You have constipation one day, diarrhoea the next. Then there are days with bloating, others with abdominal pain or cramps, and the ones where, you just can’t stop farting. And then there are the days where you experience all the symptoms in a day. It’s hardly surprising then that the people who come to see me with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) are rather crestfallen. Due to the wide array of symptoms, it’s not that easy to treat effectively and, in my experience, what works for one person might not work for someone else.
Rather than using the term IBS and working from there, the approach I use involves looking at an individual’s symptoms. For example, some sufferers don’t experience constipation at all, while for others, it’s the most common complaint. For me, each symptom is another piece of the jigsaw – the more there are (or the telling absence of certain symptoms), the better I can see the overall picture.
The main issue with any IBS sufferer is the malabsorption of nutrients, and this is what makes eating nutritious food that much more important. That means a healthy balance of carbs (cooked vegetables, wholegrains, less fruit), good fats (nuts, seeds, avocados) and protein (fish, chicken, eggs, tofu), while drinking plenty of water. If your gut is particularly sensitive, try homemade soups. You may also find that eating small meals suits you better. At the same time, limit your intake of caffeine, alcohol and fatty foods.
If you have IBS, it’s likely that you’ve been told to boost your intake of fibre – reducing the amount of time faecal matter stays in the colon helps to lessen the pressure there, thereby potentially lessening the severity of spasms. While this strategy may work for some people, for many others, it actually makes symptoms worse. This is often due to a sensitivity to a particular food, say wheat.
When this “allergen” is eaten regularly, the abdomen begins to swell and the bowel can become inflamed. Your body therefore tries to “expel” the problem food as quickly as possible. As your digestion gets worse, food can begin to ferment due to the bacteria in the gut, which in turn leads to a lot of gas.
So what’s the alternative? The soluble fibre found in flaxseeds can be super – soak two tablespoons overnight and eat with breakfast. These can either help you become more regular or, in the case of diarrhoea, to bulk up the stool.
Other useful foodstuffs to try include papaya (contains an enzyme which can stimulate digestion and bowel movements), turmeric (may reduce pain and discomfort) and peppermint (may calm spasms).
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