When we talk about generational curses or trauma, we usually think of money struggles, toxic relationship patterns, or unspoken family drama– a downstream of issues you gotta work on (if you’re self-aware enough to notice them, as painful as it often is). But gut issues? We rarely put them in the same category.

And yet, for many women I work with, digestive problems are exactly that: inherited patterns. Not in the genetic sense, but in the behavioral, environmental, and medical sense. You grew up watching your family treat gut issues as something to manage, something you just live with. There were over-the-counter meds on every shelf and digestive bandaids passed around like family recipes.

Your dad can’t live without Alka Seltzer.
Your mom only poops 3 times per week.
And you took the cake with gastritis, IBS, maybe even reflux so bad it disrupts your sleep.

At some point, gut issues are so normalized that we joke about them daily at the dinner table. Don’t get me wrong, I love butt jokes, but at some point they stop being funny and become a very real tale of our struggles and blind spots.

Here’s the truth:
Gut issues aren’t genetic. They are also not normal (common, yes, normal, no).
And you don’t have to keep repeating the same patterns — especially if they’re making you feel miserable in your own body.

Why Your Gut Issues Feel Inherited — But Aren’t

While you may have inherited your family’s food culture, stress patterns, and over-the-counter medicine cabinet… that’s not the same as inheriting a broken gut.

In fact, the data shows IBS and other digestive issues are far more common in women than men. This may explain why your little brother can eat pizza, wash it down with soda, and go about his life. Meanwhile, you’re Googling “bloat after eating salad, normal?” for the 20th time.

Because you’ve dealt with symptoms for so long, they stop raising red flags.

If you’re lucky, you may remember a time when things felt easier in your gut but can’t explain why things have changed other than because of the trips around the sun. Bloating becomes background noise, exhaustion becomes just a caffeine-deficiency, and you don’t even notice your digestion is off. You just assume that everybody bloats after a smoothie and that you just have to avoid meat if you don’t want a burning sensation up your chest.

But the good news is that since gut issues aren’t genetic, you can break this cycle much easier than your unresolved family baggage. Here’s how:

Cut the cord: the 3 Steps to break the pattern of unresolved gut stuff

Step 1: Know What’s Actually Normal.

Some things are normal, other things are normalized. Here are some actually normal situational gut issues vs. what we’ve normalized in our family and in society as a whole:

Eating a heavy meal and feeling a little too full to function [normal]
Reflux creeping in after a heavy meal [not normal]

A little farting after eating black beans [normal]
Uncomfortable bloat after having black beans [not normal]

Feeling “butterflies in the stomach” and bathroom urgency when giving a speech at college or work [normal]
Every single minor inconvenience and nervousness sends you to the bathroom with no warning [not normal]

Constipation for the first two days of your trip to Italy as you settle into the airbnb [normal]
Constipation during the entire Eurotrip (or worse, in the comfort of your own home) [SO not normal]

Gastritis, ever [not normal]

How many did you check off?

Step 2: Work from the Top Down

Here’s where most people go wrong: they jump straight to trying to fix their bloating or go for a food sensitivity test without addressing the upstream issues that cause those problems in the first place.

Here’s the actual order of priorities and what moves the needle more effectively:

Start with addressing:

Acid reflux
Fullness after small meals
No appetite in the morning

Then move to:

Bloat after meals
Food sensitivities

In the last order of priorities:

Constipation
Excessive gas or flatulence
Stool irregularities

Your body works in order and heals in order. This is what I call the north-to-south process, and it’s one of the most overlooked parts of gut healing.

Step 3: [TEMPORARY] Food Eliminations

But wait! No need to cut out 25 foods or download another FODMAP chart.

Start by removing 2–3 specific foods that seem suspicious. (Not food groups. Just foods.) Think: milk and cheese, coffee, and bread. Don’t try to replace them. Just go without for 2–3 weeks.

Then reintroduce one at a time. Observe. Track. Listen to your body.

‼️ Step 4: Address your lifestyle, mindset, and get more clarity on nutrition

This is a loaded step that requires nuance and individuation. I’ll be sharing the exact system I use for client success inside the free class The Gut Freedom Formula and you are INVITED!

This is a one-hour, no strings attached lesson on the variables that actually heal the gut and how they successfully get clients from bloated + in pain to enjoying a slice or two without issues.

When? August 18th, 2025

12 pm PST. Via Zoom!

RSVP “going” even if you can’t make it live. A recording will be sent to those who register!

RSVP FREE CLASS

Final [food for] thought/s:

You may have grown up thinking having abdominal pain was normal. That not going to the bathroom was normal. Not being able to put food down as normal.

That you just had to manage and live with. BUT I invite you to dream of a healthier, hotter you:

You can be the first woman in your family to not live on Miralax.
To understand her body.
To heal fully — and model that healing for the women who come after you.

Let this be the generation that breaks the cycle.
It starts with you. Will you come to class?

Breaking Patterns: 3 Steps on How to Be the First One in Your Family Lineage to Heal from Chronic Gut Issues