Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Overview

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, is a condition that affects the colon (large intestine). Once dismissed by conventional doctors as a psychosomatic condition (meaning that it was caused solely by psychological issues), IBS has become recognized by both the conventional and holistic healthcare community as one of the most common forms of persistent gastrointestinal problems. It manifests without any proof of structural harm to the gastrointestinal tract, such as inflammation or ulceration of the lining of the intestinal wall space. Despite the possible lack of such harm, IBS may severely interrupt healthy performance of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as cause a variety of ongoing signs and symptoms that can highly affect a person’s overall standard of living.

Symptoms

The primary symptoms of IBS are abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea (frequently both of these conditions alternate within IBS patients), flatulence, nausea, anorexia , anxiety, as well as depression. Signs and symptoms tend to be chronic, although their degree of intensity can vary, ranging from moderate to serious.

Causes

IBS can be caused by a variety of factors, including poor diet and nutrition, food allergies, unbalanced levels of hydrochloric acid, reduced immunity, bacterial infections, lack of physical exercise, “leaky gut” syndrome, pharmaceutical drugs, and stress.

Diet and Nutrition: One of the main causes of IBS, as well as other gastrointestinal disorders, is a diet that is high in commercially processed foods, refined carbs, and unhealthy fats, as well as consists of an abundance of chemical additives and preservatives while lacking adequate amounts of fiber. Such a diet, which unfortunately is very typical in the United States and other industrialized countries, not only places a heavy load on the gastrointestinal tract, it can also result in severe nutritional deficiencies. All of these factors, combined, can lead to extra acidity within the GI tract, indigestion, poor absorption of food nutrients, “leaky gut,” syndrome, a buildup of toxins, and autoimmune responses.

Food Allergies: Food allergic reactions, while frequently overlooked or even misdiagnosed by conventional physicians, are an additional common cause of IBS, as well as many other diseases. If you suffer from IBS, or other gastrointestinal conditions, it is very important that you be examined for food allergies as well as sensitivities. Common allergy-causing meals include whole milk and dairy products, wheat, gluten (a component of wheat products), corn, and chocolate, but any food has the potential to cause food allergies.

Unbalanced Hydrochloric Acidity Levels: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is secreted by the stomach to aid in the digestion of food. Many people suffer from a lack of HCl manufacturing which can lead to impaired digestive function and poor absorption of nutrients which eventually impacts the gastrointestinal tract. Likewise, an excess of HCl production can lead to a state over over-acidity, causing IBS symptoms, heartburn, and gas.

Impaired Immune Performance: Impaired immunity can also trigger or bring about IBS, along with other GI disorders due to the relationship between diminished immune performance and poor absorption of nutrients from food. In addition, poor immunity can also result in increased poisons within the intestinal tract, in addition to autoimmune reactions that attack the cells of the intestinal lining.

Infections: Infections brought on by bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses all negatively affect overall intestinal health. In addition to releasing poisons into the GI tract, contagious microorganisms may cause autoimmune reactions, “leaky gut,” syndrome, and malabsorption, dysbiosis, or overgrowth of unhealthy intestinal flora such as Candida albicans, the primary cause of candiasis.

Lack of Physical exercise: Failure to exercise regularly can result in diminished manufacture of digestive and pancreatic enzymes, as well as muriatic acid (HCl), all of which are necessary for wholesome gastrointestinal function and, if lacking, can result in a wide variety of gastrointestinal problems.

“Leaking Gut Syndrome: “Leaky gut” syndrome refers to a condition caused by damage to the stomach and intestinal tract lining, specifically the mucosa. As a result of this particular damage, undigested proteins, as well as various organisms that normally remain within the GI tract pass through the intestines to enter into the bloodstream. This, consequently, causes the immune system to overreact, producing antibodies which attack the cells of the intestines. In addition to GI disorders, “leaky gut” has also been associated with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

“Leaky gut,” syndrome can be cultivated whenever the digestive tract is excessively anxious, yet it’s rarely identified. For more information, treatment protocols, and indicators that will help determine if you have “leaky gut” syndrome, make sure to read the expanded Leaky Gut Section. You are able to print out the entire article for easy reference.

