Knowing which foods cause your digestive symptoms can help you improve your gut health. Keeping a food diary, trying elimination diets, and talking with doctors are ways to find your triggers.

Digestive health issues can cause symptoms in your stomach and bowels. These symptoms can be uncomfortable and might cause severe pain.

What you eat can often have a direct impact on your gut health. Finding out what causes unwanted symptoms can help you avoid them in the future. The causes of digestive symptoms are known as digestive health triggers.

There are proactive ways you can discover your triggers. You might also want to talk with a dietitian or doctor who can give you more options to support your digestive health. If you have a medical diagnosis, a doctor might also prescribe medications.

Digestive health triggers can be foods, beverages, or ingredients in foods. If you know your triggers, you can likely avoid them. Anything can be a trigger, including certain fresh foods and food additives.

Two of the most common ways to identify triggers are to track what you eat with a food diary and to remove foods from your diet one at a time. If these methods don’t help, you can seek help from a medical professional trained in gut health.

Keeping a food diary

A food diary is a personal journal. You can track everything you consume in a day, including supplements, medications, and water. In addition to what you eat, track your symptoms. Some people also find it helpful to take note of their mental health or mood since it might be connected to gut symptoms.

One page in a food diary might have several sections, such as:

What I ate:

  • breakfast
  • lunch
  • dinner
  • snacks
  • water
  • other foods

What I took:

  • supplements
  • medications

How I felt:

  • digestive symptoms
  • pain rating
  • mental health

You can also leave space for any notes, such as whether you were symptom-free or experienced stomach upset after eating a new food.

Trying an elimination diet

An elimination diet involves removing groups of foods from your diet for several weeks and then reintroducing them one at a time. This can help you identify foods that might be triggering your digestive symptoms. While following an elimination diet, you also track your symptoms.

There are several types of elimination diets, including:

  • The six-food elimination diet: This diet involves cutting out milk, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, and nuts — the most common sources of food allergies.
  • The low FODMAP diet: This diet cuts out specific fermentable short-chain carbohydrates that might cause digestive discomfort. The low FODMAP diet has a long list of potential elimination foods and can be effective in treating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
  • A one-food elimination diet: This involves taking out one food that you think is causing your symptoms.

An elimination diet typically involves a four-step process:

  1. Track and identify your digestive symptoms before cutting out any foods.
  2. Eliminate the groups of foods you think might cause your symptoms.
  3. Don’t eat these foods for 4 to 6 weeks and monitor your symptoms.
  4. Reintroduce foods one at a time and take note of when symptoms return.

It’s important to reintroduce the foods only one at a time so you know which ones cause digestive issues.

Seeking professional help

Sometimes, a food diary or an elimination diet won’t give you enough answers about your digestive health. You might want to talk with a doctor or specialist who can provide further advice and testing. You might consult medical professionals such as:

You can start with a primary care professional, such as a doctor or a nurse practitioner, who might offer care or refer you to a specialist.

Many foods might affect digestive health by causing an allergic reaction or triggering gastrointestinal symptoms. Foods that can affect the gut in some people include:

  • food allergens such as milk, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, and nuts
  • FODMAPs such as apples, leeks, and mushrooms
  • carbonated beverages
  • beans
  • cabbage

These foods might cause common digestive symptoms like belching and flatulence.

If you have digestive symptoms, certain foods or beverages may be triggering them. Digestive symptoms you might notice include:

  • belching
  • heartburn
  • bloating
  • constipation
  • flatulence
  • indigestion
  • diarrhea

Some people experience more serious symptoms, especially if they have a condition such as IBS. They might have abdominal pain and changes in bowel movements.

If certain foods cause you discomfort, you have several options for managing your digestive health. You can try some methods on your own, while others might require consulting a healthcare professional:

  • Adjust your diet: Try to avoid foods that trigger your symptoms. This can sometimes be tricky, such as with FODMAPs, where portion size matters. A low FODMAP food can become a high FODMAP if the serving size is too large.
  • Manage stress: Increases in stress can lead to digestive symptoms. Try to manage your stress levels so your digestive system stays healthy.
  • Quit smoking if you smoke: Cigarette smoking can lead to acid reflux.
  • Eat slowly: Not rushing your food, eating at regular mealtimes, and consuming small portions can help reduce the risk of stomach upset.
  • Take prescription medications: If you have a medical condition such as IBS, a doctor might recommend certain medications to treat it.
  • Try supplements: Taking probiotic supplements to help balance gut bacteria might reduce symptoms in some people.

As you manage your triggers, you might want to continue keeping a food diary in case you have an unexpected symptom. A food diary can help you pinpoint the possible trigger.

Tracking symptoms in a food diary and trying elimination diets can help you find your digestive health triggers. You can manage your symptoms by avoiding foods that cause discomfort. In cases of severe symptoms, a doctor might prescribe medication.