Dr. Heather Finley: 0:03

Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist. I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain. I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues. And now I'm here to guide you. On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort. So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good. My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back. So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief. You are in the right place. Welcome to the love your gut podcast. Hello, and welcome back to the next episode of the Love Your Gut podcast. I am joining you a couple weeks away from my own vacation, so I thought that this would be a very timely episode because if you were anything like me in the past, I used to actually just dread traveling because of my GI issues, and I no longer do. And so I wanna share with you. Some of the top tips to avoid bloating and constipation and diarrhea and all the very unwelcome vacation issues,, so that you can really enjoy your vacation and not stress about it. So let's just go ahead and set the scene. Maybe you finally made it to your vacation spot. You're ready to relax, maybe enjoy a cute outfit, a good meal, and then you're so bloated by dinner, you can't even button your pants. Or maybe worse. You haven't pooped in several days and you're afraid to eat anything because you feel so constipated. Um, if you've ever been there, I see you because I have been you. Like I said, that scenario that I just explained has happened to me so many times, more than I can even count and. Has really ruined a lot of vacations because I was so focused on my stomach and not focused on the actual vacation. So one of my earliest and really most cringey memories is being on vacation as a teenager. With my family and I was so miserable. I probably hadn't gone to the bathroom in like seven days. And we were at a restaurant and I was so constipated I couldn't even eat. Like just physically was so uncomfortable. I sat there so miserable and my dad asked me, Heather, what are you gonna order? And I just. Burst into tears like I can't eat, I'm so constipated, I need to poop. And my mom like drug me out of the restaurant and took me to go find something to help me poop. You've probably heard this story before'cause I've shared it before, but this was supposed to be a super fun memory. My family and I were traveling to San Francisco. We were then gonna go see my grandparents and instead all I could think about was how uncomfortable I felt. And that moment has like traumatized me for the rest of my life. So. constipation and bloating. Can totally hijack your trip, but it really doesn't have to. So I wanna share with you everything I've learned, both personally and from hundreds of clients, about how to avoid gut issues while traveling. We're gonna cover hydration, digestion, routines, alcohol, and how to navigate your nervous system, which plays a bigger role than you probably even think. I'm also gonna get, share a couple client stories that just give me chills, because it's. Such a perfect example of what's possible when you go into travel prepared instead of scared. And selfishly, like I said, I've been thinking about this a lot lately because I have some upcoming travel. We traveled to California every summer. I'm from California. I grew up Southern California and. I cannot stand the heat in Texas. About mid-July, I start losing it, which actually this summer has been way more mild than any summer I could ever remember, which I'm so grateful for. Um, but I've been so looking forward to the cool mornings and the beach walks and fish tacos and just feeling good while enjoying making memories with my kids. And so let's just jump right into it. And first let's talk about why travel wrecks, digestion. So. In our program, we teach clients that there are five systems that need to be working together for smooth digestion. It's really easy to think like, oh, it's just about taking more magnesium, or eating more fiber, drinking more water. But the reality is these five systems have to be working and travel can actually throw off all five of them. So the first one is hydration and minerals between flying, walking, more, sweating, maybe having more alcohol than you're used to. Your body is losing minerals faster, especially if you're eating differently or your sleep is off, or maybe it's a stressful trip, with lots of family or whatever it is. The second system is motility, so. We need our motility to be working to clear