Written by a nurse

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Plain language answers to the questions people actually ask about bloating, blood sugar and what is really in the packet. Every post says where the evidence comes from.

Energy and shifts

6 October 2026Why you crash after lunch, and four plate changes that helpA smaller, better built lunch and a short walk can soften the afternoon dip. Nothing on a plate cancels your body clock or a short night.3 October 2026What to eat on a night shift, hour by hourOne longer break, a few snatched ones, no fridge and no microwave. Here is where the food goes.1 October 2026Coming off nights: a three day plan for your gut and sleepThe run is over. Your body clock, your appetite and your bowels have not had the memo yet.1 October 2026Night shifts and IBS: what the research foundThe study behind the headlines, read by a nurse who did thirteen hour nights with a gut that hated them.1 October 2026The vending machine on a night shift: how to chooseNo brands, no lectures. How to read what is behind the glass when it is the only food open.1 October 2026Do I need a glucose monitor if I don't have diabetes?A nurse with nothing to sell on the sensors everyone seems to be wearing.1 October 2026The order you eat things in: worth it, or a social media myth?Vegetables first, carbs last. The videos make it sound settled. The research is small, short and mostly in people with diabetes.1 October 2026Breakfasts that don't leave you starving by elevenIf you are hunting for biscuits by mid morning, the problem was decided at the breakfast table.1 October 2026Breakfast after nights, when your body thinks it is midnightYou are starving and shattered at the same time. Here is what to put in front of you before the curtains go.

Supermarket shopping

1 October 2026World food aisle plant points, a shelf by shelf guideFive different dals sit on one shelf, and each is a different plant. Here is what counts, and where two packets turn out to be the same plant.1 October 2026What is in season in the UK, month by monthIn October that means apples, pears, squash, leeks and the first chestnuts. Here is the whole year, and why it is worth shopping this way.1 October 2026How to choose a kefir from the label, not the marketingEvery kefir in the chiller looks healthy. The back of the bottle is where they stop looking the same.1 October 2026How to choose a jarred sauce by what is in itThe flavour name on the front tells you what it tastes like. The back tells you what you are eating.1 October 2026How to choose a high fibre bread in any UK supermarketTurn the loaf over. Two numbers and one word on the back tell you more than anything on the front.1 October 2026Healthier meal deal choices, picked by a nurseCalories and protein are what most meal deal rankings count. I would rather you counted fibre and salt.1 October 2026A gut friendly weekly shop list, aisle by aisleNo kombucha, no powders, nothing from the health food shelf. One trolley, one supermarket, about 26 different plants.1 October 2026Frozen, tinned and dried count, the cheap way to 30 plantsThirty plants a week sounds like a farmers market habit. It can come almost entirely from the freezer, the tin aisle and the dried goods shelf.

Bloating

1 October 2026Why do salad, rice and eggs make me bloated?Three foods that are meant to be safe, and three different reasons they might not feel it. None of them is a reason to stop eating the food.1 October 2026Why am I bloated all the time? The patterns that matterThe causes are well known. The useful part is working out which one fits your days, and which patterns mean you book the GP first.1 October 2026Period bloating or gut bloating? How to tell on a calendarTwo cycles of marked days will tell you more than any amount of guessing. Here is how to keep the calendar, how to read it, and what it cannot tell you.1 October 2026How to stop bloating fast, and the better question to askA walk and a hand on your tummy will help today. Working out what your bloating is doing is what helps next week.1 October 2026Does bread make you bloated? Wheat, gluten or neitherThree different things can sit behind a bread bloat, and they are checked in different ways. The one rule that covers all of them is not to go gluten free first.1 October 2026Bloating that will not go away: symptoms not to wait onThis is the page where I tell you to stop reading and ring. Here is when, who to ring, and what happens next.1 October 2026Bloating on a plane and on holiday: why, and what to packThe plane explains the first few hours. The holiday explains the rest of the week, and that part is easier to plan for than it sounds.1 October 2026Bloated in the morning before eating? What it can meanA stomach is usually at its flattest when you wake. When yours is not, the night before and your bowels are the first places to look.1 October 2026Bloated after eating anything? Start here before you cut foodsWhen everything bloats you, the question is how your gut handles a meal, not which food to blame. Here is where to start, and what not to do first.

Getting answers

1 October 2026When your GP says it's just IBS and you don't feel heardFrom a nurse who has been the patient too, with the sentences to use when you go back.1 October 2026A seven day symptom log your GP will readThe columns that matter, the ones that do not, and how to turn a week of notes into one page a GP can take in at a glance.1 October 2026NHS 111, GP or pharmacy? Where to go with a gut symptomFive doors, and the symptoms that belong behind each one, in the NHS's own wording where it counts.1 October 2026Can I get the low FODMAP diet on the NHS?The diet is meant to come with a dietitian, and how you reach one depends on your postcode. Here is the route, and the words to use.1 October 2026IBS or something else? Conditions with the same symptomsNot a way to work out what you have. A list of reasons to ask your GP, in the NHS's own terms.1 October 2026How IBS is diagnosed in the UK, and the tests to expectThere is no single test for IBS. Here is what the guideline behind your appointment asks for, in plain words.1 October 2026Where to get free UK support for gut symptomsWho to ring, what they can and cannot do for you, and one name you will still see recommended that you should not follow.1 October 2026Do home food intolerance tests work?The NHS, the British Dietetic Association and Guts UK have all looked at these tests. Here is what they concluded, and what does identify a trigger.29 September 2026What to tell your GP about gut symptomsFour things a GP needs to hear, the questions worth asking, and the symptoms that mean you stop reading and ring.

