Mandy Moore Shares How She's 'Holding Herself Accountable' to Her Illness

After finding out all the foods she’s sensitive to, Mandy Moore is sharing the results with her Instagram followers — a decision she hopes will “hold herself accountable.” If you’ve needed to make lifestyle changes for your chronic illness, you might relate to the challenges she’s going through.

The “This Is Us” actress posted an Instagram story Saturday explaining that she has been trying to figure out what’s happening in her gut. She got her food allergy test results back, which showed a list of foods she needed to eliminate from her diet before she could treat her bacterial overgrowth.

“Sorry for the info overshare but it’s mostly a reminder to myself that I must hold myself accountable in order to feel better,” she wrote.

Check out her entire Instagram story below:

“In an effort to FINALLY figure out what the heck is going on in my gut (and after many trips to traditional doctors, gastrointestinal and otherwise) I finally decided on giving functional medicine a try.”

“There were many tests (urine, [poop emoji], and three different blood tests)… and I got the results back yesterday after a month.”

“Sorry for this TMI. I have a bacterial overgrowth (duh!) but something that a traditional breath test did not pick up. My hormones are out of balance. I am deficient in the B vitamins (5, 6 and 12 — which makes sense given my lack of energy lately). And all kinds of other things. I’m on a protocol of just supporting my system and getting my engine back up and running before we start killing the bacterial overgrowth.”

“The biggest bummer was the food allergy test results.”

“The things in red are what I’m sensitive to and therefore will be eliminating from my diet for the next six months. Bye bye [cheese emoji] (and all cows milk but I kinda already knew that). Gluten didn’t come up but I’m normally gluten-free anyway… the biggest bummer is my favorite food: salmon. Those who know me know this is a tough blow.”

“Sorry for the info overshare but it’s mostly a reminder to myself that I must hold myself accountable in order to feel better.”

Bacterial overgrowth occurs when poor functioning of the intestine causes normal bacteria to grow excessively. Symptoms could include diarrhea, malabsorption, bloating and abdominal pain.

Moore has been open about her health challenges, particularly her dietary restrictions, before — in 2017, she revealed that she had an endoscopy to see if she had celiac disease, and later shared some of the frustrations of being gluten-free.

If you have a chronic illness, you’re likely familiar with the idea that you must take control of your health and (depending on your diagnosis) perhaps introduce some lifestyle changes as part of your treatment plan. This isn’t always easy. Mighty contributor Kate Jackson shared the attitude she keeps in mind when she’s having trouble accepting her illness:

I accept that at the moment I don’t appear to be getting better and so I may need to review my lifestyle choices to see if I can create a better environment for healing and productivity. I accept that while my life has changed considerably, and may never be exactly as it was, I have an opportunity to really listen and work with my body and mind and provide a better environment. I am also motivated and committed to doing this work, to giving my body what it needs and making the most of finding joy in my life in whatever way it comes.