The things we never said: what women shared at Tummy Talks No. 1
Storytelling without a script, until that Tuesday night. On 6 October, at Wanakam in Amsterdam, women took the storytelling seat at the first Tummy Talks by Gigi and said the things they had only ever told a doctor, or no one at all. These are some of the themes that kept coming back, and what we took home with us.
"It's just stress"
Almost every story had a version of this sentence in it. Years of bloating, pain, fatigue or reflux, and the answer was stress, or nerves, or "try to relax". Saying it out loud in a room full of women who had heard the exact same thing changed something. It was no longer one person's problem. It was a pattern.
Storytelling without a script
One of our storytellers in the chair at Tummy Talks No. 1, saying out loud what she had carried for years.
Bodies that run on a cycle
A lot of medical research has historically been built around male bodies, while ours run on a monthly cycle. Several storytellers described how their gut symptoms shift across the month, and how long it took before anyone connected the two. Our storyteller Helene Choo went deep on this, and we wrote about it in "It's just IBS" vs. "it's just PMS".
What stays behind in the gut
The pill, rounds of antibiotics, and what they may leave behind. Histamine, yeast and celiac disease. Food intolerances that took years to name. Many of us had been piecing together our own history for a long time, often alone, with notes on our phones and half-remembered appointments.
When a food condition becomes a social one
Dinner with friends, work lunches, dates, family visits. When you can't eat what everyone else eats, your gut condition quietly becomes a social condition too. You explain, you apologise, or you skip it altogether. Several women shared how lonely that can feel, and how much energy goes into hiding it.
Moving countries, and your gut moving with you
Amsterdam is a city of people who moved here from somewhere else. New food, new water, new routines, a new healthcare system and often a new language to describe your symptoms in. More than one storyteller talked about how their gut changed when their life did.
The hallway, after the stories
Women from all over the world, swapping stories and bone broth in the hallway at Wanakam.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you
I hosted the night and shared my own gut story too. If there was one thing I wanted everyone to hear, it was this: our bodies are different, and that is okay. We don't talk to get advice. We talk so we can listen better, to each other and to our own bodies.
Our bodies are different, and that is okay
Hosting the first Tummy Talks and sharing my own gut story in the storytelling seat.
We left lighter
One by one, women found the courage to say what they had carried for years. The shame. The relief of finally being believed. Nobody tried to fix anyone. We listened, we laughed, and we held each other. With warm bone broth from Bone Broth Mama in our hands and ferments by SAKCo on the table, it felt less like an event and more like a community.
What stayed with us
The shame, the relief of being believed, and a room full of women who get it.
That feeling is also why I'm building Gigi, an AI gut health companion for women that listens, remembers and helps you see your patterns sooner. Tummy Talks is the room. Gigi is the companion for every other day.
Be there next time
We're planning Tummy Talks No. 2. Join the list to hear first, and you'll also save your place on the Gigi waiting list. Want to know how it all started? Read why we started Tummy Talks.
Rafaela Buena, founder of Gigi
Personal stories, not medical advice. If something is worrying you, please see a healthcare professional. Photos by Val, Lines & Lenses.
