industry. If one really wants to be ethical, the best thing to do is to buy from local farms. Fair enough, but are animal products really necessary? Can’t one just thrive on self-grown or locally-sourced fruit and vegetables? The answers are: yes, animal products are necessary (if you want to perform at your best), and no, one can’t thrive on self-grown or locally-sourced fruit and vegetables solely. But this leads us to the next point.

Health

As you might know, when I first went raw vegan, back in 2014, my IBS improved a lot, but when I started incorporating cooked foods in my diet (because a raw-vegan diet could no longer sustain my workouts), my symptoms got worse and worse. In 2018, I went low FODMAP and my IBS symptoms improved dramatically. However, that restricted my diet even more, and because my protein demand was pretty high, I was forced to consume unbelievably great amount of soy products, such as tofu and tempeh. In the aforementioned old post of mine, I had already expressed my concern about soy consumption, and the truth is that, because there’s no substantial scientific evidence to support theories in favour or against soy phytoestrogens, it was hard to make up my mind once and for all. So I decided to stay in the safe zone of 100g tempeh and 150g tofu a day, and to supplement the rest of my protein intake with: pea and rice protein powders, quinoa, buckwheat, nutritional yeast, tahini, nuts, some lentils and beans here and there. Phytoestrogens aside, however, bioavailability is another unescapable truth to be considered.

In my first 4 years of veganism, I felt great most of the time (beside my IBS, of course): I felt energised, light, focused and kind of happy. That’s essentially due to 2 reasons: 1) I was bulking (meaning I was eating extra calories everyday, and, because of that, my body had plenty of energy sources available in my body); 2) when I started my vegan journey, I was in great need for detoxification, and a vegan diet is one of the most effective ways to detox your body. However, when I did my first vegan cut, in Spring 2018, my energy levels suddenly dropped, and I began to feel fatigued, dizzy, lethargic and sluggish out of the blue (I must say that my cut had just started, so my calories were still pretty close to maintenance level, so you can’t blame it on their being too low). I got my blood tested and everything was within the range. Around the same time, I also started craving high protein foods, such as tempeh, intensively. On top of that, I developed depression, anxiety, paranoia and a constant feeling of emptiness, not in its metaphysical, existential meaning, but in the sense of physical hollowness, like a lack of grounding. Exactly the same happened early this year, during my second cut. In both occasions, my daily protein intake would never go below 140-120g, so it wasn’t a matter of not meeting my requirement. All of my macros and micros have always been religiously accounted for, so l wasn’t theoretically lacking anything.

My constant tiredness was due to the bioavailability of the nutrients I was intaking everyday: plants have anti-nutrients to protect themselves, making it hard for humans to assimilate the nutrients. Hence, when you consume 140g plant-based protein, you actually assimilate something around 70-80g of those (the same applies to other macros, as well as to micros, such as vitamins and minerals). When you’re on a bulk, you exceed your daily macro and micro need, so you assimilate enough nutrients to feel good (reason n.1); when you’re cutting, though, you suddenly deprive your body of too many nutrients. Could eating more have helped me out when cutting? Probably yes, if I had increased my protein consumption, but, as I’ve already said, my proteins were mainly coming from soy products, and I’ve already expressed my concern about them.

Detoxing is an excellent practice and all cultures and religions incorporate fasting in their practices. However, it doesn’t have to be carried on for too long. Veganism is a fasting-mimicking diet, which works wonders for your body, when practiced for a few months, or even a few years. When your body gets rid of all the toxins in excess, however, and gets ready for its normal tasks, you no longer need to detox it (just as a side note, this discourse is entirely wrong, as your body naturally detoxes itself everyday, and what we mean by “detoxing” is just supporting it in the process by not overloading it too much). So, if you don’t provide it with the right amount of nutrients it needs, it’ll start to slowly decay, leaving you tired, sluggish, fatigued and empty (reason n.2). Finally, only animal fats are able to balance our hormones out effectively, making you feel grounded, focused and happy. And, again, this is because of their bioavailability: as a species, humans have evolved consuming fresh organs and other easily available meats, our bodies are perfectly designed to assimilate animal nutrients faster and more effectively than plant based nutrients (as I said, we can thrive on plants too, but only for short periods of time), or even lab-synthesised surrogates.

