IBS

[shelley]

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is not a disease. As soon as you see the word "syndrome" it means there's no pathogenic cause, it's a lifestyle problem, which, as we know, modern medicine is not good at addressing because it can't be cured with a pill. Oh they still make the pills but so far they haven't made any that I would recommend.

IBS means different things for different people, so it's important to accurately describe the symptoms and deal with each symptom appropriately. The most common definition of IBS is bouts of diarrhea followed by gas, bloating, achy or burning discomfort, and sometimes constipation. What you do depends on which stage you are in.

If you are prone to diarrhea, there can be many reasons for that, beginning with a genetic predisposition. Genetics decides which foods our body enjoys and which foods puzzle it. When a food puzzles our body, it decides it is a poison, which means the best response is to exit it rapidly, hence, diarrhea.

Genetics decides whether you can digest milk, wheat, nightshade veggies. If you can't, you will get diarrhea, gas, bloating. All you can do is avoid it for the most part and take digestive enzymes when you partake. This is a food intolerance rather than a food allergy, and it is permanent. It means the body is lacking digestive enzymes, your pancreas simply does not create them. You can provide them however and still enjoy ice cream every now and again.

Knowing your blood type and following the blood type diet is an excellent way to cut back on foods your immune system reacts to. Keeping a journal while doing a rotation diet and noting reactions is also a fine response to the situation.

If you have gas and bloating, and if you press your abdomen it hurts, then don't eat at all. Just drink warm herbal teas, broths. If you're not prone to burning you can use carminitive (gas reducing) spices. This symptom is a sign of low acidophilus, the friendly microbe. Kefir and homemade saeurkraut will take care of that right away.

If you feel full all the time or feel very full after a meal for hours, then you're low in stomach acids and might have a very congested liver or weak gallbladder. Take the stomach acid test (see FAQ/Diagnostics) and start claensing the liver. If you've never cleansed your liver, you need to.

Constipation is often brought on by dehydration. Fluids must be managed carefully if you have chronic IBS. Drink apart from meals and drink at least 32 ounces a day. You shouldn't need more than 32 ounces unless you are fasting. We get a lot of fluids from digesting foods. Be careful to eat combinations of foods that are easy to digest.

Stress is the factor that must be addressed if IBS is going to go away completely. Many IBS sufferers simply have the wrong attitude or lifestyle. If you're a gentle person, stick to nice gentle jobs! Don't have jobs with deadlines or stay at a workplace full of toxic people. Get some exercise, adaquate sleep, and avoid people who don't make you laugh. Get a better perspective on life. It's that simple.

Stress goes straight to the heart and digestive system via the vagus nerve. Digestion stops, which causes fermentation and yeast buildup - gas and bloating and gallstones. Once there are gallstones and liver stones things spiral ever downward. Caustic, contaminated bile punches holes in the instestines, leaky gut results, and the body becomes more allergic to every protein out there. Yuck.

Taking adaptogenic herbs helps to reduce the fight-or-flight response, so if your IBS is really just Stress with a capital S, get some ginseng, astralagus, licorice, hopefully all together in one complex. Planetary Formula has an adaptogenic blend.

The best diet for someone with IBS that includes diarrhea is a combination of candida diet and blood-type diet, non-gluten, slow cooked and mostly bland, although salts are okay. Have a non-gluten hot cereal for breakfast - preferably brown rice farina, check out Bob's REd Mill for that - you can add rice milk, honey and butter to make it taste nice. Yum!

Lunch is best taken as soup and fresh squeezed veggie juices, or my Protein Shake. Dinner is best as either a warm fruit pie or cobbler, or sweet potato, or very simple protein, preferably slow-cooked with the bone in like pot roast or beef stew. Gelatin and protein heals the intestines very quickly.

In general, for chronic IBS, you should check your diet or get a physical to see if you're deficient in Iron. A lack of iron will cause tremendous digestive distress, and doctors never think to check. A simple blood test for ferritin levels will reveal whether you are iron deficient.

You should also start eating homemade sauerkraut or cortido. Fermented cabbage juice is a wonderful healer of the intestines. Or simply take MSM, 500 mg a day for about 2 weeks. In combination with L-Glutamine and lecithin, this is a fine way to rebuild the intestines.

See the FAQ for other bowel management options and foods that promote digestive health.