5 Foods That Hurt My Gut and What I Eat Instead

Apr 5

Before I figured out what was going on inside me, I walked around feeling like a balloon someone had forgotten to tie. Bloated. Foggy. Tired in ways that sleep didn’t fix.

I blamed stress (and sure, there was plenty of that), but deep down, I knew something I was eating was quietly unraveling me.

I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nutritionist. I’m just a very stubborn woman with a very sensitive stomach, and a habit of ignoring symptoms until they’re screaming. It took me years to realize that my body wasn’t broken. It was just asking me to listen.

Once I did, everything changed. I stopped trying to “power through” and started getting curious. I swapped ingredients. I simplified meals. I stopped assuming processed meant convenient and learned that healing often looks like slowness.

Here are five foods that made my gut miserable…and what I eat instead to feel human again.

1. American Enriched White Flour

his one was the loudest. I grew up thinking bread was bread—until I started noticing how awful I felt after eating anything made with typical American flour.

Stomach pain. Brain fog. Snapping at people I love. I even went three years completely gluten-free to try and manage it.

Then I looked deeper into what “enriched” flour actually is: stripped of nutrients, bleached, then pumped full of synthetic vitamins to make up for everything it lost. My body was right all along…it just didn’t want fake food pretending to be whole. (check out this first article I wrote with a deep dive into flour!)

What I Eat Instead:

Italian Tipo 00 flour (softer, silkier, and much easier to digest)
Organic whole grain flours with minimal ingredients
Einkorn flour, an ancient grain with lower gluten that my body seems to recognize

Links to some alternatives:

Italian flour

Einkorn flour

Sourdough starter kit

Sourdough bread-making tools

2. Processed Protein Bars

I lived on these things. Tossed in my bag, eaten between jobs, sometimes inhaled as dinner. But they never sat right…my stomach bloated, my mind crashed, and I was always hungry again 30 minutes later.

Turns out many protein bars are filled with artificial sweeteners, gums, and sugar alcohols that confuse your gut and irritate your digestion. Not to mention, most taste like disappointment wrapped in foil.

What I eat instead:

Homemade protein bites with oats, chia, nut butter, and raw honey
Sliced apples with almond butter and cinnamon
Smoothies with gut-friendly, plant-based protein powder

Links to some helpful alternatives:

Plant-based protein powder

Almond butter

Blender for smoothies

Silicone snack molds

3. Vegetable Oils (Canola, Soybean, etc.)

I used to think vegetable oils were heart-healthy. (Marketing works.) But many are highly processed, oxidize when heated, and contribute to inflammation and imbalance…especially in your gut lining and skin.

Once I phased them out, my stomach calmed and my skin started glowing in a way no serum could explain.

What I use instead:

Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil (liquid gold, truly)
Avocado oil for cooking over higher heat
Coconut oil in moderation, especially in baking

Links to alternatives:

Olive oil (this is expensive but soooo yummy, I keep reordering)

Avocado oil spray

Coconut oil

Glass oil dispensers

4. Overly Processed Non-Dairy Milks

I went dairy-free for a while, thinking it would help, and it did…until I flipped the carton and read the label. Carrageenan, gums, and fillers I couldn’t pronounce. Some of these “healthy” milks had more stabilizers than nuts.

No wonder my gut was begging me to reconsider.

What I drink instead:

Nut milks with only 2 ingredients: water + nuts
Homemade oat milk (surprisingly easy and delicious)
Occasionally, grass-fed whole milk…my gut handles it better than the alternatives (Read The Protein Comeback: Why Dairy’s Becoming a ‘Gut-Healthy’ Superfood (Again)!)

Links to alternatives:

Nut milk maker

Oat milk strainer bags

Favorite clean brands of oat milk (making your own is the way to go still!)

5. Store-Bought Salad Dressings

Here’s the sneaky one. I was eating giant salads and wondering why I still felt sick. Turns out, it wasn’t the greens—it was the bottled dressing full of seed oils, sugar, preservatives, and “flavor enhancers” that my gut saw as hostile.

What I use instead:

Olive oil + balsamic + Dijon + lemon
Tahini dressings with garlic, herbs, and a splash of water
Greek yogurt ranch that I make from scratch

Links for alternatives:

Salad shaker

Squeezable Tahini

Balsamic vinegar (expensive, but REAL)

Mason jar lids with pour spouts

What Helped Me Heal

It wasn’t one big change. It was dozens of tiny ones. Swapping out this flour. Reading that label. Growing my own herbs on the windowsill and picking tomatoes from a hydroponic garden like they were little rubies.

The more I simplified, the more my body softened. I had more energy. Less anxiety. My meals became less about restriction and more about returning…to myself, to the earth, to food that actually nourished.

This isn’t a prescriptive plan. It’s just what worked for me. But if your stomach feels like a stranger…if you feel tired, inflamed, or “off” all the time, and no one’s giving you answers, maybe this is a place to begin.

Somewhere along the way, the food chain got hijacked.

What used to come from soil and sunshine now arrives boxed, dyed, emulsified, and preserved beyond recognition.
We’re told it’s convenient. Efficient. Normal. But our bodies aren’t fooled.
They were built for orchards, pastures, fermentation crocks…not conveyor belts and synthetic additives.

And the more I peeled back the labels, the more I realized I hadn’t failed my body. The system had.

Want to Try Some of My Favorite Gut-Friendly Swaps?

I put together a little Amazon list with the products that helped me the most — from flour to nut milk tools to plant-based proteins.

👉 Probiotics

👉 Digestive Enzymes

👉 Probiotic Gummies (I take all my vitamins in Gummies when available)

👉 Organic Psyllium Husk

👉 Hydroponic Herb Growing Kit

There was a time I felt broken after every meal. I’d sit on the couch with a hot water bottle and wonder if this was just how my body worked…tired, bloated, reactive.
But healing taught me that my body wasn’t the problem.
It was the information it had been given.
And once I started feeding it truth…whole, clean, quiet truth…it began to trust me again.

What surprised me most was how emotional it all felt. Letting go of certain foods meant letting go of comfort patterns. Childhood snacks, go-to meals, identity rituals. But what came in their place was deeper comfort, no more anxiety at restaurants, no more wondering if I’d make it through the day without needing to lie down.
I didn’t just reclaim my gut…I reclaimed hours, clarity, peace.

If you’re in the thick of it right now (googling symptoms late at night, feeling dismissed by doctors, or just overwhelmed by everything) please know: you’re not alone.

Your body is speaking.
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to be patient, gentle, and a little bit brave.