Eating more plants

1 October 2026What counts as a plant point? A UK A to Z answer listThirty foods people ask about, from almonds to za'atar, with the rule behind each verdict and an honest note on who wrote the rules.1 October 2026How much fibre does the UK eat? 16g a day, against 30gThe newest national figure, why other pages quote 18g or 20g, and the gap drawn as real meals rather than grams.1 October 2026Thirty plants a week when you cook for one, or for fussy eatersThe count rewards one of each, not lots of each, which suits a single cook better than you would think, once you change what goes in the basket.1 October 2026Soluble vs insoluble fibre, and which your symptoms point toThe difference in plain words, a table of where each one is found, and what the NHS suggests for each symptom pattern, without anyone diagnosing you from a web page.1 October 2026Why more fibre made your bloating worse, and what to doYou did what every article told you, and your stomach got bigger, not flatter. Here is why, and how to add fibre back in a way your gut can keep up with.1 October 2026Week one of 30 plants: a realistic count, not a perfect oneMost 30 plant challenges start by asking for thirty. This one starts by asking what you already eat, and then asks for two or three more.1 October 2026Does coffee count as a plant point? And tea and dark chocolateThe drinks and the chocolate people ask about most, with the reason behind each verdict and where the rules run out.26 September 202630 plants a week checklist, with a worked UK weekEight rules, one worked week built from ordinary supermarket shelves, and the cheap shortcuts that do most of the work.24 September 2026Does rice count as a plant point? And tofu, miso and coffeeSix foods people keep asking about, answered one by one, plus where the thirty plants number came from.

Myths and tests

1 October 2026Should I get a SIBO test? What UK guidance saysSIBO is real. The breath test sold to people with IBS is the part UK specialists are wary of, and here is why.1 October 2026Perimenopause and bloating: why it can start in your fortiesChanging hormones are one likely reason your gut feels different in your forties. They are not the only one, and frequent bloating always deserves a GP's eyes first.1 October 2026Do I need to give up coffee for my gut?No UK guidance tells people in general to give up coffee. For IBS, heartburn and bloating, there are limits worth knowing and a simple way to find your own.1 October 2026Is your bread ultra processed, and does it matter?Flour, water, salt and yeast make a processed loaf. One extra word on the ingredients list makes an ultra processed one. Whether that changes what you should buy is another question.1 October 2026How to spot an ultra processed food in five secondsOne look at the ingredients list does most of the work. Knowing what that look can and cannot tell you does the rest.1 October 2026Should I take a gut health supplement? Read this firstNobody has to prove a gut supplement works before it goes on sale. Here is what that means for you, and the questions worth asking before you spend anything.1 October 2026Common food myths, checked by a nurse who lived oneMost food myths hold a grain of truth, which is why they last. Here is what UK guidance says about the ones that are still everywhere.1 October 2026Does a gut reset work? An honest look at 3 and 7 day plansYour gut bacteria do move within days. They move back as quickly, which is the part the three and seven day plans leave out.

Food labels

1 October 2026Probiotic, live cultures, biotic. Which is regulated in the UK?Three words that sound alike on a pot or a bottle, and the law treats each of them differently.1 October 2026How to read an ingredients list, and why the order mattersThe ingredients list is the one part of the pack the marketing team can't rewrite. Here is how to read it in ten seconds.1 October 2026How to check a health claim on UK food in two minutesYou don't need to take a packet's word for it, or mine. The official list is a free spreadsheet, and this is how to use it.1 October 2026High fibre vs source of fibre, the numbers on a UK labelTwo fibre claims, two numbers, and a second route to each one that most shoppers never hear about.1 October 2026Gut friendly yoghurt labels, what UK packaging can promiseThe chiller aisle is full of gut words. The law behind them is a lot shorter than the packaging.1 October 2026Nine front of pack phrases that mean less than you thinkSome words on the front of a packet were earned against a number. Others cost the manufacturer nothing but ink.22 September 2026Traffic light labels explained, and what the pack leaves outThe colours are real and the thresholds are published. The portion they are measured against is chosen by the manufacturer, and no one has to use the scheme at all.19 September 2026Does gut friendly mean anything on a UK food label?Some words on a packet have a legal threshold behind them. Gut friendly is not one of them, and knowing which is which changes how you shop.

Using the guides

18 September 2026How to fill in a Chew On This guide on your phoneNo printer needed. Every list, box and log in the guides is a form field you can tap and type in.