Irritable bowel and weight training or bodybuilding – what can and should I eat?

As an ambitious strength athlete (formerly powerlifting, today cross-training), sports therapist and “irritable bowel adviser” I get this one question very often:

How can I consume enough calories and protein to build more muscle, have strength for a strenuous squat exercise, lose more fat, etc., when my gut whines for mercy after every meal or when nausea and bloating prevent me from eating?

 Since I had to answer this question (s) for myself a few years ago, I would like to offer my sport-loving readers a small guide today, which is particularly characterized by personal experiences in my everyday training and my consulting practice.

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Bodybuilding, power lifting, bowel disease

Disclaimer: First of all, I would like to emphasize that these are fairly general recommendations. If you move at a very high athletic level and take part in figure competitions, for example, you should consult an experienced trainer anyway. However, the following points can also be interesting for these advanced athletes, hopefully they will provide information on which foods should be exchanged in the case of an irritated bowel in order to deliver a performance that is as energetic and painless as possible. (Semi-) professional athletes should of course then adjust their macronutrient distribution etc. accordingly in order to be even more appropriate to their physical conditions!

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Bodybuilding is 85% nutrition.

Vince “the Iron Guru” Gironda

I would still immediately sign this sentence of the “trainer of the stars”. Unfortunately, many beginners believe that regular intensive training can make up for terrible nutrition. That’s not the case. It is almost impossible for figure athletes, but even the more performance-oriented disciplines reach their limits if, for example, the calorie requirement falls short in the long term, or if the food quality and selection are cut back too far.

However, those affected by chronic intestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or celiac disease repeatedly encounter serious difficulties (at least this seems to be the case, but more on that later). In almost every book, blog or video on the subject, we are preached that we need to eat more and of high quality if we want to build muscle and strength. This has worked for generations in the strength and fitness world, but how should you, for example, consume 15% more calories if you already have difficulties maintaining your current lean body weight? What can you eat when the intestines tweak and the classic bodybuilder recommendations lead to diarrhea and abdominal pain?

With the last question we are already at the next problem. Typical foods for strength athletes and bodybuilders such as oatmeal, protein powder, linseed, lettuce or whole grain bread are absolute poison for an already stressed intestine!Many young readers (fortunately also women) write to me that they had tried the recommendations of youtube fitness model xy for a week, but that their bowels would have “run amok” within a very short time. This is not surprising: If we combine problematic products for the intestinal patient with an increased calorie intake (more fermentable substrate), we are facing a catastrophe of enormous proportions. Unfortunately, many of these “burnt children” then discard their figure or competition goals and justify this with their illness. Intensive training with an intestinal disease is very possible. To achieve your dream shape or the new deadlift record you have to adapt the diet to your training AND your intestine!

Forget about oatmeal, milk and whole grain bread – an alternative way to strength and muscles

If we believe Vince Gironda (and you really should, the man was generations ahead of his time), we need a sports-specific diet to get the most out of our bodies. How can you ensure this with chronic bowel disease without further ruining your well-being?

This is not so hard! Basically, you follow our general nutritional rules for irritable bowel syndrome and other intestinal diseases. First and foremost, this means that you should reduce foods with high fermentation potential. So cut out foods that contain many FODMAPs  (lactose, fructose, fructans, oligosaccharides, polyols), fiberand contain resistant starch from your eating plan. As there is no space in this article to go into more detail about the individual concepts, I would like to encourage you to read further on our website (see links – including a free brochure with a FODMAP list). If you want to deal more deeply with the respective topics, you can get a comprehensive picture with the books and tools recommended by us.  

This is already the most important and largest step that you have to take into account when creating a nutrition plan for your athletic goal. But why is that?

A very small digression on the topic of fermentation: In the past few months we have tried to show that irritable bowel syndrome is particularly characterized by fermentation processes . Hard-to-digest carbohydrates (FODMAPs) and non-digestible fibers (fiber) are not sufficiently absorbed by the small intestine (this is also not intended for the latter) and thus get into the large intestine. There they are available to our bacterial inhabitants (the microbiome or the intestinal flora) as a source of food. Both probiotic (good) and potentially pathogenic (rather unfavorable) bacterial strains release gases and toxins in this fermentation process. This leads to bloating and flatulence, The resulting gases continue to provoke osmotic effects, which can ultimately lead to diarrhea . The increased pain sensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome allows us to perceive these processes particularly intensely and unpleasantly.

What can I eat with irritable bowel syndrome to build muscle?

There are nutritional recommendations regarding the macronutrient distribution in weight training like sand at the sea. I would also be reluctant to discuss their meaning and nonsense here. It is fundamentally important that you as an athlete can benefit from an increased protein intake. In my opinion, 600 kcal of protein should not be exceeded, since there are indications that protein can be toxic from this threshold. Furthermore, sufferers of intestinal diseases often have a reduced absorption rate (see below). By the way, 600kcal corresponds to 150g protein, For a 90kg athlete, this would be almost 1.7g per kilogram of body weight. To my knowledge, there is no scientific study that would have shown any benefit in higher values ​​for natural athletes (see, among others, Lemon and colleagues, 1992 ).

Cheap protein sources for intestinal diseases:  The good news is that most classic protein sources are not fermentable and can therefore mostly be used without any problems!

• Meat (chicken, beef etc.)
  
• fish
• seafood
• eggs
  
• lactose-free milk products
  

Eggs and even lactose-free milk products can lead to intolerance reactions. If there is a suspected or proven presence of increased mucosal permeability, both food groups should be reduced or avoided until the intestine has recovered. In general, meat and fish are the most unproblematic food sources.

Vegetable proteins such as soy products, legumes, quinoa, gluten products and nuts should be avoided.

