By: Henk-Jan Dolsma from Boemerang.
The average chat between two runners is often about training, events, equipment or injuries. It is rarely about intestinal complaints, everyone sees a running buddy dive into the bushes every now and then, but I have not yet come across extensive conversations about this. That is actually strange because figures also show that it occurs a lot. Approximately 15% of the Dutch population suffers from complaints that are described as IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. This is a collective term for various long-term intestinal complaints in which the stool is disturbed and in which other abdominal complaints can also occur.
Running with 'hard running intestines' can be very annoying and limiting. In many cases, however, something can be done about it. Not by tackling the symptoms, but by tackling the causes. For this, it is useful to know what is possibly going on and what are some concrete starting points that you can do something with. You can read this in the article below.
Barrier function vs. absorption function
Your gut actually has two important functions. First, it must absorb nutrients and fluids from food into the blood, and second, it must also ensure that no harmful substances or bacteria enter the bloodstream along with this absorption. Strictly speaking, the barrier and absorption functions are actually opposite to each other.
When the recording function becomes more important
When the body needs more energy, this is expressed in activation of certain parts of the stress axis. This is a combination of parts of the nervous system and hormonal systems that can strongly influence the energy distribution in the body in the short and long term. This has an effect on many organs and tissues, including the intestines. Here, the absorption function temporarily gets a higher priority than the barrier function so that with more absorption of water, salt and glucose, the blood pressure can increase. If the intestines are now a bit more 'open', the barrier function is less.
A temporary 'leaky gut'
In this situation, there is a greater chance that things from the inside of the intestine will go into the blood that do not belong there, for example poorly digested proteins or certain bacteria or other substances that can trigger the immune system. This temporary situation does not have to be a problem in itself, unless the amount of 'irritating substances' is on the high side. In that case, complaints can arise such as sudden urge, pain, a bloated feeling or diarrhea.
The role of the intestinal microbiota
In recent years, it has become clear that the bacteria in our gut play an important role in intestinal complaints. For example, there may well be just too many bacteria that carry substances on the outside of their cells that trigger the innate immune system (LPS: lipopolysaccharides). On the other hand, there are also bacteria that actually support the barrier function of the gut and make the immune system less reactive. Disruptions in the composition and diversity of gut bacteria are called dysbiosis. This can often be determined through stool analysis, for example via Mymicrozoo .
The composition of your intestinal bacteria depends on many different factors. A very important one, which is also easy to influence, is your eating habits. If you eat differently for one day, you can already see shifts in the composition. Imagine what happens if you introduce changes to your eating habits step by step. You can have a considerable influence, especially in the area of a number of specific types of bacteria.
Checklist of points for improvement
- Eating moments too close to running can cause complaints faster. See if you have at least two to three hours between them. If you feel like this is science fiction and that you need to eat more regularly, then it can work on your metabolic flexibility yield a lot.
- More diversity and more good bacteria in your intestines can prevent many complaints. For this you can go intestinal gardening, more specific plant fibers, herbs and fermented products in your diet and perhaps not eating for a while every now and then (intermittent fasting).
- By reducing alcohol consumption, initially avoiding products that cause intestinal complaints and optimising your protein intake, you can ensure that the barrier function of the intestines improves.
- Ultimately, the intestinal function can be made more robust. This is often custom work in which you yourself have to take a number of different steps, for example in your daily diet. Additional research can sometimes help with this, but is not always necessary. If I can help you with this, you can here make an appointment.
Lecture on “Running intestines”
Would you like to know more about running and bowel issues? On Friday evening, November 18 at 19:30, Henk-Jan Dolsma from Boemerang will give a lecture on this topic at RunX Groningen. You can sign up here ; there is room for 25 people.
