What is IBS
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a collection of symptoms (predominately abdominal pain,
bloating, constipation and diarrhoea) involving the small and/or large intestine. It
can often be referred to as ‘spastic colon’ or ‘sensitive stomach’
What causes it?
Unfortunately there is no one cause for everyone, common causes can
be
- Stress
- Food allergy &/or intolerance
- Poor diet
- Emotional
- Lifestyle changes
- Hormone imbalance
- Infection
- Medications
- Genetics
- Depression &/ or anxiety
What are the Do’s?
- Keep a food diary: this way you may be able to eliminate any food sensitivities. These tend to be but are not limited to wheat, glutens and dairy.
- Increase your good bacteria: in the form of pre & probiotics
Probiotics: Yoghurt, probiotic supplement
- Increase Omega 3 fatty acids: fish, flaxseeds, avocado, nuts
- Increase Glutamine: High glutamine sources include Cabbage, bananas, slippery elm, onions, oats, most animal protein sources and dairy
- Increase Flavonoids: these are found in brightly coloured fruits and vegetables e.g. berries, capsicum, apricots, eggplant, plums
- Increase Catechins found in Green tea
- Increase Vitamin A ( your Carotenoid foods such as Pumpkin, carrots, pawpaw, squash, green leafy vegetables, dairy, fish liver oils, eggs
- Increase Allicin (Garlic) & Quercetin (Onion & pineapple) 2 powerful nutrients responsible for reducing inflammation in the gut
- Increase Dietary fibre: keep your skins on your fruits & vegetables to increase your fibre intake
What are the Don’t’s
- Eat
o
spicy food
o
caffeine
o
highly refined carbohydrate
o
rich
foods
o
citrus fruits
o
alcohol
o
These will
all inflame and aggrieve your symptoms
- Have big portions: Reduce size of meals ( 5-6 small meals per day) to make it easier for your digestive system to deal with the types of food and the volume of foods
- Eat 2-3 hours before lying down: your digestive system needs time to properly digest your food. Once you lie down this makes it much more difficult
- Eat high meals: Lower fat meals will increase gastric emptying and decrease acid production
Are there any
supplements that help with symptoms?
- Iberogast – this is one of your amazing ‘magic’ supplements that fix it all. Stomach pains, constipation, cramps, diarrhoea a, a must of IBS sufferers. I have not seen a supplement like this on the market for treating acute and instant pain. Small enough to fit in an evening bag, powerful enough to reduce symptoms in 10 minutes
- Probiotics – a quality probiotic will reduce the severity of your symptoms. It must be multi strain and refrigerated. I recommend MultiFlora.
If you need more guidance for an IBS friendly diet simply try
the IBS friendly meal plan at our Naed Nutrition Store