Psychology

As everyone knows, a 100% plant-based diet is not complete. You need to make sure you get enough B12, omega 3 (and in a good ratio with your omega 6), and the list goes on and on… Vegans typically turn into nutrition scientists, constantly calculating their macros and micros, knowing which foods should be combined with which for best results, always carrying supplements and protein powders in their bags. I had enough of it all.

Although I believe in meal plans and strict schedules, when it comes down to food, I also believe in simplicity. The simpler your meals, the more digestible and effective. On a vegan diet, I found that I had to constantly combine my foods to meet my requirements, not to mention the supplements I had to take. Moreover, most of my food was also highly processed. Finally, I was eating the same foods over and over again, same meals throughout the day and throughout the year, it had become so unnatural and counterintuitive that was really clashing with my ethics and belief system. I could only imagine spending the rest of my life that way. I felt totally disconnected.

What My Diet Looks Like Right Now

Since I went back to animal products, I’ve been trying to be more ethical than I was as a vegan. My rule of thumb is this simple: harming as few lives as possible; impacting the environment as little as possible; feeling one with nature as much as I can.

Most of my food comes from wild-caught fish (mostly salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, haddock), duck eggs, grass-fed beef (whose taste I don’t even enjoy that much) and lamb. I also have some organic, locally sourced Skyr yoghurt, grass-fed butter, goat butter, and Feta or Halloumi cheese. As to my carbs, I still consume plenty of (low FODMAP) vegetables, potatoes, swedes, turnips and parsnips, which I buy from my local farmers market (alongside the meat). Sparingly, I still consume organic oats, bananas, berries, basmati rice and buckwheat (I’m not ready to cut them completely to reduce my environmental footprint, and I also believe in balance — I’ve experienced the effects of a restrictive diet on myself to the point where I really understand the importance of balance and happiness in one’s overall well-being). In terms of meat, I buy a lot of organs, such as livers, kidneys and hearts, for 2 reasons. First of all, people don’t generally want them, and I don’t want animals to die in vain; second, because those are probably the most nutritious foods in the world: they contain most of the essential vitamins and minerals which are also extremely bioavailable — our bodies are just designed to eat organs because this is how we’ve evolved. For both reasons, I believe that consuming organs is the most ethical way you can eat.

How Do I Feel?

I feel good. Not only do I feel more balanced, grounded, energised, focused and overall happier, my bloat has gone away, my digestion has improved a lot, I’m still dieting but don’t feel exhausted anymore (in fact I don’t even feel that hungry in between meals — although my macros and micros have stayed exactly the same as when I was vegan).

The most impressive improvements concern my performance in the gym: my recovery is much faster and my muscle appearance is much better (on my rest days, my muscles used to look a bit flat, when I was vegan; now they always look full).

The most important change, however, is that I finally feel connected and spiritually balanced. On top of it, I’m sharing meals with my husband for the first time in 14 years, and that’s an indescribable feeling, which most people probably take for granted, but which I was risking not to experience ever in my life. Just for that, I’m so glad I made that decision.

My Gratitude

I’m grateful to veganism for making me aware of what’s going on in the meat in dairy industries. I’m also grateful to it, for opening my eyes and helping me understand that compassion is real. However, as a scholar of Friedrich W. Nietzsche, I cannot but transvalue my own values, the first one being veganism indeed. In the path towards my self-becoming, in my seek for self-realisation, I need to go beyond veganism itself and ground my own ethics; I need to incorporate what complies with my own belief system, and to reject what doesn’t. Compassion does comply with it, exploitation doesn’t; for this reason, I decide to go back to eating locally-farmed meat and wild-caught fish, rather than pretending to be “cruelty free”, when in fact supporting the unjustified killing of thousands of insects, lizards, birds, rabbits, as well as the exploitation of poor countries and people.

My last thought of gratitude goes to Bobby Risto from Bobby’s Perspective (go and check him out, if you haven’t yet), for speaking out for those vegans and ex vegans in struggle with their diets and ethics. Bobby is currently working on a documentary to denounce the truth behind crop fields, and I honestly look so much forward to it!

Don’t forget to watch my video, if you haven’t yet! 😉

Why I’m No Longer Vegan

Thanks for following my journey!

