Regular: The Ultimate Guide to Taming Unruly Bowels and Achieving Inner Peace

by Tamara Duker Freuman MS RD CDN

America's Trusted Digestive Nutrition Expert reveals the many causes of irregularity, with tailored solutions for a dozen common—and some lesser-known—issues, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Malabsorption, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Histamine Intolerance.
 
Belly bloat, diarrhea, constipation, and irritable bowels may not seem like the sexiest topics—but they still affect millions of Americans every year.
 
Rather than focusing on a single one-size-fit-all approach to restoring bowel regularity, Regular aims to help readers identify the likely cause of their irregular bowel patterns and offers a wide variety of personalized solutions.  For example, Freuman explains that while a high fiber diet that might help someone with slow transit constipation, it could make symptoms worse for someone constipated as the result of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. 
 
Regular will guide readers to narrow down the specific cause of their irregularity and provide tips, questions to take to your next doctors visit; tables listing foods likely to be problematic and suggested alternatives; sample menus for different therapeutic diets; and foods and supplements that may be helpful for specific types of diarrhea and constipation.
Whether you are dealing with chronic diarrhea or constipation, Regular will cover a dozen of the most common causes of bowel irregularity with detailed descriptions of their presentations that a sufferer should recognize, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Lactose, Fructose and Sucrose Intolerances Malabsorptive conditions, including SIBO, Bile Acid Malabsorption, Celiac Disease and Pancreatic Insufficiency Histamine Intolerance Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis) Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Medical, Nutrition

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to preface this review with a disclaimer that 1) I do not read much non-fiction and 2) I have an advanced degree in biomedical science so my baseline level of understanding medical jargon may be higher than the average reader.

That being said, I thought this book explained the physiological and clinical aspects of digestion and the issues surrounding it very well. It was worded simply, explained logically, and provided the basic overview that I think everyone should have over how their own bodies work. I did end up skimming over the info that I already know, but if your intention in reading this book was to learn more about overall health in an accurate way, this book is for you! I also really appreciated how Ms. Freuman reiterated multiple times what her expertise was and was it is limited to, it added to her reliability as a narrator and trustworthiness as a source of information. The book is intended to be a starting off point for learning about how your body operates and is a tool to enter into conversations with your doctor, and I think it definitely accomplished that goal. There were also interesting tidbits of information about general health and diet that were broadly applicable.

Overall, the book was empowering and informative, but not life-changing. Regardless of whether or not you have digestive issues, it is worth reading!

Thank you to Hachette Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

[Janel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful with lots of additional resources and a useful supplemental PDF.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you’ve ever (maybe) wanted to know about poop and digestion, but were too shy to ask. This book has it all. Be it diarrhea, constipation, a blend of both, farting, burping, mushy poop, pellets, liquid, smelly, orange. green, black……this will tell you what it could be, what to do about it if you should see a doctor urgently, soon or when convenient or if you might just need more fiber.
Some topics include:
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Lactose, Fructose and Sucrose Intolerances
Malabsorptive conditions, including SIBO, Bile Acid Malabsorption, Celiac Disease and Pancreatic Insufficiency
Histamine Intolerance
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Soluble vs Insoluble fiber
FODMAP foods and IBS
How gallbladder removal might cause symptoms.
Parasites
Stress and your gut

#Regular is an excellent owner’s manual for anyone with a GI tract, especially an unruly GI tract that seems to have a mind of its own. So many family practice physicians tend to go with the typical routine: Run stool cultures and refer for a colonoscopy and if those are normal then the diagnosis is IBS. Well, not necessarily. Educate yourself and take that education to the appropriate specialist to get the help need .
#netgalley. #Regular

[Mackenzie McClintock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel as a digital ARC!

As someone who is a long-time sufferer of digestive issues, this book is enlightening, easy to understand, and super helpful. I was diagnosed with IBD in 2017 and consider myself to be pretty well-versed in the disease, as well as other digestive conditions. This book, however, goes beyond the normal information you would find by searching through Google and really answers the "why" behind a lot of common questions and struggles for anyone with digestive complications or "sensitivities."

Regular is practical, the information isn't overwhelmingly scientific or jargon heavy, and it reads sort of like a story compared to a non-fiction based book. I enjoyed it!