our bowels. You might be sitting more, maybe you're sitting on a plane or in a car. Maybe you're skipping your normal movement. maybe you're avoiding public bathrooms. I've had many vacations like that where I was like, I'm just gonna hold it until I get back to the hotel or get back to the Airbnb or whatever the next system is. Digestion. Maybe you're eating different foods, you're rushing through meals. Maybe you're. Meal timing is different. Different portion sizes. It's a lot for your gut to keep up with. the next one is microbiome. So the bacteria in your gut jet lag, stress, unfamiliar water, different food, lack of fiber, so many things can shake up your gut flora. And then last one is mindset and nervous system. It's really easy to shut down when I bring this up, but it's a really important piece and I wanna show you throughout this episode how this can actually be really manageable. And it doesn't have to be stressful, but travel stress, even the good kind, even if it's stress of like, I'm so excited about this trip, keeps your body a little bit more in fight or flight, not rest and digest mode. And so. Your body doesn't really know you're on vacation. It just knows that it's out of rhythm. So let's help it stay supported while you go and live your best beach life or European summer, whatever it is. So let's talk first about hydration and mineral support. This one is a huge, huge piece, a big game changer when it comes to travel. And here's the truth. Water alone isn't going to save you if you're downing a bottle of plain water, but you're still tired, puffy, constipated. It's because you're missing minerals. And when we travel, we lose a lot more minerals, especially being like in an airplane through sweating, having air conditioning, in a car, sitting in the sun. Without those minerals, your body does not hold on to hydration the way it needs to. You can think of this like raisins to grapes. I often describe how minerals make our cells plump and hydrated just like grapes, and if we're dehydrated, our cells are, I. Like raisins, which we do not want. So there's lots of different minerals that you can pack depending on what your needs are. If you're gonna be in hotter environments, perhaps you need something that's higher in sodium, like Redmond, relight or LM and T. Um, even like adrenal cocktail. The new gravy, adrenal mocktail is a good option. if you're gonna be more stressed or more active, maybe you need more potassium. So like the potassium cocktail. Um, there's lots of different options there. You can even just bring those like little mini Redmond, salt shakers and add salt to your food... if you're not getting enough salt. most restaurants. Use more salt. but if you're like staying at an Airbnb or, eating perhaps less sodium than you normally do or need more because you're sweating more, even like coconut water, getting that from the grocery store or a pinch of cream of tartar, you could bring this like in a little baggie just for some potassium on the go. If you're like me, you get a little weird about hotel tap water or. Drinking fountains. I love our clearly filtered water bottles. They have a built-in filter, so you can bring one of these on a plane and you can get water from the tap and it will actually filter it for you, which is so awesome. So I love traveling with this. I also just love traveling with a water bottle because it's very easy to get dehydrated if you just. Don't have access. So I bring water bottles for everybody, myself, my kids, my husband, all of that. Well, he brings his own, but. You get what I mean? bring a water bottle because if you have a water bottle, you're way more likely to fill it up. And then just bring some mineral support with you, depending on what you need. some of my go-tos, like I said, adrenal cocktail, potassium cocktail. If you need more sodium element, T Redmond, relight. and then a pro tip. Just start your morning with minerals before coffee or alcohol. especially before alcohol. Uh, that one shift has made a huge difference for me and many of my clients, especially on beach days or just heavy travel days when you're in the sun and when you're sweating more, it can be just really draining. So you can buy like the individual sticks of a lot of these things and it can be really convenient for travel. It's a little more expensive to buy them in the little stick packs, but it makes it great. Um, and you could just bring this with you. Okay. Let's talk about the next one, which, if you're not hydrated, none of this is