Loved by Sensitive Stomachs: Why Digestive Sensitivity Is the Norm, Not the Niche

By Trent Butler and Steve Brandt, Founders of Coccoo

Three words sit on every pack of Coccoo: Loved by sensitive stomachs.

Here's exactly what they mean.

Our promise

Loved by your stomach. We make Coccoo to be as friendly to your stomach as we possibly can. No dairy. No whey, no casein, no lactose. No fillers, binders, artificial flavours or artificial sweeteners. Free from the major allergens‡. Built on coconut, a food people have eaten for thousands of years.

Loved for the taste. Coconut is naturally delicious. No beany, earthy aftertaste. Just creamy coconut.

What we don't mean. We're not talking about disease. We don't treat IBS, allergies or any medical condition. A sensitive stomach is simply a fussy stomach: one that bloats, grumbles or protests when a food doesn't agree with it. And as you're about to see, that's one of the most common experiences there is.

This is the long version of why we built Coccoo the way we did. It's packed with research, because we think you deserve to see the evidence, not just the slogan.

Part 1: The norm, not the niche

Let's start with the numbers. These come from some of the largest digestive health surveys ever done.

What researchers found Source
61% of Americans had at least one digestive symptom in the past week Almario et al., 2018 (71,812 people)
Nearly 1 in 7 Americans felt bloated in the past week, and most never sought care Oh et al., 2023 (88,795 people)
Almost 18% of people across 26 countries get bloated at least weekly Ballou et al., 2023 (51,425 people)
17% of Australians avoid a food because of allergy or intolerance. Dairy tops the list Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014
11.8% of Australian adults avoid dairy because of how it makes them feel, mostly without a diagnosis Yantcheva et al., 2016 (CSIRO)
60% of people in a Sydney community survey reported four or more digestive symptoms Talley et al., 1998
15 to 20% of people are estimated to have a food intolerance Lomer, 2015

Read that table again. Bloating, wind, an unsettled stomach, foods that don't agree with you. These aren't rare. They're part of everyday life for a huge number of people.

That's why we say sensitive stomachs are the norm, not the niche.

Part 2: Why women feel it more

If you're a woman reading this and nodding, there's a reason.

  • Women are about twice as likely as men to report bloating (Ballou et al., 2023). In an earlier US survey, 19.2% of women reported bloating compared with 10.5% of men (Sandler et al., 2000).
  • Digestion itself can work differently. Slower stomach emptying and slower movement through the colon are more common in healthy women than in healthy men (Narayanan et al., 2021).
  • Hormones may play a part. In a study of 156 healthy women, 73% reported at least one digestive symptom, such as abdominal pain or changed bowel habits, before or during their period (Bernstein et al., 2014). Not every study finds a strong cycle effect (Mendelson et al., 2023), but researchers believe hormones like oestrogen, together with stress, influence how the gut behaves (Jiang et al., 2019).
  • Women report more food reactions too. In a large population study, women made up 60.6% of people with confirmed adverse reactions to food (Zuberbier et al., 2004). In Australia, being female predicted avoiding wheat because of symptoms (Golley et al., 2015).

None of this means something is wrong. It means women's digestive systems are often more responsive, and a lot of women have learned to live with it.

Part 3: Sensitive isn't sick

This is the most important point in this article, so we'll say it plainly.

A sensitive stomach is not a disease. We're not talking about IBS, coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or allergy. We're talking about the everyday reality of a stomach that reacts more than you'd like.

The research supports this distinction:

  • In an Australian study, 22% of adults said certain foods nearly always made them unwell, but true food allergy explained fewer than 1.5% of cases (Woods et al., 2002).
  • Across Europe, 5.7% of people believe they have a milk allergy, but only 0.3% are confirmed by testing (Spolidoro et al., 2023).
  • Your gut and brain are in constant two-way conversation (Mayer et al., 2022). Even in healthy people, chronic stress can change how gut sensations are felt and remembered (Icenhour et al., 2020).

In other words, you can genuinely feel better or worse after certain foods without having any medical condition. Your body is simply telling you what it prefers.

When to see your GP: if your symptoms are new, getting worse, wake you at night, or come with weight loss, bleeding, fever or ongoing changes in bowel habits, please see a doctor. Most everyday tummy troubles are harmless, but some need checking.

