Hey y'all and welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast . I am so excited that you are here . Today we're talking about gut health , but this time gut health specifically for athletes during exercise . So if you don't do endurance sports , that's okay too . You might get a couple of pearls out of this . Or certainly , if you've heard some of your friends discussing this , this might be an episode that you might want to pass along to them . So if you know someone , or if you've ever had to sprint to the port-a-john mid-race or felt so nauseous that you couldn't take another gel or another sports drink , you're not alone .
Speaker 1Gi distress is one of the most frustrating and complex issues in endurance sports , and today we're diving into what causes it , how your gut health plays a role and what you can do about it . Don't forget that all of this is included in our Fueling and Hydration Bootcamp , which you can find in the show notes . So , first of all , what is GI distress , or gastrointestinal distress ? Some of the most common symptoms you may experience , or know someone telling you about nausea , bloating , cramping and I don't mean cramping like my calves are on fire or my quads are cramping . This is cramping like in your belly area , in your abdominal region Diarrhea certainly is a common one reflux or urgency to make your way to the port-a-john . Or , as my kids' favorite word , you gotta poop . You know what I'm saying , so check this out .
Speaker 1Some studies have indicated that as many as 93% of long-distance triathletes have experienced at least one GI symptom . That's pretty much everybody . That's pretty much all of you guys out there . That's insane to me and this is also why I have a job . So , more specifically , serious GI problems were reported by 43% of those athletes , with 7% of people having to abandon or basically DNF . So another study found that 31% of Ironman triathletes and 14% of half Ironman or Ironman 70.3 racers experience severe GI symptoms . Y'all . I feel so terrible for you and don't want you to have game-changing GI symptoms . This is something that , yes , it's complex and yes , it's frustrating , but some of these things are fixable , all right .
Speaker 1So let's get into what could potentially be some of the causes of distress . So number one overeating or chugging fluids or just consuming too much all at once while you are exercising . So let me remind you , during exercise , especially high intensity , or if you're really pushing your body a long way like an Ironman , especially if you've only trained , say , up to five or six hours and then you're going for 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 plus hours . That is a long time
for blood to be shunted away from your gut , which means that basically , your gut is kind of like one big tube from tip to tail . That the amount of blood that your body because your body needs energy to digest , the amount of blood that your body because your body needs energy to digest , the amount of blood that is being sent to working muscles , is reducing your ability to digest as effectively as you can .
Speaker 1Thereby you're probably going to have some intestinal issues , especially lower GI , and I sort of separate them into upper and lower GI regions . So lower GI might be the more sort of bloating sensation or needing to run to the port-a-john . Upper symptoms upper GI symptoms are more like the nausea , feeling overly full or maybe even vomiting . So your gut gets overwhelmed when you consume too much all at once . It's kind of like I like to use the analogy of sitting down on your bike or during your run and having like Thanksgiving dinner . What are you going to want to do ? Like stop and take a nap because your body's like okay , I need some extra time and energy literally energy to digest all of this , so your gut basically gets overwhelmed and then you might experience nausea , you might experience some level of sloshing , you may even have to vomit or just generally slow down . So pro tip there make sure that you are consuming your fluids and foods and when I say food , that could be anything from fig , newtons to gels to anything that is going to provide an excess amount of calories . So take your time . Sip slowly in order to avoid overloading your system . Sip slowly in order to avoid overloading your system . That helps by allowing gastric emptying , so the ability of your stomach to empty into your small intestines , which is where the real magic happens , and all of that energy is able to be absorbed and sent to working muscles . All of that happens more consistently if you sip and consume steadily , rather than in these large gaps , so like if you're taking 90 minutes before you have anything and then you have too much . It's just going to overload the system , all right .