Peace, Love & Compassion,

March 13, 2019March 15, 2019

Travelling Safe With IBS. My 7 Staples

Let’s face the truth: who wouldn’t wish to be lying on the beach right now, soaking up the sun, listening to the rhythmic sound of the ocean waves, drinking some fresh coconut water to stay hydrated and planning what to order for dinner at the local restaurant? However, if you suffer from IBS, your holidays might turn into nightmares: you’ll most likely feel bloated or constipated; you won’t know whether or not you can enjoy most of the food; coconut water is a taboo; you’ll feel anxious and restless, and also uncomfortable in your expensive swimsuit, after all of those months of hard dieting and training at the gym. I can confidently say so, because that was exactly the description of my old self during my so-long-awaited honey moon in Thailand. I had no notion of low and high FODMAP foods back then, and was following a highly raw vegan diet. I spent 13 out of 17 days in constant pain: bloated, nauseated and frustrated. I remember I would mix up a variety of fresh local fruit for breakfast, in the hope that that would help me detox my body, and I would often have some fruit after my workouts and for lunch – not to mention all the coconut water I would drink throughout the day, to “balance my electrolytes”.

Ko Samui, 2015. I was in constant pain: bloated, nauseated and frustrated. I would mix up a variety of fresh local fruit for breakfast, in the hope that that would help me detox my body, and I would often have some fruit after my workouts and for lunch – not to mention all the coconut water I would drink throughout the day, to “balance my electrolytes”.

Ko Samui, 2015. Practicing Yoga, desperately trying to detox my body

Fast forward 3 years (2018). I spent an amazing week in Tenerife, experiencing little or no symptoms of IBS, although I often enjoyed some high FODMAP foods, such as avocados, kombucha and onions. What did I do differently? Well, if the motto “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” applies to most situations in life, it certainly suits holidays best. Over the last 4 years, I’ve come up with a list of items that I carry with me whenever I travel, no matter how far my destination is, or how long I’m staying. Such items draw my attention away from “right and wrong” foods, and reassure me that symptoms can be defeated, should they appear. The first time I tested the efficacy of that list was last summer, when I went to visit my family in Italy. I put myself on a strict low FODMAP diet, and made sure I had with me all of the 7 items listed below (some of which were still missing in my previous holiday to Tenerife). I had the fewest IBS symptoms of my entire life, and could enjoy every single moment of that holiday (I even had a few vegan ice creams!).

Beside some more traditional advice, such as “make sure you drink plenty of water and protect your skin with a good sunscreen, if you’re travelling to a sunny place”, I would recommend that travellers with IBS try out my 7 staples below.

*Enjoying Tenerife (2018), with just some bloating (as you can clearly see from the picture). I wasn’t fully aware of high and low FODMAP yet.*

Italy, 2018. My first fully low FODMAP holiday. Almost no bloating at all (the picture was taken on the very last day, after 2 weeks of low FODMAP chocolate and vegan ice creams – a little bit of bloating was perfectly normal).

1. Vegan Probiotics

Whether or not you have IBS, taking probiotics on a daily basis will do wonders for your gut. However, recent research has suggested that probiotics can be extremely beneficial for IBS sufferers, although symptoms might reappear, if their consumption is discontinued (you can find some interesting stuff here). Whenever I travel, I always make sure I have vegan probiotics with me, which I have first thing in the morning, at least 20 mins prior to my breakfast. If you’re not vegan, you still want to make sure your probiotics are at least dairy free: you don’t want to take the risk of ingesting lactose. Probiotics keep best in the fridge, so make sure your room has one, when you book your hotel!

2. Protein Powder

Breakfast and snacks can be a real pain in the neck when you’re on holiday, as sometimes it’s hard to find low FODMAP options. This is why I always pack some protein powder in my luggage. I usually buy my supplements on Bulk Powders, but protein powder normally comes in soft bags which are not always safe to carry in your luggage, as they might open up and mess up your clothes. Two great substitutions are the Vega Essentials Shake and the Garden Of Life Raw Organic Protein Powder. The former is more affordable and tastes real great; the latter is raw and the ingredients are highly certified, but, I have to admit, I don’t particularly enjoy the taste, and it’s also a bit pricey. I’m a fan of vanilla, when it comes to protein powders, but chocolate is also a great choice, if you don’t enjoy the vanilla flavour. Just read through the ingredients, to make sure there’re no high FODMAP sweeteners. 😉

3. Oats And Oatcakes

If you’re renting a holiday flat (highly recommended), you might want to bring along your favourite oats, in case you need a quick breakfast or meal. Oats saved my life so many times when I went away, and they’re also quite cheap!

