Fellow anti-diet dietitian Marci Evans is back to discuss the intersection of digestive disorders and eating disorders, the risks associated with elimination diets, the role of the gut microbiome in digestion and health, the importance of consistency in self-care and well-being, and more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about why she as a dietitian doesn’t advise people to shift their food choices to less-processed foods.

Marci is a Food and Body Image Healer™. She has dedicated her career to counseling, supervising, and teaching in the field of eating disorders. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Supervisor, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and Certified ACSM personal trainer. In addition to her group private practice, Marci launched an online eating disorders training platform for dietitians in 2015 and co-directs a specialized eating disorders dietetic internship at Simmons College. She volunteers for a number of national eating disorder organizations and has spoken locally and internationally at numerous conferences and media outlets. She loves social media and you can find her on all outlets @MarciRD. Find her online at MarciRD.com.

We Discuss:

• What Marci has been up to since she was last on the podcast

• Christy’s upcoming book

• How Marci became interested in digestive concerns in her work as an eating disorder dietitian

• The risks associated with the low-FODMAP diet and other elimination diets

• Alternative therapies to elimination diets

• What defines a functional gut disorder

• The overlap between eating disorders and functional gut disorders

• The role of mental health in digestion

• Why we shouldn’t dismiss psychosomatic symptoms

• Whether eating disorders lead to functional gut disorders, or vice versa

• The common risk factors between disordered eating and digestive issues

• The mechanisms that lead to digestive concerns in eating disorders

• Why symptoms can sometimes persist after recovery

• How any disordered eating behaviors can contribute to gut symptoms

• How dieting can lead to digestive concerns

• The gut microbiome, and its role in digestion, weight, and health

• Why it’s too early to draw many conclusions from gut microbiome research

• The consequences of a restrictive diet

• The limitations of nutrition and weight research

• Anti-diet dietitians and medical nutrition therapy

• Pelvic floor disorders, and how their symptoms can be similar to functional gut disorders

• Why in many cases dietary interventions should be the last resort, not first-line care

• The importance of consistency in self-care and well-being

• Christy’s own experiences with digestive symptoms

• Stress-management techniques, and how they can help calm gut symptoms

• Body image and its intersection with digestive disorders

Resources Mentioned

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Affiliates or not, we only recommend products and services that align with our values.

• Submit your questions for a chance to have them answered on the podcast

• My online course, Intuitive Eating Fundamentals

• Marci’s first Food Psych® Podcast episode

• Lisa Pearl’s work, and Food Psych® Podcast episode

• Fiona Sutherland’s work, and Food Psych® Podcast episode

• Marci and Fiona’s Body Image Online Training for Dietitians and Clinicians

• Lauren Dear’s work

• “Psychological features are important predictors of functional gastrointestinal disorders in patients with eating disorders” (source of the statistic that up to 98 percent of people with eating disorders have functional gut disorders)

• “Can eating disorders cause functional gastrointestinal disorders?“ (source of the evidence that disordered eating can cause increased sensitivity in the gut, which may explain people’s perception of sensitivity to certain foods)

• “Disordered Eating Practices in Gastrointestinal Disorders” (source of the statistic that up to 44 percent of general gastroenterology patients engage in disordered eating behaviors)

• Kate Scarlata’s work

• Peter Gibson’s work

• Alan Levinovitz’s work, and Food Psych® Podcast episode

• Marci’s website and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

   

Listener Question of the Week

Is it possible to eat intuitively when you are choosing mostly highly-processed foods? Shouldn’t dietitians and health advisors be advising people to move away from fast food? How can you attune to your internal cues when there is so much external messaging associated with fast food and highly-processed foods? What does the science say about how our food environment and how it affects our eating habits? Why do we need to be skeptical of Brian Wansink’s research? What made his research so popular and widely cited? How can listening to our internal cues versus external cues change our eating habits? What is “gentle nutrition” in the context of intuitive eating? Why is gentle nutrition the last principle of intuitive eating? Why doesn’t Christy advise people to shift away from choosing fast food and highly-processed foods? What is the connection between food insecurity and disordered eating?

(Resources Mentioned: Food Psych® Podcast episode #127, Restrained Eating and Food Cues: Recent Findings and Conclusions, Food Insecurity and Eating Disorder Pathology - TW/CW for the last two resources for specific numbers and fatphobic language )