Preventing an Upset Stomach

Audio Transcript

Michael: Welcome to the Runners Connect, Run to the Top Extra Kick Podcast. Today’s question comes from Sam.

Sam: Hi there Runners Connect.

My question today is, why do I have an upset tummy after a long run or hard tempo run, where I don’t feel like eating straight away afterwards? Is there a reason for this? Thank you.

Michael: That’s a great question, Sam, one that I’m confident the majority of our listeners can relate to. We’ve all had an upset stomach while on a run and we always want to know the answer, but isn’t it complicated.

Let’s take a look at several things you can look at, to see if it can help you.

First off, it’s a trial and error process. This is probably the most important thing we’re going to talk about.

It really is a trial and error process. You just have to experiment with different foods.

This is all very individualized as some people will respond better to certain foods, while other people will struggle with those foods.

It depends on the individual and you have to try some different stuff out. So, the good thing is to try something at least a few times, unless it’s particularly bad.

Let’s say you try out a food that somebody recommended to you, and you have a bad run. It’s not great, your stomach is maybe a little bit upset, not too bad.

You want to give it at least a couple of more runs because there’s so many variables here.

That’s really one of the hardest parts about figuring out what’s going on with your stomach, is that there’s so many variables.

You don’t want to discount something just because it didn’t work one time.

You want to make sure you give it a few tries, to see if it’s something that’s going to work for you, especially if it’s something that you’ve heard good things about.

Maybe other people have had a lot of success with, so you don’t want to discount it just because of one poor experience.

The same thing goes if it goes very well. You don’t want to say, “Oh, that is perfect. This thing clearly works for me.” Because you don’t really know that.

There could have been other variables that made the run really good and made you not have stomach issues.

You want to make sure you give things a proper trial before you really determine whether it works for you or not.

Another important point is to look at what you ate the night before, not just your pre-run meal. Now, this is obviously assuming that you’re running in the morning, but you don’t want to look at what you have to eat and drink the morning of the run.

What you ate the night before can also very much have an effect.

A good example is to think about it like this: let’s say the night before a run, you have your dinner – you have a burger.

A real greasy hamburger and some fries and maybe a couple of beers to wash it down, and you go out and run the next morning.

Now, let’s say with another run, the night before, you have a meal of some diced sweet potatoes, some lean protein, some vegetables and salad with a nice balsamic dressing; something that’s going to sit really well with your stomach.

Maybe one glass of wine and some water, and then you go out and run the next morning.

Which one do you think you’re going to feel better on?

I can almost 100% guarantee that you’re probably going to feel better in terms of your stomach, at least the next morning after the really high quality, that latter meal.

That’s going to help digest it easily.

It’s not going to just sit in your stomach. Now, if you eat dinner late or perhaps if you snack right before you go to bed, this will have an effect, as you may not digest it that well at all.

So, let’s say you perhaps have a snack, maybe some ice cream and then you immediately go to bed.

You haven’t really digested that ice cream, and you’re not going to properly digest it until the next morning.

It’s kind of sitting around, not being digested properly, and that can definitely have a big effect on your run the next morning.

Another important point is to make sure that you’re clearing out before you run.

This is especially true for long runs and harder workouts, but you really need to empty your system before it.

It’s especially true in the morning too, when you haven’t had all day to digest.

If you’re running in the evening or afternoon, that’s somewhat of an advantage. You’ve had all day to drink water, to digest your food, and to use the bathroom.

But in the morning, you don’t really have that time, especially if you’re in a time crunch. You have work and you have to get up early and get your run in.

That can be a bit of a time crunch, in terms of being able to use the bathroom effectively. One tip there is coffee. Coffee can definitely help if timed correctly.

And the reason I say that last part is because it can definitely be timed incorrectly.

Let’s say you just chug a cup of coffee or an espresso and then head on your run. 10, 15 minutes into that run, you might have to make a pit stop.

It’s definitely something that you have to experiment with.

Something that usually works for me, I would typically have some coffee about an hour before my run, maybe even 45 minutes, but if it was in the morning, 45 minutes to an hour was usually a good enough time to get everything out.

That’s going to help your stomach feel a lot better.

If you haven’t cleared out, that’s just going to kind of jumble around and, you know, I hate to get too graphic here, but it’s not going to feel good.

Another thing to try is probiotics.

These come in either as a supplement or food form. Obviously, we have supplements in terms of capsules or pills that have probiotics, like live cultures in them.

Basically, probiotics are good bacteria in your gut.

We have a bunch of bacteria in our gut – some good, some bad, and there’s a balance there. A lot of times due to the modern day diet, due to antibiotics, et cetera, we don’t have as much of that good bacteria as we need.

Consuming probiotics, whether from supplement or food, can help to replenish that good bacteria, and keep it healthy.

And again, this is either supplemental food.

Yogurt is a good option for many people, as it contains a lot of good live cultures, if you’re buying good stuff.

It can also sit pretty well on your stomach.

A lot of people find that yogurt is something that works really well. This can all make a really big difference in your digestion, maybe not necessarily immediately but certainly over time.

In terms of some individual recommendations, these are things that I’ve tried. In my experience, I’ve seen a lot of people have success with these things.

But yet again, I have to preface this with, it’s very individual and you have to try stuff and see what works for you.

My go to was always oatmeal.

Oatmeal worked really well for me. Oatmeal has obviously a good amount of good slow burning carbs.

In addition, it has a little bit of grain protein, but you can also add some protein powder.

If you want to slow the digestion a little bit, get a little bit of protein in there. You can add whatever you want, for example oatmeal.

Oatmeal by itself is a pretty bland food, but you can add a lot of different things to it to, one, spice it up and two, to add a little bit of nutritional value to it.

As I mentioned before, yogurt works really well, but I want to add that you can try something called kefir, which is essentially drinkable yogurt.

The good thing about kefir is the way it’s cultured.

It’s basically made to have a lot of probiotics in it, so you kind of get a double there.

It’s easy to digest for some people, but it depends on you and how you handle yogurt.

And also, it’s just a really good pre-workout drink. You could try a banana with a little peanut butter.

Obviously, bananas tend to work pretty well for everyone, unless they’re allergic. But peanut butter is the big one that can be an easy source of protein and fat to add on to something.

But for a lot of people, it can also cause stomach problems. So, it’s something you’re going to want to experiment with.

Now, some people do okay with wheat, you know, grains like bread, others not as much, yet again, it’s a place to experiment.

But again, you’ll have to see if wheat and grains work well for you. One last tip there, just make sure you include a little bit of protein.

We all know to get the carbs in, but you want to make sure to include a little bit of protein. That’s why I mentioned, when I was talking about the oatmeal, you can add a little bit of protein powder to it.

Make sure it’s easily digestible and make sure it’s something that works for your stomach.

But adding a little bit of protein is going to help you digest and also make it to where it’s a bit more of a slow burning fuel source, rather than just something really quick.

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Thanks for tuning in Runners Connect fans, have a great run today.