If you’re staying in a hotel, however, you might want to consider having oatcakes always with you. A protein shake, 5-6 oatcakes, 1 kiwi (usually available in every hotel breakfast) and possibly some nuts will be an excellent, low FODMAP breakfast to start your day off the right way. You can also keep oatcakes in your bag or backpack, and have them as a snack throughout the day.

4. Mixed Nuts And Seeds

My go-to mix: almonds, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

Nuts and seeds are always a holiday staple, whether or not you have IBS. Just mix up some almonds, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and bag them. You can snack on them at any time. Just watch your intake, as they might become high FODMAP, if you overdo them.

5. Protein Bars

Protein bars are an awesome snack when you’re away. Just bear in mind that most of them have a lot of high FODMAP ingredients. My favourite bar is the Pulsin’s Maple and Peanut. It’s vegan, with a pretty decent macro ratio and tastes great. I found that I can tolerate it quite well, although I can’t have more than 1 a day and possibly not everyday. I really love the brand and highly recommend you try all of their flavours, if you’re not on a strict low FODMAP diet. Otherwise, just stick to the Maple and Peanut flavour and won’t be disappointed, I promise! 😉

6. Resistance Bands and Hip Circles

Exercising is paramount for your gut health and is recommended in all IBS therapies. Resistance bands and hip circles are great tools, when your hotel or flat doesn’t have a gym, or when the weather outside is not so great. There’re a variety of exercises that can be performed with just resistance bands and your bodyweight: just get creative! If you really don’t know where to start, you can draw some inspiration on YouTube.

7. Running Shoes

Lastly, I always make sure I travel with a pair of running shoes, so I have no excuses not to go for a run or a hike. Hiking is one of the most enjoyable experiences to discover new places and breathtaking views, especially when you’re close to the woods. Trekking can also be an amazing option, if you’re in the mountains (just make sure you wear proper shoes and socks though!). Anyway, even when you’re just visiting a city, you can prefer walking over taking the bus, and exploring hidden neighbourhoods or mews. Just make sure you keep a map always with you, and you’re able ask the fundamental questions in the local language, in case you get lost! These are my current shoes. I love them because they’re very light in weight, quite affordable and extremely comfy – plus I just love wearing bright colours!

Go and Explore!

Don’t let IBS stop you from enjoying your holiday. Everyone deserves unforgettable holidays to recall, when outside it’s rainy and cold, as well as future holidays to plan and look forward to, when work stresses you out.

These were my basic holiday tips – I hope you’ve found them helpful. What are yours? Are there any more things to take care of, when you travel with IBS? Comment down below! 😉

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018

Veganism and the Paradox of Living an Ethical Life

Me today, following a plant-based, low FODMAP, high-protein diet

As a vegan athlete, I get asked where I get my protein from all the time. I have to say, finding sustainable, plant-based protein sources has caused me to reflect a lot lately.

As a Nietzschean kind of person, I regard myself as a self-experimenter in the first place. Over the past 14 years, I’ve tried at least 5 different approaches to food.

My Dietary Evolution from 17 to 31

From omnivorous eater, I turned pescatarian at 17, meaning that I was on a 80%-lacto-ovo-vegeterian diet, allowing myself to consume around 20% of my food from fish and seafood more broadly. At that time, my workout routine consisted of: swimming 3 times a week, occasional running, occasional basketball with my friends, drama class and musical choreography once or twice a week, occasional crunches, push-ups and lateral leg raises in my bedroom. As my workouts became more resistance-oriented – which happened about 3 years later – I felt the need to increase my protein consumption. Between the age of 20 and 27, I turned into one of the major causes of the threatening fish extinction which the world is going through these days. My diet mostly consisted of canned tuna, fresh or canned mackerel and sardines, smoked salmon, eggs, yoghurt, cottage cheese and quark, oats, vegetables, fruits and rice cakes. I didn’t like that kind of approach, which made feel so guilty everyday. However, people kept telling me that “animal protein was the best source ever”, and I would “deplete my body”, if I stopped eating fish, dairy and eggs.