Part 4: The dairy question

Dairy is the food Australians avoid most because of intolerance (ABS, 2014). It's worth unpacking why.

Lactose is part of the story. Around 68% of adults worldwide don't fully digest lactose, the natural sugar in milk (Storhaug et al., 2017). Many can still handle small amounts. Health authorities suggest most people with lactose maldigestion tolerate about 12 g at a time, roughly a cup of milk (EFSA, 2010; NIDDK).

But lactose isn't the whole story. In one study of people who said milk didn't agree with them, only 56% tested positive for lactose intolerance. Many of the others still reacted to cow's milk in a blinded test (Carroccio et al., 2021). In another trial, half of the women who self-reported dairy intolerance tested lactose tolerant, yet still felt bloating and wind after milk (Milan et al., 2020).

Milk proteins matter too. The main allergens in cow's milk sit in its two protein families: casein and whey (Fiocchi et al., 2010). Some research suggests different types of casein may affect digestive comfort. A review of the evidence rated the link between A1 beta-casein and digestive symptoms as moderate certainty, though much of the research has been funded by industry (Küllenberg de Gaudry et al., 2019).

And dairy protein powders can carry lactose. Industry specifications show whey protein concentrate typically contains 4 to 8% lactose, while whey isolate contains 0.5 to 1% (US Dairy Export Council).

So when people say "I'm not lactose intolerant, but dairy doesn't agree with me", the science says that's entirely possible. That's why Coccoo contains no dairy at all: no whey, no casein, no lactose.

Part 5: What we keep out, and why

When we designed Coccoo, the most important decisions were about what to leave out. Here's our thinking on each, and the research behind it.

No sugar alcohols. Sweeteners like sorbitol, xylitol and maltitol are common in protein products. A systematic review found they can cause dose-dependent wind, abdominal discomfort and laxative effects, even in healthy people (Lenhart & Chey, 2017). Sorbitol can cause diarrhoea at 15 to 30 g in a single dose (Mäkinen, 2016).

No artificial sweeteners. Our flavoured products are sweetened with pure monk fruit extract and stevia. We avoided artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and saccharin. In a 2022 human trial, those two sweeteners altered the gut microbiome and blood sugar responses within two weeks, at doses below official safe limits (Suez et al., 2022). Coccoo Coconut Protein Unflavoured contains no sweetener at all.

No fillers or binders. Many powders use emulsifiers and gums for texture. In a controlled feeding study, healthy adults given the emulsifier carboxymethylcellulose reported more abdominal discomfort after meals and showed changes in their gut bacteria (Chassaing et al., 2022). A larger 2026 trial found more modest effects across emulsifiers (Wellens et al., 2026). Some gums, like xanthan, act as a laxative at high doses (Daly et al., 1993).

No artificial flavours.

No added fast-fermenting fibres. Some "gut health" products load up on inulin or chicory root fibre. These ferment quickly and can cause wind and bloating as the dose climbs (Bonnema et al., 2010). In one imaging study, inulin produced far more gas in the colon than a slower-fermenting fibre (Gunn et al., 2022).

To be fair, these ingredients are approved for use in food, and most effects in the research came at doses higher than a single serve. We're not saying they're dangerous. We simply chose to leave them out, because when you're building for sensitive stomachs, every ingredient counts.

The result: Coccoo Coconut Protein* is one ingredient, coconut protein. Our products are free from the major allergens‡, with no dairy, no fillers, no binders, no artificial flavours and no artificial sweeteners.

Part 6: What we put in: coconut

Of all the foods we could have built on, we chose coconut. Here's why.

People have eaten it for thousands of years. Genetic and archaeological research shows coconuts were cultivated in southern India around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago (Gunn et al., 2011). It's one of the most familiar foods on earth.

It's not a tree nut, and allergy is uncommon. Australian food labelling rules don't list coconut among the tree nuts that must be declared (FSANZ). Allergy specialists describe coconut allergy as rare (Anagnostou, 2017; ASCIA). It does exist, though, and reactions can be serious (Kruse et al., 2021). If you're allergic to coconut, Coccoo isn't for you.

