#47 – IBS isn't a Diagnosis, It's a Question: Dr. Sophie Kuizenga-Wessel on the Gut-Brain Connection

Bloating, urgency, unpredictable bowel movements — and a diagnosis that often feels like a shrug: "it's just IBS." In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Sophie Kuizenga-Wessel, holistic physician and founder of Mind Your Gut, to unpack what's really going on beneath that label. We start with the name of her practice — Mind Your Gut — and what it means to truly listen to your body without tipping into hypervigilance. Sophie shares a real case study from her clinic: a woman who'd struggled with symptoms for years and had been told to just live with it, and how they got to the root of it through the lens of the gut-brain-microbiome connection. We talk about: Why IBS is increasingly understood as a disorder of gut-brain-microbiome communication, not just "normal test results, no answers" SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and why up to 60% of people with IBS may have it The vagus nerve as the two-way communication highway between gut and brain Gut-directed hypnotherapy, yoga nidra, and other ways to support the nervous system Laxatives, myth-busted: when they're okay to use and when they can make things worse Coffee — on an empty stomach or not? Sophie's honest, non-dogmatic take Why IBS symptoms often intensify in your thirties, forties, and into perimenopause This conversation is a reminder that there's no single right way to eat or live — just what's true for your body, right now. Guest: Dr. Sophie Kuizenga-Wessel Website: mindyourgut.amsterdam Instagram: @mindyourgutamsterdam/