Where does the energy for heavy training come from?

There are basically two sources of energy available to our body – carbohydrates and fat. Contrary to popular belief, it is even advisable to consume more fat in irritable bowel syndrome. Because like most protein sources, pure fat has hardly any fermentation potential. It also supports the regeneration of the intestinal mucosa and improves the carbohydrate absorption rate .

For the reasons mentioned, I would recommend that you cover most of your personal calorie needs with healthy (not too high omega6) fats. This includes:

• olive oil
  
• coconut oil
• Palm kernel oil
• butter
• cream
• Fats from permitted protein sources (fatty sea fish, beef, lactose-free curd cheese, etc.)

The amount of fat to be consumed depends on the amount of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the most problematic macronutrient for intestinal sufferers, since most carbohydrate sources contain FODMAPs, resistant starch or a lot of fiber. Depending on the goal, I would pull the upper carbohydrate limit at about 30% of the total calories. In a definition phase you can reduce accordingly.

Suitable carbohydrate sources for intestinal patients (low fermentation potential):

• white jasmine or short grain rice
  
• floury-boiling potatoes
• Low-FODMAP fruits (orange, kiwi, etc.)

How does my body get necessary vitamins and minerals?

It is important to mention that not only fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain these important micronutrients, as we often believe. Most animal products even have a significantly higher nutrient density. You can boost your micronutrients by including the following foods:

• liver
  
• fat cold water fish
• egg yolk
• seafood
• FODMAP-poor “colorful” vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, etc.)

The amount of calories is also crucial

Of course, a protein-rich and symptom-relieving diet alone is not enough. Your daily amount of energy is crucial. If this exceeds your individual calorie consumption (you want a slight excess when building muscle), it falls below the calorie consumption (definition, “make weight” for athletes in disciplines with weight classes).

To determine your personal needs, write down over a week what foods and drinks you consume every day. Estimate the calories using a conventional calorie chart or an online tool. During this time, your diet should be designed so that you neither gain nor lose weight. With this method you raise your daily calorie (maintenance) needs. Depending on the goal, you deduct or add 10% from the latter. In the course of the past weeks and months, further adjustments will result.

Problems despite a low fermentation diet?

Many athletes get along much better with this diet than with the many oatmeal, salads and whole-grain peanut butter breads. But a few still complain about problems after changing their diet. Pancreatic and biliary problems can be the cause here.

To rule this out, I always recommend appropriate functional diagnostics, which every intestinal patient should have completed anyway:

For example, if you have a bile acid loss syndrome, you can counteract this with the addition of colestyramine and significantly improve fat tolerance.

Another trick that Vince Gironda already recommended is to take high-dose digestive enzymes. These ensure a better breakdown and thus absorption of proteins, fats and starch. Many irritable bowel patients benefit greatly from this.

Supplements often suboptimal …

I have to admit that I am more than critical of the many supplements available today (weight gainers, boosters, etc.). In my opinion, a lot of money is earned here and the often inferior and sometimes even health-threatening ingredients do not even justify the price. I take a very classic approach, live and propagate what has worked for generations: good nutrition and hard training. Some of the supplements available may still be justified (even if, in my opinion, you should have the rest under control – training, nutrition, relaxation, mindset). Unfortunately, it is often very modest about their tolerability. So I experience again and again (otherwise very healthy athletes) who report stomach or intestinal problems after consuming protein shakes or creatine. In my opinion, here you should play scientists and experiment a little. If digestive complaints persist despite a low fermentation diet, digestive enzymes and trouble-free functional analysis, then I would gradually remove all supplements from the menu for a while!

If you absolutely want to use a protein powder, please choose a hydrolyzed form, ideally low-allergen from beef or similar. Please do not use soy proteins.

How could a day in the life of a bodybuilder with irritable bowel look like?

Let’s take our example athlete who consumes 2500 kcal daily and wants to get fit for the beach. He reduces his daily calorie intake by 10%, i.e. 250kcal. That shouldn’t trigger major hunger attacks and still create a deficit.

If we estimate the values ​​suggested above, our bodybuilder comes up with 150g protein (600kcal) and 170g carbohydrates (680kcal; approximately 30% of 2250kcal). This leaves 970 kcal for fat, which would mean a daily intake of 108 g of dietary fat . On the latter point, one could notice that Vince Gironda already prioritized a high-fat diet for figure athletes. His steak and egg diet is still well known today. In the next few months I will write another article about why such a high fat intake has advantages in building muscle.

Now we distribute the calories and macronutrients over four meals. Smaller meals are often better tolerated by intestinal patients because they do not provoke a gastrocolic reflex .

breakfast

1. 3 eggs
   
2. 1 slice of lactose-free cheese (e.g. Emmental cheese)
3. 1-2 tomatoes
4. 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Having lunch

1. 200g beef
2. 100g jasmine rice
3. 1 tbsp coconut oil
4. Zucchini noodles, 1 carrot

After training

1. 30g hydrolyzed protein powder
2. 1 banana

dinner

1. 1 can of tuna in water (no sunflower oil!)
2. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
3. 300g mealy potatoes
4. Low-FODMAP vegetables

A diet plan for irritable bowel syndrome could look something like this. To keep the immune system and the intestinal flora healthy and productive despite the low fermentation diet, I recommend these special prebiotics:

Follow these steps in order, you can achieve your sporting goals and quasi “alongside” pacify and regenerate your gut! Keep in mind that not every athlete has to take every stage. Do you feel wonderful with the low-fermentation diet? Save yourself the digestive enzymes or the expensive function test! After all, I don’t want to sell you anything here. Try the individual steps carefully one after the other until you have found the best way for yourself!

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