FLAT Gut Diet

We eat to fuel our bodies, to give us nutrients we need to function, to grow and repair, to prevent disease, and of course for pleasure. But what we eat each day and the enjoyment of food can be more difficult for those who suffer with digestive conditions. This is why we developed The FLAT Gut Diet Plan, a clinically designed holistic, diet and lifestyle plan for managing IBS, bloating and uncomfortable gut symptoms. 

With The FLAT Gut Diet Plan you can gain control of your troublesome gut symptoms whilst rediscovering pleasure in food and feeding your body the goodness that it needs.

What is the FLAT Gut Diet Plan?

It is a three step, clinically designed, holistic, diet and lifestyle plan for managing IBS, bloating and uncomfortable gut symptoms.

The FLAT Gut Diet Plan is based on a healthy Mediterranean-style diet, which has been scientifically shown to be highly beneficial for gut and overall health. We have modified a Mediterranean-style diet to ensure that the foods chosen minimize gut symptoms in people who have IBS. 

The Plan focuses on key food components and lifestyle factors that are common triggers for IBS and other gut symptoms, we call these The FLAT Gut Factors.

The FLAT Gut Factors

  • The 3 Fs, fibre, fructans (wheat), fructose (the fruit sugar)
  • Lactose (sugar found in dairy foods)
  • Alliums (the onion and garlic family) and 
  • T for the important total-body approach

The Plan has a unique, easy to follow points-based system which enables you to discover your tolerance level for specific foods and food components. 

Inclusive Diet

The FLAT Gut Diet Plan is an inclusive, diverse diet and lifestyle plan. It allows you to get your essential amino acids from animal- and fish-based sources and yet is high in good fats from fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds and generally low in animal fat. It is packed with all the essential vitamins and minerals and includes a wide range of plant-based foods from fresh fruits, grains and vegetables, all of which promote diversity of our GM and optimize total body health. More importantly for the patients we see and for people with digestive problems, our Mediterranean-style diet is easier to tolerate and causes less bloating than an exclusively plant-based diet.

It also specifically includes a base level of wheat and dairy foods for everyone, unless you are diagnosed coeliac or as having a cow’s milk allergy. These foods have essential health benefits such as feeding our good gut bacteria and maintaining bone health. Maintaining good bone health is particularly important for women.

Food pyramid: Top view of various kinds of multicolored food types like meat, seafood, honey, eggs, fish, cocoa beans, olive oil, legumes like soy beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, and mung beans, cereals like rice, oat and wheat, fruits like tomatoes, avocado, apples, and kiwi, vegetables like broccoli, lettuce radish and asparagus, nuts and peanuts, and spices like cinnamon, and star anise. All the objects are on white background. Studio shot taken with Canon EOS 6D Mark II and Canon EF 24-105 mm f/4L

How does it Work? The Three Steps

In Step 1, the ‘Simplify’, Step which lasts four weeks you learn how to control the portions that you eat of The FLAT Gut food factors, the food components that are common triggers of IBS symptoms. Many women notice a significant improvement in symptoms after just two – three weeks on the plan. 

Building on what you achieve in Step 1, during Step 2, ‘Tolerance’, you gradually increase your daily intake of the FLAT Gut foods over 8-10 weeks. This is where and how you identify the food groups that you are most sensitive to.  

Finally, Step 3 ‘Sustain’ is the maintenance phase, where you learn to sustain a nutritionally balanced, diverse diet while limiting your trigger foods. 

Once you have completed your 12 to 14-week journey on the Plan, you should have noticed a marked reduction in your digestive symptoms. Many identify their triggers and tolerance levels sooner. You will also have a greater knowledge of your trigger foods and have a real instinct for the quantity of these foods that you can tolerate without developing symptoms. This plan is a sustainable long-term way to optimize your gut health and enhance your overall wellbeing.

A Holistic Approach

Diet alone is usually not enough to successfully manage IBS and other gut conditions. A holistic or total mind and body health approach is needed and this is a core element of The FLAT Gut Diet Plan. 

We use the TEAMS factors, and these are: T for total mind and body health, E for exercise, A for alcohol, M for mental health and S for sleep. In the plan we recommend specific guidance on each of these lifestyle factors as they are an integral part of looking after your gut condition.

Helpful Resources

The plan does require discipline, but we provide lots of resources, a meal plan, shopping lists, delicious recipes, a food and lifestyle diary and tips to help you keep on track throughout.

We have helped thousands of patients find relief with this holistic, dietary and lifestyle approach.  Many patients have found long lasting symptom relief following the Plan and 70% of them reported an improvement in uncomfortable gut symptoms. It has transformed our patient’s lives. Why not start your journey towards a healthier, happier gut?

Discover The FLAT Gut Diet Plan in our book, What Every Woman Needs to Know About Her Gut here. You can find The FLAT Gut Diet Plan FAQs here

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