In this post I’m going to answer a really popular question: Is hypnotherapy or the low FODMAP diet better for managing IBS?
As a psychotherapist, I’m going to talk you through the research study comparing these two approaches. I’ll also share first-hand experiences from my clients who have tried both.
By the end, I hope you understand the pros and cons of each approach to find what suits you.
So let’s get started.
(To explore more videos on IBS and digestive health, head on over to The Calm and Happy Gut YouTube channel)
I’ll now introduce each approach, starting with hypnotherapy, then discuss their pros and cons in this comparison.
Using Gut Directed Hypnotherapy to Manage IBS Symptoms
I’ve been a gut-directed hypnotherapist since 2018. Over that time, I’ve helped IBS clients globally manage their symptoms without altering their diet or eating habits.
So what is gut directed hypnotherapy? It’s a specialised form of hypnosis which is designed to help manage gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS. It’s used because it has the ability to change the signals between your brain and gut. And in the case of IBS these aren’t working as they should. In fact the faulty communication between your brain and gut is what is responsible for the hypersensitivity you are experiencing and the change in bowel movements. This results in either constipation or diarrhea.
A program of gut directed hypnotherapy doesn’t just help with the physical symptoms you may be experiencing such as pain, gas, bloating and altered bowel movements. It can also help to reduce anxiety, reduce overall stress levels, and change how you feel about your IBS. This in turn lowers food anxiety and breaks the stress-symptoms cycle. It helps you take back control of anxious ‘’what if’’ thoughts which have you always expecting the worst.
Using the Low FODMAP to Manage IBS Symptoms
The low FODMAP diet is a different approach focused solely on managing IBS symptoms through food. It’s broken into a 3-step process, where the first stage is heavily restrictive. This involves cutting out many different fodmap foods for between 2-6 weeks. The second phase is the reintroduction. This is when you slowly reintroduce different foods over 6 to 8 weeks. And finally there is the personalisation phase. This is where you establish a personalised fodmap diet with the help of a dietician.
The low fodmap diet is designed to be followed temporarily. It helps reduce IBS symptoms because it eliminates or restricts a group of sugars called fodmaps. These sugars have been found to cause intestinal distress and cause the nerves in your gut to overreact. This is because when you have IBS, the nerves inside of your gut have become hypersensitive to certain stimuli. This overreaction can cause bloating, pain and altered bowel movements. So when you remove fodmaps from your diet, you’re removing the foods that can cause these nerves to overreact.
Following a low fodmap diet therefore results in removing or reducing different foods from your diet.
The low Fodmap diet can feel as though everything starts and stops on your plate
Unfortunately the low fodmap diet can feel as though everything stops and starts on your plate. It also doesn’t take into account the impact of stress or anxiety on digestion. There is so much more to digestion than the food you eating. For example, how you feel before, during and after eating can play a big role in how your body digests that food. That’s because when you feel anxious or stressed about food, it affects how your digestive system functions.
This all comes back to your gut-brain connection. And this is important. Because if you are in a state of stress, (also known as fight or flight), your body starts to divert blood away from your digestive system affecting the muscles in your bowel. This can cause urgency, spasms or shut off movement altogether. In a state of stress you can also experience increased sensitivity to pain.
This is why following a low fodmap diet can result in many inconsistencies. For example, you can eat a trigger food one day and be in pain, and then eat it 2 days later and feel ok.
What does the research say?
When looking at these two approaches, they both have the ability to reduce your IBS symptoms. And in a randomised clinical trial, gut directed hypnotherapy was found to be as effective as the low fodmap diet for treating IBS.
This study spilt participants into 3 groups – low fodmap diet, gut directed hypnotherapy and patients doing a combination of both.
In all groups, approximately 70% of patients reported improvements in overall symptoms but interestingly, but not surprisingly the patients in the gut directed hypnotherapy group also reported improvements in symptoms such as anxiety, and depression. What’s also interesting to note is that hypnotherapy outperformed a combination of both therapies together, and outperformed the low fodmap diet alone at the 6 month follow up.
