IBS stands for irritable bowel syndrome, most suffers would agree you get extremely irritable, fed up and at times embarrassed about the condition, as the symptoms can disrupt your life severely. Bloating, wind, cramps, diarrhoea and having to rush to the toilet can have a huge impact on your life and as it affects so many people what can be done about it?
The gut is controlled by the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), the operation of which isn’t fully understood, which would explain why there is no specific test for it as yet. Many doctors and health professionals do not know the best methods of treating this illness, although they do now believe that a major disruption to the bacterial balance in your intestines can sometimes lead to long term problems with IBS.
Every individual will have different circumstances which will have triggered this condition. It may have been a tummy upset, extreme stress or infection. Although there is no cure for IBS, with dietary adjustments and some knowledge of the illness you can overcome it. Diet being the most important change you can make. Any IBS sufferer will know some of the foods or types of food that triggers an episode.
Another common cause of IBS is fructose malabsorption and/or FODMAP intolerance. Just like eating carbohydrates, they can cause excessive fermentation. SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) foods high in fructose or FODMAPs, which are a group of short-chain fermentable carbohydrates, can also be excessively fermented in your colon. Look them up and try to eliminate all that you think trigger your IBS to help you on the healing process.
Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAP Syndrome or GAPS) is a condition, which establishes a connection between the functions of the digestive system and the brain. One of the major functions of the good bacteria in the gut flora is controlling about 500 different known to science species of pathogenic (bad) and opportunistic microbes. When the beneficial good bacteria get destroyed a special opportunity arises for other bad bacteria to grow into large colonies and occupy large areas of the digestive tract. A modern diet of processed and fast foods provides perfect nourishment for these pathogens. This is not good news for IBS sufferers.
Nutritional Relief From IBS
The Paleo diet is perfect for IBS sufferers, as it removes most of the food groups that trigger IBS. It offers a simple solution for a healthy new lifestyle free from all the horrible symptoms. A diet designed for optimum health and recovery should be the first line of treatment against IBS, the Paleo diet is perfect for this. It is often called the inflammatory diet and since inflammation is the key in IBS then it provides the perfect solution.
Try eating healthy food, with no additives and preservatives. Go back to a primitive Caveman style diet, which the Paleo diet, is also known as and a perfect remedy to heal you from inside. The foundation of the Paleo Diet is to eat meat, seafood, eggs, poultry, seafood and unlimited consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Many fats which include nut oils,coconut oil, lard and tallow. Drink plenty of water filtered or sparkling, tea and bone broths. No Alcohol unless gluten free or any sugar or chemical ingredients of any sort.
This will allow the foods rich in antioxidants to do their work and help you to recover. The road to this, might not be an easy one, but if you can eliminate these awful symptoms that IBS causes, then what have you to lose. It will be worth it, I assure you.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is the name doctors have given to a collection of otherwise unexplained symptoms relating to a disturbance of the colon or large intestine. It affects around a third of the population at some point in their lives and about one in ten people suffer symptoms severe enough to seek help from their Doctor.
The symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome may include:
- Abdominal pain and spasms, often relieved by going to the toilet.
- Diarrhoea, Constipation or an erratic bowel habit
- Bloating or swelling of the abdomen.
- Rumbling noises and excessive passage of wind.
- Urgency (An urgent need to visit the toilet).Incontinence (If a toilet is not nearby).
- Sharp pain felt low down inside the rectum.
- Sensation of incomplete bowel movement.
When X-rays, blood tests, endoscopies and other diagnostic tests are carried out, the results do not reveal any obvious abnormality. For this reason IBS is often called ‘a functional disorder’ of the bowel; in other words, a disturbance in bowel function without any change in structure or obvious cause.
IBS is more frequently diagnosed in women compared with men, in young compared with old and in western countries compared with the developing world. It is commonly associated with emotional tension and is frequently triggered by life changes, difficult life situations or stressful life events.
Enter The Paleo Diet…
So how can the Paleo diet help IBS sufferers? It helps by cutting out most of the known triggers of IBS. Dairy, gluten and grains are particularly harmful and inflammatory. Your goals to better guts are to elimate trigger foods, heal and seal your gut, lower inflammation and restore your gut flora. The gut flora needs to be calmed and healed, allowing the good bacteria to grow and multiply, thus eliminated the horrible IBS symptoms.