Pharmaceutical Drugs: The following drugs may all cause and exacerbate various gastrointestinal disorders, including IBS: Accutane, Alka-Seltzer Antacid and Alka-Seltzer Pain Reducer, Anturane, Real Bayer Aspirin, Bayer Plus Aspirin, Bayer Regular Power Enteric Pain killers, Bufferin Pain killer Tablets as well as Caplets, Ceptaz, Clinoril, Cuprimine, Ecotrin Enteric Coated Aspirin, Feldene, Ilosone, Lamprene, Leukine for Intravenous Infusion, Lopid, Marplan, Meclomen, Novantrone, Paraplatin, Piroxicam, Prokine Sixth Infusion, Retrovir, Rynatuss, Supprelin Injection, Suprax, Ticlid, Tolectin, Toradol, Trecator-South, Trilisate, and Voltaren.

Tension: Chronic poorly managed stress has a direct effect on the gastrointestinal system, and elevated stress levels have long been linked by scientific research to a wide variety of GI disorders, including Irritable bowel syndrome, because of how stress leads to elevated acid production and impairs general digestive function.

Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: The essential oil of peppermint can often supply significant alleviation of IBS symptoms.

Diet plan: Because the food we eat plays such a key part in the curing and prevention of IBS, we have included this expanded post outlining the Natural Cures Healing Food Plan, which can be printed out for your easy research.

Changing your diet

Choosing to upgrade to a healthier diet is one of the best life improving decisions you can make, and one that in this day and age is essential to both prevent and change illness. It is imperative to consume a selection of foods aimed specifically for healing and avoiding those foods that may undermine your healing process or cause tension in your digestive tract. Natural healing foods taste scrumptious, and have a higher level of nutrients and vitamins than the standard meals consumed on the typical American diet.

Give it time

During the first month or two, allow a gradual transition from your usual way of eating to an organic whole-foods plan. Be gentle, yet firm with yourself, realizing that what you consume has an important effect on your energy levels, your overall health, and your capability to heal.

Things to Eat

Vegetables

Eat the finest organic vegetables and fruit available, with a strong emphasis on steamed, raw, or juiced dark greens such as kale, collards, chard, bok choy, spinach, and other local greens. Choose from a broad selection of vegetables, rotating your choices and tinkering with a wide variety of fresh seasonal produce. Broccoli, squash, tomatoes and avocados are wonderful staples. Make use of lettuces of each and every color as well as shape to produce salads of great variety as well as diversity. Consume as many raw and lightly steamed vegetables and fresh salads as possible.

Note: With digestive issues for example IBS, pureed vegetables might be an excellent option for you. Eating blended foods is less work for the system because the food is already partially broken down. Although it is unnecessary to eat blended food, it is important to move each bite of food around in your mouth before swallowing to activate saliva’s role in digestion.

Proteins

Enjoy a fist-sized serving of protein per meal, which means approximately 2-6 ounces of preferably natural protein. Meat eaters may choose from free-range poultry, preferably turkey, wild-caught fish that are low in mercury, and also lean bison, lamb, and cow meat. Depending on your own individual requirements, consider restricting your intake of organic red meat to one serving every four meals. It is very important to consume red meat that is organic, due to the poisonous build up kept in meat fat. Seafood such as blue fish, halibut, mackerel, and wild caught salmon are excellent sources of healthy proteins and fat. Avoid the following: Farm-raised fish, because of the antibiotics and food dyes they contain; tuna, which is high in mercury; and shellfish, that have a high level of contaminants.

Superb organic vegetarian protein resources include free-range eggs, tempeh, periodic tofu, legumes and beans, especially red-colored lentils, green lentils, and dark, aduki as well as mung coffee beans. When preparing coffee beans for best flavor and easiest digestion, we suggest soaking them overnight in pure water, drying and then rinsing the beans before cooking. Handful size servings of soaked and rinsed nuts and seeds, such as hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seed products are especially advantageous. Flax seeds make great additions to smoothies, and can be ground and dehydrated, or heat baked, into delicious crackers.

Complex Carbohydrates

For sustained energy, eat complex carbohydrates in the form of dried beans, red potatoes, squash, yams, and whole grains such as dark brown rice, amaranth, buckwheat or millet. We suggest restricting your overall carbohydrate intake to 30% or less of your overall intake. What this means is increasing your vegetables and proteins quantities if required, to balance the complex carbohydrates.