gonna work. So step one, hydrate with minerals. Step two, bowel movement support. So the elephant in the room is vacation, constipation. There are people that I know that never even have GI issues in their normal life, and then they still get constipated when they travel. So if you have GI issues on a regular basis, this likely is even worse for you. So it's not just you and it's not just the food either. Most of the time it is because you're out of routine. You're not sleeping, you're eating different foods. or l you're eating less fiber. So there is kind of more of like a fiber CFO component versus like the food itself. but it's because your motility is. Sluggish and then possibly that you're dehydrated and your minerals are low as well. So you may need a little more bowel movement support. I rarely need bowel movement support on a day-to-day basis, but I always keep ginger capsules in my suitcase because I typically only need them when I travel. I know that if I take two ginger capsules before I go to bed, that's really gonna help. You can also bring ginger tea packets with you if you have access to hot water. At a lot of hotels, if you just call and ask for hot water, they will bring you hot water. They'll bring you a tea kettle if you enjoy sipping tea before bed. if you really struggle with constipation, you probably do need some magnesium citrate and not just glycinate. We typically recommend three to five times your body weight and milligrams. So for example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that's around 450 to 750 milligrams per day, you definitely wanna make sure you're pairing it with potassium and. Salt sodium for better results. If you're high dosing magnesium, magnesium cannot work in isolation and in fact, mega dosing. Magnesium is gonna tank all your other minerals and make. All the issues worse. So you really need to use salt and sodium to help your cells absorb. And then you also need potassium as well. So if you are hitting that five times your body weight in milligrams and. Still constipated. Perhaps you need to look at your sodium and your potassium. I would also recommend packing some fiber support, so whether that's like sun fiber sticks, regular girl packets, you can even bring like a little baggie of chia seeds to add to your yogurt at the hotel or. Top it, on something that you're eating that day. I like packing those creatures of habit oatmeal packets. They're protein packed oatmeal. They're also higher in fiber, so I bring it for like hotel breakfast or if I'm gonna have access to hot water. I recently discovered those in the last, like six months and have taken them on several trips and it's really just. Been a game changer. I'll put the link in the show notes if you wanna try them. Also, bring snacks that support fiber in blood sugar. If you're bringing snacks that don't have a lot of fiber are just empty carbohydrates, this is gonna exacerbate the issue. You're gonna feel more tired, more constipated. So leverage some snacks to get some fiber as well, especially if you're eating out a lot and perhaps eating differently than you do at home. So pumpkin seed bars like the 88 acres, ones almond butter packets, cashews, trail mix, uh, dried fruit bars, those can be helpful for supporting fiber. And just making sure if you're having like a dried fruit par, have some nuts or something with it to support blood sugar. Like I mentioned, ginger capsules can be extremely helpful for getting your bowels to move. So ginger, ginger, tea, even digestive bitters, they can be really great not only for getting your bowels to move, but also for symptom management. I. If you eat out at a restaurant and you just don't feel good after, you can take digestive bitters, even in between meals as well as before meals to help with digestion. And then if you don't really need magnesium citrate necessarily, but you have trouble sleeping or whatever it might be, you can even bring like magnesium lotion or some kind of cream spray, whatever, for just nightly magnesium support. So. Here's the key. Do not wait until day three when you're already miserable. Give your body what you know it needs from day one. Even if you have to like do this kind of preventatively, take some ginger capsules just in case, increase your fiber just in case. Obviously don't overdo it. more is not better necessarily, but. It's gonna be a lot harder to find relief if you're on day three versus if you start preventatively doing this before and like when you start traveling. So, pro tip, there.