What does this all mean for you? Well it means that it’s possible for you to achieve the same level of symptom reduction without having to change your diet. And in addition to reducing the physical symptoms of IBS, it can also significantly help with psychological factors such as anxiety.
The Pro’s and Con’s of Low Fodmap and Hypnotherapy for IBS
So let’s now look at the pros and cons of each approach.
Pro’s and Con’s of Gut Directed Hypnotherapy
We’ll start with hypnotherapy.
The biggest pro is being able to manage your symptoms long term without having to go through the stress, overwhelm and confusion of changing your diet. There is no complicated food shopping or hours of time preparing meals in advance. Hypnotherapy also helps to reduce or eliminate food anxiety, and rebuilds the trust and confidence in your body. This allows you to start saying yes to social events which involve food, and to stop feeling at the mercy of your bowel.
I’ve worked with many clients who have successfully gone back to booking holidays away, taking long car journeys, and eating out in restaurants again without all that old fear and anxiety. In fact the gut hypnotherapy program I take my clients through doesn’t just focus on reducing your symptoms, it also helps you to get back doing all of the things you love.
Now in terms of cons, hypnotherapy is not magic and there is a time and energy commitment needed from you. For example listening to daily self hypnosis support sessions which are around 20-25 minutes in length. I’ll also give my clients tasks to do in-between weekly sessions, which include tracking their thoughts and deep breathing exercises.
When it comes to how quickly you can expect results, some people feel significant differences in a very short space of time, whilst for others it can take a bit longer. I’ve worked with clients who after just 3 sessions went from experiencing terror at the thought of eating out to enjoying fish and chips with their friends with no reaction.
Pro’s and Con’s of Low Fodmap
Ok, so let’s talk about the pros and cons of low fodmap.
The pro is that it can reduce IBS symptoms, and there are many people who see relief and are content to limit what foods they eat.
But let’s be honest, following restrictive diets can be hard.
They can also be expensive especially if you don’t have the time or the knowledge to prepare fodmap free meals. This approach can also be the cause of disordered eating where you become more and more anxious around eating out and around meal times because you have primed yourself to be on the look out for gut symptoms. This means that you may find yourself saying no to weekends away or social events because you aren’t able to control what you can eat. And one of the biggest drawback in my mind is that you don’t deal with those oversensitive nerves and the ongoing anxiety and stress – which can actually cause your stomach to become more and more reactive – meaning overtime your list of ‘’safe’ foods becomes smaller and smaller.
What approach to managing IBS should you take?
So when it comes to you and your IBS symptoms, should you do low fodmap or gut directed hypnotherapy?
Well unfortunately I can’t tell what to do as I would really need to understand your own personal situation, but I would encourage you to consider: your tolerance for restricting foods, your stress levels, and much anxiety is playing in your IBS and in your relationship with food.
Because if you find yourself feeling anxious, or worried around meal times and as though your world is getting smaller and smaller trying to control your eating, then I would be strongly encouraging to explore a program of hypnotherapy.
Here’s how I can help you with your IBS:
1. THE CALM GUT PROGRAM
Work with me 1:1 online and finally take back control of your IBS using gut directed hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Working together over 6 sessions I’ll help you restore regular gut function, relieve pain and discomfort, and you enjoy life again. With a personalised, supportive and caring approach, The Calm Gut Program is evidence based and backed by science. Learn more here.
2. THE CALM GUT APP
Get instant access to an evidence-based audio ‘toolkit’ to help reduce the symptoms of IBS. Fix the miscommunication between your brain and your gut. Access gut directed hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness techniques & breathing exercises at your fingertips. Try 7 days for FREE here.
3. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO IBS GUIDE
Discover what’s really causing your IBS flare ups, and how to calm your gut naturally. (Chances are that not even your doctor has told you about these). Get your FREE copy here.