Some people may also be sensitive to FODMAPS which are a group of short-chain fermentable carbohydrates, they can also be excessively fermented in you colon. Foods high in FODMAPS include several fruits and vegetables like apples, onions and cauliflower. The problem with these foods isn’t that they’re naturally toxic, it’s that an unhealthy digestive system just isn’t up to them. FODMAPS aren’t easy to digest, so they linger in the small intestine while your gut flora ferment them. Look up a list of FODMAP foods and check to see if they are a possible cause for concern.
The Paleo diet is not a fad diet, it has been around for years. It is also commonly known as the caveman’s diet as it originated from pre-historic times where there was none of the convenience foods we have today. Time to go back to basics, where you can eat, wholesome, preferably organic Meat, Poultry, Fish, Seafood and Eggs. Using nut and coconut oils, plus Butter and cream if you tolerate dairy. Vegetables
and fruit all washed down with plenty of water, filtered or sparkling, tea and super healing bone broths which can heal seal and repair your gut. No Alcohol unless gluten free, coffee or sugar. Removing all additives and preservatives will detox your delicate system and restore it to better functioning digestion.
The Paleo diet is a good place to start with IBS and anecdotal evidence shows that it has helped hundreds of people feel better than they have in years by removing the most common dietary culprits: gluten, grains, legumes, soy and dairy.
So what do you have to think about? Eating a better diet will avoid you injuring your gut and the inflammation will eventually subside. A brand new start to a better health and lifestyle.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common gut condition and affects about one in ten people at some time. It is most common among people aged between 25 and 45 but can cause problems at any age. Women are more often affected than men. If you are a sufferer the symptoms can vary, but it can also be very debilitating and take over your life. The pain from spasms from your colon (Spastic Colon) can be excruciating and it is an illness that is often dismissed but doctors and health professionals.
The symptoms of IBS include:
Abdominal pain, bloating and wind
Diarrhoea or constipation, or episodes of both
Passing mucus when you open your bowels
A feeling of incomplete emptying of the rectum
Nausea and vomiting
Depression, anxiety and stress
Other possible symptoms that aren’t related to the gut include backache, tiredness, headaches, and urinary or gynaecological symptoms.
About one-third of those with IBS predominantly have problems with diarrhoea while another third are mostly troubled byconstipation, and the remainder have both loose and hard motions, and others switch between types.
Although the exact cause is unknown, and it isn’t possible to prevent IBS from developing, there are certain things that trigger attacks and so should be avoided, including stress, certain foods (different in every individual), and irregular mealtimes.
What research is starting to show is that people with IBS seem to have a colon (also called the large bowel) that is super-sensitive. This is supported by the fact that some people develop IBS following gut infections and food poisoning, suggesting that these illnesses have somehow changed the gut and made it more sensitive.
The whole length of the bowel is controlled by a nervous system, which carries signals back and forward between the gut and the brain, controlling factors such as how fast food is pushed through the intestines. Some experts believe this ‘enteric’ nervous system is faulty in people with IBS.
In IBS, the bowel responds with powerful contractions or spasms to stimuli that wouldn’t bother other people, for example, simply eating food. Leading research into IBS has shown that changing your diet and lifestyle can ease the symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Curing IBS Through Diet?
The Paelo diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. It offers the inflamed gut the chance to heal and improve its fuction with the help of a new growth of good bacteria. Removing the main food groups than can cause the illness will offer the help needed to improve their digestion. The Paleo diet eliminates a lot of pro-inflammatory foods, while promoting anti-inflammatory and antioxidants foods.
These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.
Decades of research demonstrate that hunter-gatherers typically were free from the chronic illnesses and diseases that are epidemic in Western populations.
Another possible causes of IBS,is a Frutose malabsorption or FODMAPs, which represents a group of short-chain fermentable carbohydrates and stands for Fructose Oligo- Di- Mono-saccharide And Polyols. Check out these foods, to see if they are a trigger for your IBS symptoms.
Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAP Syndrome or GAPS) is a condition, which establishes a connection between the functions of the digestive system and the brain. Knowing this isn’t it time to start eating your way to a better health.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a form of digestive problem. It is defined as a collection of symptoms that affect the digestive system.