14:34

Interrupting this episode really quick to let you know about my new two day live training specifically for practitioners. Whether you are a registered dietician or in the health related field and you see clients with GI issues, I would absolutely love for you to be there. This is a two day clinical training for the overwhelmed practitioner. We will spend two hours each day together, from 11 to one central time on. August 21st and 22nd. This new training is called The Gut Fix That sticks. We are gonna be covering the five system gut framework that I use with all of my clients. We will be covering case studies. You will learn a repeatable roadmap to build protocols with less trial and error, and know the. Number one thing to address before really going into any kind of gut protocol with your client and get clarity around testing and just have confidence that you can solve tough gut cases without burning out. So I will put the link in the show notes. I would absolutely love to see you there. We are in early bird pricing until August 1st, so you can grab this training for.$49 up until August 1st, and then it will increase to$69 from there on out. So go ahead and secure your spot for$20 off and I will see you there.

Dr. Heather Finley: 16:00

Next thing is routines. So keep what you can. Your gut loves a routine, and that doesn't mean that you have to be rigid. vacation is all about relaxation most of the time. Vacation can honestly be the opposite of routine, so you don't need to do everything perfectly, but just keep a couple things familiar, whether that's like taking a quick. Morning walk. If you normally walk for 30 minutes, even just try to walk for five. So it's routine. Stick to your coffee and breakfast rhythm that you normally do. Bring your journal, even if you only do it for two minutes. Hydrate before you have coffee. Try to keep some things familiar. It takes some time to go to the bowel. To go to the bathroom and have a bowel movement you cannot ignore. The urge to go to the bathroom just because you're not home. So even if it takes a little bit longer in a new space, just give yourself the time. A lot of times we find that our clients do not go to the bathroom while they're traveling because they literally just haven't taken the time. They're waiting for the urge, but they've been, go, go, go.'cause they're trying to rush and get to the beach or get to their activity or whatever. And they haven't given themselves the time. So keep the mindset of you don't need perfection, you just need like little anchors of normalcy to help cue your body that like, it's okay that we're gonna stick to a little bit of routine. So this story that I'll share with you makes me smile every time I had this client who came to us. She was so nervous. Part of the reason that she started working with us is because she did not wanna be constipated on her honeymoon. She was already really struggling with constipation on her day to day. And she really did not wanna have GI issues after, during her wedding and of course after travel was always a huge trigger for bloating and discomfort and just made her feel panicked. And her husband had tra had planned this like really extravagant honeymoon and she was afraid that this trip was just not gonna be what he wanted it to be or what she wanted it to be. So we really worked on building her digestive support toolkit. Of course, like. What enzymes she needed, bitters, ginger, like getting her bowels moving, et cetera. And then creating just a flexible plan for meals that maybe felt heavier or more indulgent. Like, okay, if you feel this way, try some digestive bitters. Or if you're starting to feel constipated, take some ginger before bed. Or like, here's kind of the dosing for magnesium, et cetera. And we really went deep on her nervous system because this is a huge. Huge piece. They say neurons that fire together, wire together. If you've ever heard that saying, basically like your body remembers, your nervous system remembers. So if you've always had negative experiences traveling, that's all your nervous system remembers. So what we told her was start journaling about what it would feel like to have a good vacation. What would it be like? Visualize, you know, feeling light, feeling comfortable, feeling confident. And she literally rewired her brain before she got there. She thought this whole thing was hogwash. I'll just, if you're sitting here thinking like, yeah, right. That is not how it works. You have to have, you have to expose your nervous system to positive experiences if you've never had one in order for that. Script to flip, and that was totally what happened with her. Obviously, in addition to giving her the tools that she needed to be successful, they went really well together. She had the best strip, no bloating, no food issues. Really enjoyed, I. The beach and the experience. And like I said, if your nervous system has only ever experienced stress and constipation on vacation, you have to show it what safety looks like. You have to give it a new experience to reference, and that's how you create change, even if you're just visualizing it and you haven't quite experienced it yet. Next step is supporting digestion while eating differently. This is a common question we get from our clients. Like, okay, I normally eat, heavier foods on vacation, or I eat more cheese or eat more gluten, or I have more alcohol. You know, what do I need to do? So vacation food is amazing, but of course it can be different. And your bo, your body just might not be used to rich sauces or dairy, or more fat or less fiber. Which doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it, it just means that you need to support it and try to keep some sense of normalcy. If you know you're going out to dinner that night and you're gonna get something that is typically harder for you to digest, try to keep other things throughout the day easier, just as an act of self-care, knowing that you wanna feel good going into the meal. So perhaps you need to bring digestive enzymes, especially if you've had your gallbladder removed. or you really struggle to digest certain proteins, you might need digestive support. there's so many different enzymes. Work with the provider that you're working with to figure out what would be best for you. you can consider dairy or gluten specific enzymes if, you know, certain foods tend to cause issues.

21:07

In addition to Bitters, bringing along digestive enzyme supplements to support proper breakdown of meals, especially if you're eating foods that your body isn't used to, could be really helpful. So a general digestive enzyme that includes. Support for fat, carbs and proteins can be helpful. But if you know that you'll be consuming more dairy or gluten than usual, you might wanna include a targeted enzyme for those foods. Lactase helps to digest dairy. You can get lactate over the counter. There are also several really great formulated products that I will link in a full script cart. All you have to do to access that in the show notes is click the link and you'll set up an account and you'll. See all the different recommended products that I have. don't add all of the products to your cart, just pick the ones that you need, and that you wanna try. But lactase can be really helpful. And then the DPP four enzyme supports gluten breakdown. While these don't give you like free reign to just ignore symptoms, they make these accidental exposures more manageable and can reduce gut symptoms while you're away and might just be worth trialing to see if they help you, especially if you're gonna be eating things that you're not used to. So, like I said, there will be the full script link. In the show notes, you're welcome to set up a free account and explore some of the products, and then you can see which ones might work for you in that cart. I have linked different fiber options. I've linked different digestive support options, some digestive bitters, some magnesium citrate, ginger. So if you wanna just like purchase everything that you might need in one cart with one shipping fee, you can look there. Um, and again, this is not medical advice, so please consult your practitioner.