It isn't a legume. Pea and soy are legumes. Whole legumes naturally contain sugars called raffinose-family oligosaccharides, which humans can't digest. Gut bacteria ferment them into gas, and researchers call flatulence the single biggest reason people avoid legumes (Elango et al., 2022). Legumes, and soy in particular, also contain trypsin inhibitors, which in animal studies can reduce how well protein is digested (Sarwar Gilani et al., 2012). To be fair, modern pea and soy protein isolates are processed to remove most of these sugars, though measurable trypsin inhibitors remain (de Paiva Gouvêa et al., 2024). Coconut sidesteps the legume question entirely, and lab analysis of coconut press cake found relatively low levels of phytic acid, another common antinutrient (Aiello et al., 2022).

Its protein digestibility is promising, and improving. In an animal study, concentrated coconut protein was 94% digestible (Mepba & Achinewhu, 2003), and a 2026 review describes coconut protein's digestibility as high (Anoop et al., 2026). Lab simulations give a wider range depending on how the protein is extracted and processed (Aiello et al., 2022), and food scientists are actively finding ways to improve it (Li et al., 2025). It's an exciting, fast-moving area of research.

Its fibre ferments at a steady pace. In a lab study with human gut bacteria, coconut fibre produced as much butyrate as inulin, but more slowly, which the researchers suggest could deliver it further along the colon (Arioglu-Tuncil et al., 2025).

Part 7: Loved for the taste

Here's the kicker. A protein can be as gentle as you like, but if it tastes like a paddock, you won't keep drinking it.

Picture your plant protein options: peas, soy, or creamy coconut.

The pea problem. Food scientists describe pea protein as rarely tasting neutral. Its flavour is usually called "beany" (Trindler et al., 2022). Researchers have traced pea's beany off-flavour to 26 different aroma compounds (Fischer et al., 2022). Pea protein can also taste bitter, partly thanks to natural compounds called saponins. In one study, pea protein isolate had the highest saponin level of the pea ingredients tested (Martínez Noguera et al., 2022).

The soy problem. Soy has battled the same issue for decades. Scientists describe soy protein's "beany, grassy, or green" notes as a major hurdle, caused mainly by fats that oxidise into strong-smelling compounds, plus bitter and astringent plant compounds (Damodaran & Arora, 2013).

Why it matters. It's not just fussy taste buds. A 2026 review of 61 studies from 29 countries, with authors from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, found poor taste and texture are key barriers stopping people from choosing plant-based alternatives (Nordhagen et al., 2026). The off-flavours are "major obstacles" to acceptance, according to Australian researchers at CSIRO and the University of Melbourne (Leonard et al., 2023).

The coconut difference. Now picture coconut. In a 2025 Australian study, a trained panel compared cow's milk with plant milks. Soy milk was linked to beany and astringent flavours. Coconut milk came out closest to cow's milk for creamy texture, and it was the only plant milk containing lactones, natural compounds associated with sweet, creamy notes (Magwere et al., 2025). Coconut milk's aroma is described by scientists as pleasant, milky and coconutty (Xing et al., 2025).

Coconut is so good at this that food scientists use it to fix other plant proteins. Adding coconut milk to an edamame (soybean) drink markedly reduced hexanal, the compound behind the beany aroma of legumes (Klinmalai et al., 2025). And when researchers made a coconut protein powder, sensory testing showed high overall quality (Naik et al., 2012).

So Coccoo starts with an ingredient people already love: no beany aftertaste to cover up, just coconut. That's the other half of "loved".

Loved by your stomach. Loved for the taste.

Part 8: Making it work for your stomach

Every gut is different. Here's how we suggest starting:

  1. Start small. Try half a serve of Coccoo Coconut Fibre or the Coccoo Stack† for the first week.
  2. Build up slowly. Increase over one to two weeks. Any fibre is best introduced gradually.
  3. Drink water. Fibre works best with plenty of fluid.
  4. Listen to your body. Notice how you feel and adjust.
  5. Following a special diet? If you're on a dietitian-led plan, such as a low FODMAP diet, check with your dietitian before adding new foods.