Speaker 1Another one is race day anxiety . Poor Carly , who is our sports psychologist I love to send her all my folks who are pooping excessively on race day and she's like rolling her eyes at me . But honestly , the gut is so deeply tied to your brain and your body's fight or flight response and your body's fight or flight response . So when you get really nervous so that those race day jitters or there's that race day anxiety kicks in , your body is like , okay , cool , we're running from the tiger . Now that's great . I need to empty myself out , like right now . So then you're taking several trips to the Port-A-ohn , probably having some level of diarrhea . That is a normal response . Another response is sometimes people will get constipated . It's almost like nope , I'm holding on to it , let's go , let's roll out . So it's so interesting to me the difference in our specific responses to stress .
Speaker 1So one of the things that you can help is using things like breathwork ,
like visualization . This is literally what Carly does on a day in and day out basis of helping people with sports psychology so that they can be more grounded , more centered and check it out . Then you also digest better . What so ? Amazing how those tools can really help with race day anxiety . All right , another thing , and you've probably heard this before unfamiliar foods or new products . On race day You're like , hey , check it out . There's this brand new gel that the race has that I've never tried before , or it just happened to be there or my training buddy gave me this thing . It's always best to test any of your products or any of the foods that you're going to be doing prior to race day . So , in other words , train your gut just like you train your body . So consistency is key , getting used to all of the different textures , all of the different flavors , and whether your body is actually going to accept whatever it is that you're putting in your body .
Speaker 1All right , next up , sugar overload or sugar alcohol overload this is a more interesting one that I will see more commonly in athletes rather than just the general population is too much fructose . There is something called fructose intolerance , and oftentimes you're going to have symptoms outside of exercise , but sometimes you may not until you get to be exercising . And now you're consuming all of these foods and gels and products with excess free fructose , and what I mean by free fructose is that it's literally stated on the product as fructose .
Now , fructose is a magical thing from an exercise perspective , because once those glucose transporters in your body get saturated , we need another avenue to get calories to your muscles , and one of those ways is via fructose . So finding that right balance that is not going to throw your body overboard with too much fructose , which oftentimes will create this bloating sensation . You may have some diarrhea and it can be not great , or just GI chaos is what I like to call it . It can be crazy . So , yes , it's helpful to use multiple carb sources , so like glucose and fructose and maltodextrin , or dextrose and fructose , that kind of thing , so that you can saturate different transporters in your body . But consider options that might be a little bit more whole foods based or adjusting the ratios of that glucose to fructose option . So play around with different things and we help you in that process in our fueling and hydration bootcamp . So there's other things that , like I just mentioned , that we discuss in the fueling and hydration boot camp and even digging deeper on our live calls . We talk about everything from caffeine including the genetics of caffeine , nsaids , infections , toxins and even menstruation . So those are all the things that you can learn more about and see if that's more specific to you in our Fueling Hydration Bootcamp .
Speaker 1All right , the one that probably most people don't like to talk about , but GI distress isn't just about race day . It's about gut health . So you may have heard some of the terms like leaky gut , dysbiosis , inflammation . All of those things impact how you feel and perform . So if you are not taking care of yourself outside of exercise , that you're not getting your
recovery nutrition , that you're not getting your fruits and vegetables , that you're not getting your good quality protein and all of those things that are making us be an amazing human and an athlete , then you know that you are not going to perform your best .
Speaker 1So stress is another massive one . I know I talked a lot about that in our gut health podcast , so I'll link back to that one so that you guys can dig deeper into that with our STAIN acronym that we like to talk about , which is stress and toxins , adverse food reactions , infections and nutritional imbalances . Those are all the things that we like to look at from a functional health perspective , tying that into functional nutrition for athletes . So stress and poor food choices and lack of diversity in your diet is going to equal an unhappy gut , and that can be easier said than done . Right , the concept of , oh , I need to eat so many different types of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis can be hard when you're making so many other decisions . So the gut-brain connection can also affect your mood and your motivation . I mean , have you ever felt like , oh gosh , I just don't want to train today , or I don't really want to do anything today ? So that may be related to the quality of food that you're putting in your body and also giving you quality sleep .
