Send us Fan Mail In this episode, you'll learn: Why ultra-restricted diets like carnivore can backfire long-term for IBS and IBD by shrinking your microbiome diversityWhy low FODMAP alone rarely resolves chronic gut symptoms — and what it's missingHow to know if your "healthy" restrictive diet is actually creating new food sensitivitiesIf you've been diagnosed with IBS, IBD, or chronic gut symptoms and you've tried cutting out food after food hoping for relief, this episode is for you. Courtney breaks down the double-edged sword of food restriction — why it can bring fast symptom relief in the short term, and why staying there long-term often makes food sensitivities worse, not better. Courtney walks through her own process for evaluating a new client's diet, including how she uses food journaling to identify individual food triggers rather than applying a one-size-fits-all protocol. She explains why common IBS/IBD trigger foods like wheat, dairy, and certain grains show up across so many cases, but why bio-individuality still determines how much variety any one person can eventually tolerate. A major focus of this episode is the carnivore diet and other extreme elimination approaches. Courtney shares her personal experience healing her own gut symptoms on a highly restricted, roughly 10-food diet — and why she ultimately moved away from that approach. She unpacks the physical risks of long-term ultra-restriction, including carbohydrate depletion's effect on the brain and thyroid, reduced microbiome diversity, and an increased risk of developing new food sensitivities from eating the same repetitive foods over and over. Courtney also addresses why low FODMAP, one of the most commonly recommended diets for IBS, is often not enough on its own to fully resolve symptoms. She explains that low FODMAP only addresses one category of fermentable carbohydrates, while true symptom relief usually requires a more individualized elimination approach combined with root cause testing — such as a functional stool test — to identify the specific stressors, imbalances, and food sensitivities driving each person's symptoms. Finally, Courtney discusses the often-overlooked role of the nervous system and subconscious brain in food tolerance and hypersensitization, and why working on that layer — alongside diet — tends to produce faster, more lasting results than nutrition changes alone. Topics covered: IBS-D, IBD, carnivore diet, low FODMAP mistakes, food sensitivities, leaky gut, microbiome diversity, elimination diets, gut-brain connection, root cause testing, functional stool testing, food triggers, autoimmune gut health Timestamped Chapters 00:00 — Intro: the double-edged sword of food restriction 02:15 — How Courtney builds a food journal protocol with new clients 05:40 — Common food triggers vs. individual bio-individuality 08:30 — Why carnivore and all-plant-based diets both carry risk for IBS/IBD 12:00 — Courtney's personal experience healing on a 10-food diet 16:45 — The psychological cost of ultra-restriction 20:10 — Why low FODMAP alone usually isn't enough 24:00 — What ultra-restriction does to your microbiome diversity 28:30 — How repetitive eating can create new food sensitivities 32:15 — The standard American diet's hidden restriction problem 35:50 — The nervous system's role in food tolerance and hypersensitization 39:20 — Why root cause testing comes before (or alongside) elimination Link to my free training “The Root Cause Approach to Gut Healing”—my step-by-step framework to stop guessing and start healing Link to a free 30 minute Gut Check Call Link to my website Disclaimer: None of the content discussed is meant to be taken as medical advice. All information presented is for educational purposes only and listeners and viewers assume all responsibility around implementing any changes to their health and medical regimen.