Dr. Heather Finley: 22:54

And then most importantly, slow down. Chew your food. Take some deep breaths before you eat. Try to eat in a relaxed state. Don't multitask. Enjoy it. I'm dreaming of really sitting on a patio in California with a fish taco in one hand and probably a mocktail in the other, and just enjoying every bite as much as I can with three small kits. It's amazing what chewing and taking your time will do. So don't discount. Doing that. It doesn't always have to be taking a pill or another supplement. Although those things can help. And then alcohol. So let's not pretend that for a lot of people, alcohol is not a part of most vacations. It doesn't have to be, I'm someone who really doesn't drink alcohol very much. but if you do enjoy a cocktail here and there, alcohol will impact your digestion. It dehydrates you, it impacts your gut lining. If you are drinking, I would match each drink with a glass of water or a mineral drink. You can also bring things like N-Acetyl Cysteine or NAC and vitamin C, like in the adrenal cocktail sticks to support your liver and metabolism of alcohol. And then just check in with yourself. You know, if you're waking up, feeling off scale back, also the mindset of that you have to, you know, if everybody else around you is pressuring you, it's okay to say no. it's okay to scale back as much as you want. So if food is different, just a reminder like. Journal about it. Keep your nervous system grounded. know that like this is, this feeling is not forever. You have a toolkit that can get you back on track, and that you can feel good. So. Just to wrap it up, you don't have to choose between enjoying your trip and feeling comfortable in your body. You can support hydration with minerals. You can keep your bowel movements regular with fiber and magnesium. You can anchor your, your routine where you can. You can bring your digestive toolkit, you can let your mindset lead, not your fear, and then if something does pop up, you're not starting over. You're just supporting your body through it. Okay. I'm feeling really gassy. I'm feeling really bloated. What can I do? Okay. I know Digestive Bitters can help with that. I'm gonna take some digestive bitters. I'm starting to feel a little constipated. Okay, maybe I need to increase my magnesium a little bit, or I'm going to the bathroom, but it doesn't quite feel complete. Maybe I need to take some ginger to help move things along, or, huh. Maybe the last couple meals I've had have not had very much fiber. I'm gonna take a fiber stick or two to help add some fiber to keep things moving. So, there's lots of ways to support your body through it. Panicking about it is gonna make it worse. Reach out for support, to a friend or provider to kind of chat through stuff. So, if you've ever said, I will wait until after summer to get support, I want to gently just. Challenge that. What if now is actually the perfect time to learn how to navigate vacation and travel with expert support? I am heading to California soon. Like I mentioned, I do all the discovery calls for our program, and so as a result, discovery calls are gonna be limited, so lab testing costs have gone up recently. Our program cost is going to be increasing on August 1st. So if you apply to got together and you book your call before August 1st, you'll lock in the current pricing even if you start after. so book your call now. I'll put the link in the show notes. I'll also put a couple other links in the show notes. Just a full script travel cart of different enzymes and products. The clearly filtered water bottle I talked about, and the oatmeal link, et cetera. So. If you're looking to get support, just keep in mind, because lab testing costs have increased significantly, our program costs will be going up. so definitely make sure that you apply so you can get support before the fall. we're only a couple months away from holidays, which sounds kind of crazy. So let's get your body feeling great before the end of the year. but let's make your next trip an amazing one. Thank you for listening, and I'll catch you on the next episode.

27:22

As a reminder, this show is for educational purposes only. I am a registered dietician, but I am not your registered dietician. So although I may provide health related advice on this show, please consult your practitioner before trying anything new.