Speaker 1Timing of your food is a really big one . That relates to GI distress as well . During exercise , if you're not allowing your body to absorb appropriately through the night , that could even be an issue . So your refueling plan isn't just about calories or isn't just about carbohydrates . It's about digestion , it's about absorption and and it's also about long-term health , which is why we created our Longevity Nutrition Coaching Program for athletes just like you who want to dig a little bit deeper into what is my blueprint , not only for exercise , but also for health and performance , and what are some of the things that you can do more specifically to benefit you . So I will link to that below in the show notes . Our longevity nutrition coaching program is so amazing and can really transform not only your performance but certainly your long-term health . So here's some strategies that may help you .
Speaker 1If you are somebody who's experienced GI distress , so before training . You are somebody who's experienced GI distress , so before training , so prior to training . Make sure that you keep meals somewhat simple and predictable , which I think is also interesting that I come off of getting some diversity in your diet . You might have to do some tweaks , because then it's a matter of if you're doing an elimination diet and then a reintroduction plan . That can be oh my gosh , can be such a hot mess . So if there are so many different things that you're like I don't know what's causing it , keep a log I cannot emphasize this enough the more symptoms that you can track on a regular basis , then we can start to look back and say , ah , this may be a culprit , let's take an action here . So simplify the meals in the meantime to at least adjust and log those symptoms and then you can start reintroducing more complex meals and I know this is a big one . But definitely manage your stress . I cannot emphasize enough how much stress plays into your gut . I mean , it's so massive .
Speaker 1So if you are not working on your breath , work . If you're not working on meditation , I highly recommend you start . And you don't have to start with oh my gosh , I'm going to have to be sitting on this yoga mat for an hour with oh my gosh , I'm going to have to be sitting on this yoga mat for an hour . No start with even just one minute of deep breath work , which is really we'll call it five breaths , five deep slow inhalations and deep slow exhalations . That's one minute . That is one place that you can start , certainly prior to race day , prior to training or long distance events that
maybe you've not done before . Or training , because that's the whole point of training right is building your body physically and mentally to be able to go further or go harder . Right During training , make sure you use a tested fueling strategy .
Speaker 1Again , this goes back into logging your symptoms . So this is a something that we provide in the fueling and hydration bootcamp is giving you a sweat log . This is not just to manage your pre and post weigh-ins so that you know how much fluid that you need to be taking , but it's also an opportunity to manage your different fueling options that you have tried , that you want to try , and then an entire rating system so that if you go back to something , you can look in your notes and say , oh yeah , I tried those Fig Newtons on that one run and I felt really good , or Rice Krispies just didn't work really well for me , or that gel was too chunky or whatever the case may be . We've got an entire tool to use so that you can manage what your fueling options have been , so that you can write out that strategy . Also , don't forget to space out your intake so that you can have that consistent gastric emptying and then , on a daily basis , make sure that you're supporting your gut health with consistent hydration , and when I say hydration , I mean good , old-fashioned water , not necessarily with anything else fancy in it , but good water , making sure that you're getting good quality protein , making sure that you're getting your fruits and vegetables and maybe even some fermented foods , if those are things that work best for you . So , when in doubt , test and don't guess .
Speaker 1So , if you are consistently having these GI issues , there's additional testing that you can do , whether it be from your primary health care provider , your GI doc , or even working with us to do some more specific might be swimming in some different types of waters . Sometimes we see some parasites that can be lingering and some of these things can stick around for a while After you got back from a trip to Hawaii or after you had a specific race or something that may be a clue to say , okay , this may be more specifically , what's going on to you Anyway . So a lot of pieces to go with that . So GI distress , just as a reminder , doesn't have to be part of your sport story . So with the right plan and a little gut love , you can go from porta potty panic to podium confidence .
Speaker 1So we've helped hundreds of athletes just like you , and we'd love to help you too , whether it be in our feeling and hydration bootcamp or doing some one-on-one work or joining our longevity nutrition coaching program . So if you found this helpful , I would love it if you could share this with a training buddy who
may be visiting the Port-au-Jean a little bit too much who's had some of those tummy troubles . We would love to help them as well . Thanks again for listening and we will catch you next week on the Find your Edge podcast .