But that is not all. During those years, I decided to try various popular diets, to lose fat without giving up my performance. So I tried the 40-30-30 diet for a few years, then the Atkins diet, then I nearly starved myself and brought a lot of undesired medical conditions into my body, which I’m not very proud of and I’m not going to tell you about here.

In 2014, I randomly came across the bodies of amazing bikini competitors and bodybuilders online, who also happened to be vegan. How was that even possible? That seemed to be the answer to all of my ethical dilemmas at the time. I immediately did a lot of research and went vegan cold turkey. But because I can’t help being extreme, not only did I turn vegan out of the blue, I even signed up for a 3-day-raw-vegan detox plan online, which got me totally spellbound. I saw amazing effects on my body as soon as I started that program, and I was so happy, that I decided to stay on a mostly raw vegan diet for good. As I had moved to the UK only one year before, I didn’t have any good training equipment to work out, nor could I afford joining a gym. My workouts were still consistent, but they consisted of: bellydance, yoga, running and bodyweight HIIT-exercises. I shortly realised that a raw vegan diet couldn’t really sustain the intensity of my workout routine, but my obstinacy, as always, took over, until I finally could afford a gym membership and started lifting heavy. At the point, my diet had to undergo some significant changes, the pivotal one being getting back to a high-protein diet.

Me on a mostly raw vegan diet (Bangkok, 2015)

As I ignored the existence of high and low FODMAP foods, at that time, I was confusing some IBS symptoms with soy-intolerance, trying to not eat too much tofu or tempeh (was the latter even a food?). Also, there was this popular controversy about the possibility of soy being harmful to female hormones, which was scaring me a lot. I suddenly had no choice but to increase my consumption of legumes, mushrooms, and protein-packed vegetables such as broccoli, which in turn aggravated my IBS. Only in Summer 2018 did I finally come across the benefits of a low FODMAP diet, and found a good balance in my diet. I also did some extra research about soy phytoestrogens, and found out that their being harmful is not proven enough (this is an interesting up-to-date article on the issue). However, I still feel ethically guilty…

How Many Lives Does It Take To Meet Your Daily Protein Intake on a Plant-Based Diet?

If you’re omnivorous and base your daily meals on grass-fed beef, lamb and chicken, then you’re probably killing less animals than me, the plant-based insect murderer in disguise. Let’s leave the CO2 issue off this topic, as I’d like to solely focus on the actual amount of lives involved in soy production vs animal production.

Technically, when you eat a steak, you don’t eat the whole cow, calf or ox. In theory, one single life could feed you for one week, if not for longer (assuming you’re eating livers, kidneys, heart, brain, etc., and making bone broth on top of it). In a very hypothetical, ideal reality, when your meat is grass-fed, the animal – coming from a small, family-run farm – has been circulating freely and enjoyed its life till its very last seconds. No extra water has been needed to feed it, and no weird antibiotics. In this hypothetical world, when you eat a steak or a burger, only one life has been sacrificed for your meal, and that life will suffice for one week, or more. You might counter-argue by saying that that cow might have killed some insects or stepped on other smaller creatures along the way, but that would have occurred anyway, whether you would have eaten that animal or not – therefore, you’re not really responsible for their lives. You’re still responsible for you’re animal’s life only.

Let’s break down the process of soy production instead. Besides the deforestation and other environmental issues, which soy is seriously responsible for (to have an idea, see what WWF thinks about it), soy cultivation kills a lot of small animals (from insects to tiny rodents) because of the tractors used to plough and harvest. I’m aware that the main cause of deforestation is soy’s being used to feed animals – which wouldn’t happen, if nobody ate those animals in the first place. However, if everyone was vegan and on a high-protein diet, soy cultivation would increase even more, causing the second issue (i.e. the death of small animals) to grow accordingly (here’s an old, yet still insightful article by The Guardian on the issue; another, more recent post from Munchies on the debate is this one).