How you can prepare and season your food

Steam veggies in pure water until slightly cooked or gently sauté with coconut oil or drinking water and shoyu. Enjoy homemade soups, and research pressure cooking for health and nutrient retention, especially when experimenting with legumes and coffee beans.

Season vegetables and cook whole grains with fresh and dried herbs, ocean salt, or organic soya sauce, also called shoyu or even the wheat-free edition, called tamari. Sea salt is an important add-on to the diet plan, and should substitute commercial or refined table salt. Additional seasonings include a wide variety of clean or dried out herbs, gomasio, powdered or chopped ocean vegetables such as dulse, in addition to many other fascinating powders and condiments available on health store food racks. Garlic, ginger root, cayenne pepper, soup peppers, and onions can be enjoyed regularly for their great flavor as well as immune-boosting qualities.

The preferred oil for cooking and/or baking is raw, organic coconut oil. Extra virgin olive oil, high lignin flax seed oil, or hemp seed oil can be drizzled on steamed vegetables, cooked whole grain products, and utilized as the base for homemade salad dressings. Many health stores carry the raw nut butter known as tahini, which is made of pureed sesame seeds; tahini is really a delicious healthy plant fat, and makes a great base for greens dressings, dips or propagates.

Nutritional Boosts

Live Cultured Foods

Cultured foods are a delicious and useful addition to your diet. Eat raw, live cultured vegetables such as unpasteurized sauerkraut, kim chi, as well as cultured milk products such as natural yogurt and kefir. Be sure to choose organic dairy products, and choose raw dairy whenever possible. (Search for the soon to be completed recipes for Kefir and yogurt making.)

Vegetable Juices

Freshly made vegetable juices add a powerful dietary boost to your food plan. Juices made from a multitude of seasonal vegetables are scrumptious, and essential to healing, and a great precautionary tool whenever used as an ongoing supplement to any diet. Observe recipe section for ideas.

Sea Vegetables, Asian Foods and Broths

Asian foods such as miso, ume plum, and several sea vegetables are fantastic nutritional rich foods. Sea veggies vary in flavor and texture, making them fun to test out, however, they also offer an abundance of organic iodine, which is of the upmost of importance to aid our glandular systems, particularly the thyroid. Miso makes a delicious flavoring in salad dressings, dips, sauces, spreads, and as the traditional, miso soup.

Healing broths are full of delicious life-giving mineral deposits and can be sipped like tea or eaten as soup. Make your own scrumptious vegetable broth simply by cooking an abundance of fresh natural vegetables within purified water. Miso soup, strained vegetable broth, broths from the seaweeds wakame, hijiki, and kombu, as well as fish and beef broths, tend to be healing and easy to digest, making them particularly valuable for just about any digestive problem, including IBS.

Drinking water

Throughout the day, drink plenty of pure, filtered water; drink at least one 8oz. glass every 2 hours. Avoid drinking – in addition to bathing, and showering in – unfiltered tap water, because tap water contains heavy metals and pesticide deposits that can linger in high concentrations in our internal organs.

Allergy Screening

Undergo testing for possible food allergic reactions and sensitivities, and avoid all foods to which you are sensitive. Common allergic reaction-causing foods include milk and dairy products, soya, chocolate, corn, and wheat products. Think about a rotation diet or eradication diet so that you can further decrease the likelihood of food allergies, especially if you cannot get tested right away.

What to Avoid

Refined Sugars and Flour, Artificial Food, Soy Foods

Eliminate just about all refined sugar and sugar products, along with empty carbohydrate foods such as commercially whitened flour present in white bread, bagels, muffins, pastries, cookies and vegetables. Also think about cutting whole grain wheat and wheat byproducts from your diet plan for several weeks. Wheat is a highly allergic food, and can be the root cause of a wide variety of digestive problems. As the days go by, notice if you feel better; if indeed you do, consider eliminating wheat for a year, providing your irritated digestive system with a long deserved break. Choosing alternatives such as spelt, kamut, and rye will give your body a rest from a lifetime of consuming wheat and may provide an energy increase.

Choose to eat a minimum of prepared soy items. By far, the very best of all soy foods tend to be fresh or even frozen edame and tempeh, a fermented soy creation that is less processed and easier to digest than other soy items. Stop eating all “junk,” as well as commercially processed foods, and meals containing synthetic ingredients such as additives, colorings, flavoring, and chemical preservatives (such as carrageenan, BHA, BHT, sodium nitrite, sulfites, saccharin, aspartame, and cyclamates).

