Sabrina Khan's Story

What were the steps leading up to your diagnosis?

I was having a particularly stressful time at work and wasn't eating as clean as I had been for a few years – this really flared up my IBS symptoms. I was getting lots of cramps constantly. They were very severe, which led me to go to the doctor who referred me for lots of tests. We eliminated all the usual suspects and I got my diagnosis.

Who has been there for you? How?

I don't really think I shared it with anyone. The thing about IBS is that it’s just deemed as tummy issues, so I didn't like moaning about it a lot. Initially my family thought I'd ruined my tummy through eating too much clean food.

What lifestyle changes have you needed to make?

I suffered terrible IBS for over 20 years, but managed to miraculously control it when I started weight training and with a personal trainer and eating a 'clean diet' – food that looks like food, from the sea, from the land, plucked from a tree, dug from the soil. It was a high protein low carb diet.

This way of eating/lifestyle changed my life. The weight training helped control stress, and so controlled my IBS, and my clean changed diet also helped immensely. Not only did I controlled my IBS after 20 years but I lost weight, kept it off, got rid of my cholesterol, managed my diabetes and got over a cancer scare.

However, when I had a period in my life last year when I wasn't eating as clean and had a lot of stress my IBS symptoms came back really badly, that is the point I had lots of tests.

What accomplishment are you proud of?

I am so proud of I’ve had the dedication and motivation to eat/live a certain way, which has changed my life forever. It was tough to start at first; eating that way required discipline, but I did it and the benefits were huge. Because the clean eating and lifestyle changed my life so much, I’ve set up an online web platform where I interview guests in the area of health/wellness and guests who have achieved great things and survived great things with their health. My current theme is IBS/gut health.

What's your advice to someone else living with IBS?

You are definitely not alone – almost one in five people suffer from IBS. And it is manageable. I'm a great believer in food as medicine and food can help with IBS too, like I have shown. I would also highly encourage IBS sufferers to take up a sport or practice that uses the mind, because that helps lower and reduce stress immensely, which is so important for IBS patients.

I have gone one step further and started learning about the low FODMAP diet, which is a specialist diet for IBS sufferers. It is very similar to the 'clean eating' I did to heal myself and I am working to become a FODMAP practitioner so I can help people even further.

I would like to finish off by saying you are not defined by your IBS, so should never lose self-esteem or feel any less of a person because of it!

Is there anything else we should know?

I have set up a site where I interview experts in the area of IBS/gut health. People can also have their questions answered by the experts. I have many consultants on the site that would ordinarily charge clients a fee if they went to see them.