So, to put it in numbers, for every single soy bean you harvest, hundreds of insects have to die. Yo don’t need me to tell you you can’t make a block of tofu out of one soy bean…

Moreover, the same discourse applies to quinoa, buckwheat, lentils and avocados, popular “cruelty-free” superfoods, staples in many vegan kitchens. It seems like the most ethical choice to be vegan would be to thrive on a self-grown or locally-sourced fruit-based diet (I’m including nuts and seeds, as long as you’re able to grow them by yourself or find sustainable ones). Many people succeed on such a diet, even athletes and bodybuilders. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I tried many times, and I need my tofu and tempeh to fully recover in between workouts. Not to mention that, as an IBS-sufferer, my fruit choice would be quite restrictive…

Why Am I still Vegan, Then?

This is the question I’ve been asking myself a lot in recent times, especially since I’m married to a mindful omnivorous eater, who buys only locally-sourced-grass-fed beef, a lot of entrails (to not let any animal die in vain) and uses chicken carcasses to make his own bone broth every week. Is his approach more ethical than mine? Most definitely.

However, there is no scientific way to really address my dilemma, it’s just a matter of rather personal choices. In other words, it’s all about “compassion”. A few philosophers reflected upon animals’ suffering on the one hand, and the impossibility to stop that suffering in order to survive on the other hand (the most popular one being Arthur Schopenhauer, who drew many of his ideas on his knowledge of Hinduism and Buddhism, and who influenced later vegetarian thinkers). There is no escape: if you want to survive, one or more lives will have to be sacrificed. However, facing the suffering in your plate on a daily basis is not for everyone.

I just couldn’t take the idea of having a cow killed just to satisfy my selfish desire of eating – I know it’s my need to survive, but that’s how I can help regarding it, as “a selfish desire of eating”. Such a “selfish desire of eating” drives my choices everyday, leading me to consume lives, whether I want it or not. But there are different grades of murder, I believe, and eating a dead animal, absorbing the energy of a suffering-dead animal, has a more immediate impact on my ethical response, than eating some tofu or tempeh which accidentally caused the death of insects and small rodents. To u

se another popular word, it’s all about karma: meat is pure suffering, it brings the animal’s suffering into my plate and transmits it to me; tofu brings a lot of suffering too, but doesn’t expose me to the extreme, sudden death of what’s in my plate, and doesn’t really transmit such suffering to me directly.

Life is made of choices, and if I were to choose between having

an animal killed and eating it, or having a few lives died in the process of

creating something which doesn’t force me to eat a dead animal, well, call me a hypocrite, but I’ll go for the latter option.

But this is my very own personal perspective, which I’ll never impose on anyone else than myself.

October 2, 2018October 5, 2019

Thai Sweet Potato and Courgette Soup

Although it’s October, autumn hasn’t officially arrived in London yet.

However, we’ve already started accompanying our dinners with a soup, as we always do when the weather gets colder. We love cooking soups for dinner for 2 reasons:

1) it’s a way of eating warm, comfy food, without adding extra calories to our meal;

2) it’s a fun and easy way to combine carbs and veggies together, so that I don’t have to bother too much thinking about a side dish.

Tonight I’m planning to cook something I’ve never done before: a Low-FODMAP version of a Thai-style sweet potato soup. And, in case you’re wondering, I’m going to have baked tofu as a main.

As many IBS sufferers, I don’t tolerate sweet potatoes in big amounts; for this reason, I’m going to add some courgettes (which I tolerate quite well) to my soup, to enhance its texture, without overloading it with high FODMAP foods.

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 small Sweet Potatoes

1 large Courgette (use 1 medium courgette, if you don’t tolerate them very well)

1 medium Carrot

3 green Spring Onion stalks

1 inch Ginger

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Himalayan Salt

3 cups Water*

2 tsp Coconut Oil

1 tsp Tamari

Fresh Coriander

Fresh Lime Juice

*If you tolerate it, swap half the water for coconut milk

Chop sweet potatoes, carrot, ginger and spring onion stalks.

Place in a pot, pour water (and coconut milk) and add spices (except black pepper) and salt.

Place the lid and bring to a boil.

In the meantime, chop your courgette.

As the water starts boiling, add in the chopped courgette, place the lid back, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until vegetables are tender.

Blend to reach a smooth cream.

Pour your soup into two bowls, garnish with coconut oil, Tamari, black pepper, fresh coriander and fresh lime juice. Enjoy!

I edited this post after making the soup and to confirm its absolutely nice taste. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any fresh coriander, so I garnished our soups with fresh rocket instead (it’s not quite the same, I know…). We loved it anyway! 😉