Our promise

"Loved by sensitive stomachs" isn't a medical claim. We're not treating anything. It's a promise about how we make our products: no dairy, nothing artificial, nothing you don't need, built on a food humans have trusted for thousands of years.

What we keep out is as important as what we put in. We hope your stomach agrees.

Quick answers

Does Coccoo contain dairy? No. No whey, no casein, no lactose.

Is coconut a tree nut? Not under Australian or US food labelling rules. Coconut allergy is uncommon but possible.

What sweeteners does Coccoo use? No artificial sweeteners. Unflavoured has no sweetener; flavoured products use pure monk fruit extract and stevia, with no sugar alcohols.

Is a sensitive stomach the same as IBS? No. IBS is a diagnosed condition. Everyday sensitivity is extremely common and isn't a disease.

Try it: Coccoo Coconut Protein Unflavoured · Coccoo Coconut Fibre · The Coccoo Stack (Vanilla Velvet + Coconut Fibre)

*Coccoo Coconut Protein Unflavoured. †One serve of Coccoo Coconut Protein Vanilla Velvet plus one 10 g serve of Coccoo Coconut Fibre. ‡Always check each product's label for full allergen information. This article is general information, not medical advice.

About the authors: Trent Butler and Steve Brandt are the Founders of Coccoo. Trent is the author of Fractology and a global leader in Pattern Intelligence. Steve brings 30 years of experience in Health & Wellness.

References

How common digestive sensitivity is

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  • Australian Bureau of Statistics (2014). Australian Health Survey: Nutrition First Results, Foods and Nutrients, 2011-12. Link
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Women and digestion

  • Sandler RS et al. (2000). Abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea in the United States: prevalence and impact. Digestive Diseases and Sciences. PubMed
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Sensitive isn't sick

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Dairy

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  • Milan AM et al. (2020). Comparison of the impact of bovine milk β-casein variants on digestive comfort in females self-reporting dairy intolerance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. PubMed
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What we keep out

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  • Mäkinen KK (2016). Gastrointestinal disturbances associated with the consumption of sugar alcohols. International Journal of Dentistry. Full text
  • Suez J et al. (2022). Personalized microbiome-driven effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on human glucose tolerance. Cell. PubMed
  • Chassaing B et al. (2022). Randomized controlled-feeding study of dietary emulsifier carboxymethylcellulose. Gastroenterology. Full text
  • Wellens J et al. (2026). Effect of five dietary emulsifiers on inflammation, permeability, and the gut microbiome. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. PubMed
  • Daly J et al. (1993). The effect of feeding xanthan gum on colonic function in man. British Journal of Nutrition. PubMed
  • Bonnema AL et al. (2010). Gastrointestinal tolerance of chicory inulin products. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. PubMed
  • Gunn D et al. (2022). Psyllium reduces inulin-induced colonic gas production in IBS. Gut. Full text

Coconut

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  • Chen Y et al. (2024). The composition, extraction, functional property, quality, and health benefits of coconut protein: A review. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. PubMed
  • Arioglu-Tuncil S et al. (2025). Coconut and carob flours dietary fibers differentially impact fecal microbiota composition and metabolic outputs in vitro. Food Science & Nutrition. Full text
  • Elango D et al. (2022). Raffinose family oligosaccharides: friend or foe for human and plant health? Frontiers in Plant Science. Full text
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  • de Paiva Gouvêa L et al. (2024). Nutritional properties of common bean protein concentrate compared to commercial legume ingredients for the plant-based market. Current Research in Food Science. Full text
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Taste

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  • Damodaran S, Arora A (2013). Off-flavor precursors in soy protein isolate and novel strategies for their removal. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology. PubMed
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  • Magwere AA et al. (2025). A comparative study of the sensory and physicochemical properties of cow milk and plant-based milk alternatives. Journal of Food Science. Full text
  • Xing R et al. (2025). Volatile flavor characterization of raw coconut milk and the impact of sterilization. Food Chemistry. PubMed
  • Klinmalai P et al. (2025). Co-formulation of edamame-based beverage with coconut derivatives enhances nutritional quality, antioxidant capacity, flavor profile, and physical stability. Foods. Full text
  • Naik A et al. (2012). Production of coconut protein powder from coconut wet processing waste and its characterization. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. PubMed
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