increase in cases among those under 50<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt still is predominantly an older person\u2019s disease. But with younger people being diagnosed now, we do need to be more aware … we need to take all symptoms seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why talking about poo matters<\/p>\n
Before Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in June, The Gut Foundation is running a Gut Check campaign urging Kiwis to \u201ctalk s*** to save lives\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are embarrassed talking about poo and all this stuff, but actually, it\u2019s just another part of the body,\u201d Gearry says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had a sore knee you\u2019d see your doctor. A sore knee is a symptom, bleeding from your bottom is a symptom, diarrhoea is a symptom. We don\u2019t judge you for your symptoms. We judge you for not coming in when you have symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to have those conversations with your doctor, family and friends, he adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have taboos around these things, people will do badly, and we want to make sure that people have great gut health and avoid disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
The link between your brain and your gut<\/p>\n
A symptom you experience may be nothing to worry about, or just the tip of the iceberg, which is why Gearry says it\u2019s important to get it checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to see that whole spectrum … just because you have a symptom, doesn\u2019t mean you need a colonoscopy, but it means you may need someone to think about whether that\u2019s the right test or not.\u201d <\/p>\n
He says the gut doesn\u2019t live in isolation, and these symptoms \u2013 and the psychological impact of them \u2013 can also affect our mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you worry about things as well, then that worry can make your gut symptoms worse, and it\u2019s a bit of a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to have symptoms explained and diagnosed, regardless of what they are, because that knowledge gives you power. That power means that you don\u2019t have the anxieties that may drive further symptoms, and that improves your quality of life \u2013 not just from a gut perspective, but from a general perspective as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
What to do if you have symptoms<\/p>\n
If you have symptoms that might point to bowel cancer, your GP can refer you for assessment and you may undergo a FIT \u2013 faecal immunochemical test \u2013 which looks for traces of blood in your stool.<\/p>\n
This means that polyps \u2013 pre-cancerous growths \u2013 can be diagnosed and removed, or that cancers can be caught at an earlier stage, which improves the chances of survival.<\/p>\n
The test is offered every two years to people aged 58-74 as part of the National Bowel Screening Programme.<\/p>\n
Gearry adds it\u2019s important that different communities engage with free bowel screening, as M\u0101ori and Pasifika people are at higher risk of early-onset bowel cancer and are more likely to die of the disease.<\/p>\n
How does diet impact gut health?<\/p>\n
What you feed your gut will make a big difference to your gut health, Gearry says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want a healthy, balanced diet with appropriate levels of the good things and not so much of the bad things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mediterranean diet is a good example of that, he says. It\u2019s high in fibre, fruits and vegetables, with moderate amounts of seafood and red meat. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important to reduce ultra-processed foods, and aim to include more whole foods in your diet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be vegetarian or vegan, but you just have to make sure you\u2019re getting enough fibre in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables, along with the other foods that you have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three gut checks every Kiwi should do:<\/p>\n
Self check: Check your poo and check your fibre intake<\/p>\n
Professional check: Check any symptoms with your GP and check you know your options for screening <\/p>\n
Social check: Check in with friends and family. Talk about digestive issues \u2013 let\u2019s normalise gut talk to save lives<\/p>\n
Bethany Reitsma is a lifestyle writer who has been with the NZ Herald since 2019. She specialises in all things health and wellbeing and is passionate about telling Kiwis\u2019 real-life stories. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe gut is a major interface between the environment around us and the human body,\u201d Gearry says. \u201cIt\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1443,36334,2534,38691,1601,15658,6098,134,22122,302,13631,111,139,69,90,428,9979,7192,3271,12072,11227,223,1297,19135,197],"class_list":["post-442010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-about","tag-bowel","tag-cancer","tag-crucial","tag-expert","tag-gut","tag-hard","tag-health","tag-ignore","tag-its","tag-never","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-overall","tag-right","tag-risk","tag-should","tag-symptoms","tag-talk","tag-the","tag-wellbeing","tag-working","tag-you"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}