Most of us cannot afford a nutrition expert and typically healthy insurance doesn’t cover it unless it’s deemed medically necessary by your primary care physician. Thankfully, Tamara Duker Freuman provides us with valuable answers to questions involving bloating in her book “The Bloated Belly Whisperer.”
Tamara Freuman did not begin her career thinking she would become the “bloat whisperer,” but over her many years of working with patients she began to notice commonly-reported complaints and symptoms that went beyond usual mild reflux or gas. In her book she lists the 8 most common disorders that cause bloat, along with guidelines for how to treat them.
The book starts off with a short quiz aimed at narrowing down the possibilities of a personal diagnosis. Once you take the quiz it’s recommended you read the book straight through or just read the chapter or chapters that apply to you. Each chapter gives a summary of causes, what each disorder feels like, as well as what you can do to correct the issue.
Unlike some doctors who are eager to prescribe medication, supplements or surgery Tamara prefers to take a more natural approach first. As explained, there are a number of reasons for digestive problems such as bloating. “Bloating is a symptom of something else, not a medical condition unto itself,” says Freuman. Therefore, you can’t treat bloating without first discovering the problem. According to Tamara “In some cases, dietary change alone can completely control bloating. In other cases, medical therapy may be called for in addition to diet.”
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when a doctor suggests a diet change. To help you along your journal Tamara includes healthy recipes. There is also an entire chapter devoted to low-FODMAP diet choices that can help decrease discomfort overall. (FODMAP is an acronym for four hard-to-pronounce molecules found in food that many people have trouble digesting: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. These are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly.)
If you suffer from severe or mild bloating this book is worth the read.As Tamara says, “Every unhappy belly is unhappy in its own way” and this book is amazing at helping diagnose and treat bloating problems.In addition to using clear, simple language Tamara makes it easy and motivating to follow with humor. A surprisingly fascinating read!
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