How to Calm a Gut Flare Up (Gut Healing Soup Recipe Included) - Mary Vance, NC (2024)

Healing isn’t linear. If you have IBS or IBD, and you are working to restore and heal your gut, setbacks are part of the process. Just when you thought everything was going swimmingly, bam! You get hit with a flareup of diarrhea, bloating, gut pain, bleeding, cramping, fatigue, change in stool, and/or frequent bathroom visits.

If you’re experiencing a gut flare, this post is for you. I created this little reset for my clients to calm inflammation and pain and regulate stools and digestion if you’re in a flare. If you have Crohn’s, colitis, diverticulitis, or any inflammatory gut-related issue that causes flares, you can use this reset.

This 3-5 day plan incorporates limited and easy-to-digest fruits, protein, and vegetables. You can do this plan anytime you experience gut pain or a flareup of symptoms. Get creative as to how you want to prepare the foods, but I’ve given you suggestions and two recipes below.

Before we get going, you might be wondering what causes a gut flare?Unfortunately there isn’t a black and white answer (that’s code for we don’t really know), but here are a few main causes:

• stress, which raises cortisol levels and can affect the terrain of the gut or trigger diarrhea
• food sensitivities or a change in diet
• trigger foods (common with GERD or gastritis)
• certain strains of gut bacteria growing out of balance
• NSAID drugs: Aleve, Advil, aspirin
• smoking
• antibiotics

How to Calm a Gut Flare Up: Foods to Eat

The goal is to eliminate foods that can trigger flares, are inflammatory, or are harder to digest. You’ll be focusing on a very limited number of easy-to-digest and lower FODMAP foods. The FODMAP foods contain starches that can irritate the small and large intestines. (read more here)

• Bone broth (if you don’t want to make your own, buy this brand. Fast shipping!)
• Shredded chicken, ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef, bison) or wild salmon
• Eggs (provided you do not have an egg sensitivity)
• Smoothies made with limited ingredients like bone broth protein (this one is dairy free) and banana. (note that cold smoothies may worsen diarrhea in some people)
• Banana, blueberries
• Spinach or Swiss chard (lower FODMAP option), potato or sweet potato*, cooked carrot, zucchini
• Grated fresh ginger (add to smoothies or make a tea)
• Peppermint tea (anti-spasmodic), slippery elm
• White rice
• Canned pumpkin, which soothes diarrhea

*potatoes will not work for everyone and may worsen IBS if you have SIBO.

Foods to Avoid

• Anything not mentioned above
• Grains, dairy, soy, sugar, processed food
• Coffee, alcohol, any caffeinated tea
• Raw foods
• High FODMAP foods, especially onion, garlic
• Cruciferous: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts. Kale may be ok if well cooked, as it is low FODMAP.
• Starchy foods (sweet potato may be an exception)
• Nuts & seeds
• Thickeners, additives, guar gum, carrageenan (major gut irritants, found in canned coconut milks & almond milk)

How to Calm a Gut Flare Up: Good Habits

• Drink lots of water and herbal teas that work for you
• Use glutamine powder: Try this one, 2 scoops per day
• Take a probiotic if appropriate for you (avoid if you have SIBO) several times daily + saccharomyces boulardii if diarrhea
• Consider a digestive enzyme
• Practice stress relief and sleep hygiene (many flares are causes by a surge in stress hormones)
• Try water kefir or gut shots (the probiotic liquid in krauts and ferments)
• At the end of your reset, reintroduce foods slowly
• For watery diarrhea you can take 2 activated charcoal caps daily with 8oz water. Make sure to take these away from food and other supplements or meds.

How to Calm a Gut Flare Up: Example Menu

Use limited spices: sea salt and black pepper only. Oregano and thyme may be OK. NO garlic or onion powder, spice blends, or any spices with heat.

Note that you can adjust this however you like. Some people do meat patties with hard boiled eggs for breakfast and gut healing soup for lunch and dinner. The worse your flare, the more limited ingredients you want. Decreasing vegetables and focusing on meat and broth only may be the best option for some.

DAY 1

Breakfast: Smoothie with bone broth protein and/or collagen protein, banana (use green tipped which is a lower FODMAP option and great for diarrhea), additive-free coconut or almond milk, frozen blueberries. 2 hard boiled eggs with sea salt if you need additional protein.

Lunch: Turkey burgers with roasted carrot (drizzle chopped carrots with olive oil; sprinkle with sea salt; roast about 30-45 minute in a 425F degree oven).

Snack: mug of bone broth with sea salt

Dinner: gut healing soup (see below for recipe) with shredded chicken, zucchini, spinach, carrot. Add sweet potato if you can have potatoes, or use white rice, which is easy to digest. ➡️Jump to Recipe⬅️

DAY 2

Breakfast: 2-4 scrambled eggs with sea salt and spinach or chard. Smoothie if needed.

Lunch: leftover gut healing soup

Snack: smoothie or mug of bone broth

Dinner: leftover turkey burgers with roasted carrot and white rice

DAY 3

Breakfast: smoothie with 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch: gut healing soup

Snack: leftover turkey patty

Dinner: bunless beef burger with roasted carrot or carrot puree + sauteed chard and/or white rice

Supplements

• GI Revive or glutamine
• Herbal teas: especially ginger, peppermint, slippery elm
• Probiotic and saccharomyces boulardii
• Digestive enzyme

Recipes

Note that sweet potato or potato may worsen symptoms in some people.

Conclusion

If you’re experiencing a gut flare, a 3-5 day reset is exactly what you need to calm your system. There are many ways to customize your reset, but be sure to include gut soothing foods and eliminate the harder-to-digest and inflammatory foods. Supplements help also. You could also consider a 3 day bone broth fast, especially if your symptoms are severe, but consult your doctor or get support if you are underweight.

Let me know how your reset goes!