IBS symptoms are numerous due to the size and complexity of the digestive system but can include constipation, diarrhoea. abdominal pain and excessive wind among many others.
Who Has IBS?
IBS is the most common digestive disorder and 1 in 10 people will suffer from it at some point in their life. There are commonly three types, classified according to the type of digestive problem involved. Patients with IBS-D suffer mostly form diarrhoea, paitents with IBS-C suffer mostly from constipation. IBS-M is a mixed type of IBS that includes both symptoms.
There is no known cure, most doctors or health professional will do a series of test to rule out other illnesses first. Then if none of the results show a positive then a diagnosis of IBS will be given. The lack of one clear cause implies that IBS is caused, not by any specific food or nutrient deficiency, but by a variety of diet and lifestyle problems that when combined do several types of damage to the digestive system. Understanding your symptoms and learning about potentially problematic food groups can help you handle IBS without it ruining your life.
The digestive system is controlled and monitored by signals sent to and from the brain via the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system carries involuntary nerve impulses from the brain to other parts of the body.
Different parts of the nervous system control different aspects of digestion. Nerve impulses send a variety of important messages to the brain, such as when we are too full, when we are hungry or when we need to use the toilet.
Many experts believe that people with IBS are extra sensitive to these nerve impulses. This supports the theory of the GAPS diet(GAP Syndrome or GAPS) is a condition, which establishes a connection between the functions of the digestive system and the brain. So with this all making sense, how can we restore our delicate system back to its full working order and eliminate IBS for good?
IBS & The Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet offers a solution to this painful and embarrassing condition. It eliminates all of the most common trigger food replacing them with wholesome food without additives and preservatives. No sugar or Alcohol unless gluten free. It was derived from a pre-historic way of eating. The Caveman or Stone age diet are other common names for this way of eating.
This diet encourages you to eat as much Meat, Poultry, Fish, Seafood and Eggs as you like. Use nut oils or Butter if dairy tolerated, accompanied with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. Drink plenty of water tea and try a healing Bone broth. Gluten and grains are completely removed, as many IBS sufferers do not tolerate it well
FODMAPS are another potential problem that can cause inflammation in the gut flora. They are a are short chain carbohydrates and monosaccharides which are poorly absorbed in the small intestine, including fructans, glactans, fructose and polyols. The restriction of FODMAPs from the diet has been found to have a beneficial effect for sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome and other functional gut disorders. These foods which cause irritation commonly are: wheat, rye, apples onions, cauliflower and artificial sweetner.
The Paleo diet is the optimum start to a new healthy gut flora. Back in the caveman times there were none of the western diseases we have now. The answer is pretty simple. Start looking after your digestive functioning will not only make you feel better, but give you relief from the horrible symptoms of this disease.
Irritable bowel syndrome (often called ‘IBS’) is a disorder that interferes with the normal functioning of the large bowel. The most common symptoms include pain or discomfort in the abdomen, bloating, an urgent need to empty the bowel, and changes in bowel habit (diarrhoea or constipation, or both).
It will often come and go throughout life and can be a painful and upsetting condition. Its exact cause is unknown. Irritable bowel syndrome affects between 10 and 20% of the general population, but most often occurs in young people between the ages of 20 and 30. It is twice as common in women as in men.
Do You Have IBS?
There are no specific tests to confirm IBS. Your symptoms should have lasted about 6 months and your Doctor or health professional should test you to rule out any other illnesses first. Once these have been done and ruled out a diagnosis of IBS is usually given.
Your digestive system plays a vital role in supporting your natural defences, preventing digestive problems and contributing to the health of the whole body. It’s a complex collection of organs that work together to make sure the nutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary for overall health can be used and absorbed in the body. Your gut flora plays an essential role in a healthy gut and having IBS means you need to address the problem, get rid of any bad bacteria or unhealthy gut flora and replace it with new healthy good flora. Many different foods, medications and stress can cause these problems. Eating a healthy diet can combat this, loading your body with toxins and eating junk food will not help you to recover.