[Stephanie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great reference book. It helps validate that you don't have to suffer with bad feeling guts/digestion. There are strategies that can help.

[Laura Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I read another wonderful book by Freeman called The Bloated Belly Whisperer and absolutely loved it. The way it was written and the information it gave you to treat problematic issues was more than I could find on the web or through my nutritionist or Dr. So when I saw this book, I had to have it. I think Freeman is brilliant. The helpful information that she shares is something that I consider to be the most valuable and insightful information out there. Some people are truly not comfortable talking about their bowel issues and will suffer through them hoping medicine will work. I am tired of putting things in my body hoping they will work when I can just eat better and train my body to do what God and nature intended it to do. I love the information given and do not want to spoil anything but can say this….if you have ANY issues with bowel problems, this book should be your first option to try.

Here are some of the more known issues that it covers..

*Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
*Lactose, Fructose and Sucrose Intolerances
*Malabsorptive conditions, including SIBO, Bile Acid Malabsorption, Celiac Disease and Pancreatic *Insufficiency
*Histamine Intolerance
*Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
*Pelvic Floor Dysfunction


5 out of 5 stars

[Jesimae · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this book is very useful to anyone in the beginning stages of IDB, Crohn's Disease, or other digestive issues this explains it in very simple terms. Having Crohn's for most of my life, this wasn't was I was looking for. If you had an illness for a very long time you already know everything in this book the doctors have already told you. If your new and need some input this is the book for you.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative!

I learned so much from this book! I really appreciate how easy it was to understand so many things that are very complex. I can’t wait to share this book with my provider during my next visit.

[Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's everything you would hope to hear from your gastroenterologist, packaged in an easy to read book

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with a bunch of helpful and practical tips! If you have GI issues, I highly recommend.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting info- would have liked it formatted in a more easy way with more tables/pictures

[Adelaide]

An embarrassing title for an incredibly helpful book.

[Mcalaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me access to this book! It has a very similar format to her previous book (The Bloated Belly Whisperer), in the sense that it starts with some introductory information and then gives you a quiz that determines what chapter you need to jump to in order to read about your particular case. However, I found it to be much more comprehensive and up to date than her previous book. It left me somewhat lacking because she did not go into the long term effects of the medications typically used for my specific condition, but she does do that for many other medications. She also goes into great detail about natural supplements and dietary recommendations tailored for each scenario. In sum, this is a great reference book for anyone struggling with lower digestive issues.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up reading (listening) to the whole book, even though the author says it is intended to be used to target your specific condition. I was listening for solutions for two different people in my family and they seem to have opposite problems — but doesn’t almost everything come down to constipation? 🤪

There was so much knowledge in this book — I appreciated her medical and non-medical tips and tricks. We have so many different things to try!

I think I was hoping for one section for what she recommends for “normal” people. Just diet and water? Magnesium? The other thing I was hoping to read was which types of magnesium are best for GI conditions — I get confused about which type is best for which conditions…or are they really all just the same?

[Jess | dapper.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt perfect after I realized how much of my job deals with poop - and I also have IBS so this intrigued me anyway.

The beginning deals entirely with “regular” bowel movements and when you should see a doctor, then we start debunking some common myths/misconceptions surrounding poo and other problems people experience in the bathroom and the different ways to fix them.

It was interesting considering I’ve lived my whole life with problems in the bathroom. If you’re curious about bathroom issues (your own or in general) I’d recommend this.

[D. Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the kind of book to read cover to cover. The first couple of chapters have a great and illuminating presentation of how the whole pooping system works. The rest of the book has chapters on various dysfunctions of that system and what you can do about them. The book includes a questionnaire that you complete, the scores of which determine what chapters you should read. I found it helpful.

[Kasaundra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me tell you: I will be buying a physical copy of this book because as a girl with IBS I truly enjoyed this book and need it on my shelf for future reference! I love reading new books that could potentially help ya girl out because gut problems is NOT the way to live life. lol

Thank you NetGalley for this booK!

[Ariella Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tamara is proving time and time again that she is an expert in this field. As a dietitian, this was a great review of topics I cover on a day to day basis but written in a way that was a good refresher of how to explain things to clients.