Inorganic Dairy, Extra Caffeine, Alcohol, Hydrogenated Fats

Stay clear of inorganic whole milk and dairy products, including natural yogurt and cheese. If eating dairy, always choose natural dairy products, and if available, raw organic milk products. Toxins tend to be stored in fats, so selecting organic is particularly important for both dairy and meat.

Reduce your intake of coffee and other caffeine based items, such as soda and coffee spiked with caffeine. Avoid commercial non-herb teas, and excess alcohol. Do not eat trans-fat, hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils. Margarine and shortening are manufactured from these and should be eliminated.

For some affected with IBS, a raw food diet plan can be extremely beneficial; for others, raw food may not be the best choice. Each person responds differently depending on their chemistry and the depth of the condition becoming healed. To learn more, read about the Raw Meals Diet. You are able to print out this full post for easy research. Numerous publications are available to give you a better overview of how consuming raw and live meals might be the perfect healing route. Healing IBS by John Nison addresses this issue directly and describes how he healed his disease by eating raw foods. See the recommended books section in regard to other titles.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet – A dietary approach that is found to be efficient in nearly all IBS instances is called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet plan. It was developed by Elaine Gottschall, in an effort to help her four year-old child heal her IBS signs and symptoms, and is based on research from the late Sidney V. Haas, M.D., who discovered that most intestinal disorders are caused by an imbalance of carbs in relationship to the microorganisms that naturally occur in the gastrointestinal tract.

According to Dr. Haas, if this relationship becomes unbalanced, the microorganisms develop unchecked and release poisons, causing poor absorption of foods, and especially poor digestion of carbohydrates, a staple of the western diet plan. To reverse this pattern, Haas, as well as later, Gottschall developed the strict nutritional regimen that comprises the particular Carbohydrate Diet plan. Based on her work with countless patients with severe intestinal disorders, Gottschall has found the diet can yield total results within three weeks, but only if it’s completely followed. The eating guidelines are listed below:

Avoid: All processed, smoked, deep-fried, or breaded meats, fish, seaweed, cheese, seeds, potatoes, yams, parsnips, chick peas, bean seedlings, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, flour, as well as all cereal grains in all forms. Avoid whole milk, and all items commercially produced from milk, powdered milk, buttermilk or even acidophilus milk, commercially prepared yogurt, butter cream and ice cream. Do not consume soymilk, instant tea, coffee, coffee substitutes, beer, cornstarch, arrowroot, chocolate, carob, bouillon cubes, instant soup bases, any product created using refined sugar, carrageenan, pectin, ketchup, molasses, corn and walnut syrup, any kind of flour made from legumes, and baking natural powder.

Eat: Clean, fresh natural meats, chicken, wild caught fish, organic eggs, natural milk and products made from natural milk such as cheeses, homemade yogurt prepared at reduced temperatures with organic milk, and dried out cottage-cheese. Choose from a multitude of fresh produce, preferably organic vegetables. Vegetables and fruits are the primary staple of the food plan. Make use of unprocessed foods except for salt-free canned red salmon, white albacore tuna or sardines, just on occasion. Daily juicing with fresh vegetables is an important addition for recovery and offers a person deep dietary nourishment. With this and all illness, providing yourself with the most encouraging nutritional diet possible is of primary importance.

Abide by this diet plan for as long as your symptoms persist. Adherence to the diet can be challenging, but is essential to obtain the preferred results.

Detoxing Therapy: Detoxification therapy is often advisable for people suffering from IBS, both as a way for determining potential food allergies that may trigger IBS symptoms, and for eliminating potential toxins and infectious agents that can play a role in IBS. Suitable forms of detoxification therapy consist of fasting, elimination diets, colonic treatment and/or enemas under a doctor’s supervision.

Emotional Aspects: IBS can be brought on by unexpressed feelings that get stored in your gut. If you are not comfortable expressing yourself verbally or physically, these types of feelings may settle into the body as irritation within the gut. Withheld emotions are a common cause of IBS, so it is of great importance to embrace the nature of the IBS by asking yourself in case your feelings tend to be expressing on their own through your bowels.