The Paleo diet offers a easy and simple solution. It removes all the most common triggers of the illness eg, grains, dairy and additives. Replacing them with healthy options, gives your system, time to heal. The Paleo diet consists of fresh meat, poultry, fish, seafood and eggs, fruit, nuts and seeds, healthy oils, vegetables and to drink water, tea and healing bone broths. This is also known as the caveman diet and it is going back, many years to how we used to eat. They certainly did not suffer from any of the Western illnesses that we do today. This diet also provides all the nutrients, protein, vitamins, fibre, minerals and antioxidants we need.
IBS and FODMAPS
Another common cause of IBS is a intolerance to FODMAPS. They are a complex variety of carbohydrate standing for (Fermentable, Oligosaccharide,Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols). Foods high in FODMAPS include several fruits and vegetables such as onions, cauliflower and apples. The unhealthy gut of an IBS sufferer is unable to tolerate them and your gut flora will ferment them, causing painful symptoms. If you have an idea that you are sensitive to these types of foods, then check them out and remove them from your diet.
Digestive health and a good functioning brain are essential to everyday living. GAPS diet stands for Gut and Psychological syndrome, shows evidence that eating the right kinds of foods can heal your body and improve mental functioning. An adult can carry up to 2kg of bacteria in the gut. The good bacteria needs to function correctly to keep us healthy physically and mentally. Their role in our well being is so monumental we must not ignore them.
The Paleo diet gives IBS a chance of a new future of a healthy gut, removing the horrid symptoms, restoring our gut flora and the chance to re-invigorate ourselves to a better health and new lifestyle. It is simply a question of when do I start?
IBS stands for Irritable Bowel syndrome or (Spastic Colon) and if you have it you will certainly about know it. The symptoms can be very debilitating, they include abdominal pain or discomfort, with frequent diarrhoea or constipation, a change in bowel habits and there may also be urgency for bowel movements, a feeling of incomplete evacuation (tenesmus), bloating or abdominal distension. In some cases, the symptoms are relieved by bowel movements.
Who Gets IBS?
IBS affects at least 20% of the population and is the No1 diagnosed gastrointestinal disorder. Unfortunately, IBS is often not taken seriously and is even often ridiculed by many people, including health professionals. Being screened for other intestinal diseases is the only way for a diagnosis of IBS. There is no one cause, many different foods, medications and lifestyle choices can affect your gut flora imbalances, which is thought to be the most common cause of IBS.
IBS can also cause you to react badly to a group of foods high in several types of carbohydrates know as FODMAP (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols) FODMAPS are not easy to digest and can linger in the small intestine while your gut flora ferment them. This digestive process can cause the dreaded pain, bloating, gas and constipation or diarrohea. Foods high in FODMAPS include, cauliflower, apple and onions. IBS suffers with an inflamed gut just cannot tolerate some of these fruit or vegetables. The fruit and vegetables are not unhealthy, but an IBS gut is. A low FODMAP diet has been shown to reduce symptoms in functional GI disorders such as IBS by 60-80%.
The Food Link
Avoiding modern food that most people may not be adapted to, is very important. Throughout your life, eating a diet free from toxins and high in nutrients will help your gut flora, eating junk food will harm them. The Paleo diet eliminates “edible substances” that are nutrient-poor and contain antinutrients, that irritate your gut, contribute to inflammation and autoimmune reactions and disrupts your blood sugars and hormones, such as:
Grains, especially gluten-containing grains, both whole and refined;
Legumes, including beans, lentils, soy and peanuts;
Most vegetable oils and seed oils;
Sugar, especially refined sugar such as high-fructose corn syrup;
Most dairy products;
Artificial sweeteners, colourings and processed ingredients.
These are all found in abundance in a western diet and we need to address this to heal our inflamed guts and give it a chance to function in a better way. A diet designed for overall gut health and recovery should be the first line in treatment against IBS. The Paleo diet is perfect for IBS sufferers and the results can be seen within a few weeks.
The way the Paleo diet does this is by keeping things simple, it mimics the diets of our caveman ancestors, to include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef,) pork, lamb, poultry, and, seafood, vegetables, fruit fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menus.
Drink plenty of water filtered or sparkling, tea or even try a bone broth to ensure a perfect start in healing your unhappy gut. The Paleo way is an approach to eating where you will know what goes in your food, no hidden nasties to surprise you later with a swollen tummy or rush to the toilet. Heal that gut and walk tall with a new bounce in your step. Then pass on your knowledge to someone else with IBS. They will thank you for it.