If this sounds like the case, seek support from a trusted or recommended source, to help express your feelings. Psychological expression will go hand in hand with physical expression, and can be enhanced with such treatments as NIA or Yoga exercise therapy.

Herbal Medicine: Enteric-covered peppermint essential oil can often reduce IBS symptoms and is popular in European countries for this purpose. (Make sure to use enteric coated peppermint oil formulations because, without enteric coating, the pepper mint oil will usually be soaked up in the upper digestive tract, creating side effects such as heartburn and esophageal flow back-up (stomach acid regurgitating into the esophagus).

Other helpful herbs include chamomile, ginger root, lemon balm, rosemary, and valerian. A mixture of equal tinctures of bayberry, gentian, peppermint, and wild yam can also be helpful. Consider 1 tsp. three times a day.

Homeopathy: Helpful homeopathic remedies for Irritable bowel syndrome include Aloe, Carbo veg., Merc sol., and Nux vomica.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, steam and alternating hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Remedies include complete body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating an array of conditions and can easily be utilized in the home in a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists as well as day spas use Hydrotherapy as part of their treatment. We recommend several at-home hydrotherapy remedies. Soothing baths 2-5 nights per week can help to reduce symptoms of IBS, as can alternating hot and cold packs positioned over the belly. Please seek the advice of an alternative healthcare practitioner prior to undergoing these types of procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.

*Purified water is essential for any hydrotherapy remedy. Remedies for treating bath water offer clear instructions and recommendations.

Juice Therapy: Useful juice treatments include aloe juice; wheatgrass juice; cabbage, papaya, and carrot juice; carrot and apple juice; and carrot, beet, as well as cucumber juice.

Lifestyle: Irritable bowel syndrome can be an emotionally rooted condition. Consider facets of your lifestyle which may be stressful and re-organize, focusing on factors that need attention. If you smoke cigarettes, stop, and avoid contact with secondhand cigarette smoke. If you are presently taking pain killers or other NSAIDs, think about replacing them with safer, more effective natural remedies.

Additionally, read the section below, and commit to learn how to effectively deal with and handle stress. A normal exercise program that you enjoy is essential. Find workouts that you appreciate doing such as walking, yoga, Qi gong, Tai Chi, and Yoga and do it regularly. This is essential to rid the body of toxins which contribute to IBS.

Nutritional Supplements: Useful supplements for IBS include vitamin A, zinc, evening primrose oil, and probiotics for example acidophilus as well as Bifidobacteria.

Two other highly effective supplements are fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and soil-based organisms. FOS is an all-natural carbohydrate microorganism that has been shown by researchers to serve as a fertilizing agent that allows Bifidobacteria to thrive within the large intestine, where it helps to protect against harmful bacteria.

Soil-dependent organisms are beneficial microorganisms found in soil. Taken like a supplement, these organisms go to work to detoxify the gastrointestinal system while eliminating fungi, parasites, viruses, and yeasts. They also help to improve the absorption of nutrition and to improve both immune and general cell performance, including the manufacture of RNA and DNA. Additionally, they also act as natural antioxidants.

Stress Decrease: Stress reduction techniques in many cases are helpful in relieving IBS. Tension reduction techniques are also very useful for dealing with feelings such as anger, depression, as well as hopelessness that may exacerbate IBS symptoms. Holistic health practitioners help their patients accomplish stress reduction through the use of various mind/body treatments techniques, such as biofeedback, hypnosis, and relaxation exercises. Meditation is another form of stress management that can be highly effective. There are many ways to meditate. Among the easiest is to sit comfortably in a seat with your eyes closed as you focus on your breathing. Try this for 5-10 minutes twice daily and progressively extend every session to 20-30 minutes. To enhance your efforts, concentrate on mentally repeating a peaceful phrase each time that you catch your breath, allowing all other thoughts to arise and pass without becoming involved with them. In the beginning, this can seem complicated, but with dedicated practice you’ll eventually find yourself able to do so while appreciating higher levels of calm and peace.

Alternative Professional Care

The following treatments can also assist to prevent and reducing IBS: Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Psychophysiological feedback Training and Neurotherapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Enzyme Therapy, Flower Essences, Led Imagery, Hypnosis, Mind/Body Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Oxygen Treatment, Qigong, Tai Chi, Complete Integration, and Yoga. (See Resources for additional information regarding these and other alternative therapies).