Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF IBS
7. Like the complexity of its causes, the presentations of IBS are equally intricate and confusing and vary from person to person. Abdominal discomfort, pain or cramps in association with the bowel dysfunction is the main symptom of IBS. Some people experience frequent loose stools (diarrhoea) with an urgent need to move the bowels, others complain of constipation with hard or difficult to pass stool. Yet there are those who complain of alternating constipation and diarrhoea and acidity (burning sensation) and gas (bloating) in the intestines, which give a feeling of pressure inside the abdomen.
8. Indigestion, reduced desire to enjoy food, distastes of the mouth accompanied by anxiety and depression are additional symptoms of IBS. Patients of IBS may also complain of uneasiness, tiredness, general run-down, weakness, pain in calf muscles and back, and a low self-esteem.
9. Certain psychological commotions like stress, tension and feeling troubled, angry, overwhelmed or excited stimulate colon spasms in people suffering from IBS. Many times and especially in the elderly persons these upheavals take a vicious turn and a stage is reached when physical symptoms of IBS are equally marked by a number of psychological presentations. In some cases the sufferer may become so conscious of his condition that traveling or visiting a place before paying a visit to the toilet becomes difficult and IBS can wreak havoc with your social life.
IBS AND DIET
10. IBS problem is often associated with imbalanced and unhealthy diet and/or food intolerances. Dr. Steven R Peikin, author of “Gastrointestinal Health” agrees that by far the best approach for the long-term management of IBS symptoms is remedial/healthy diet and not medications. Medications, invariably, have adverse side-effects and they deal with the symptoms only and not the causes. It is generally seen that in case of majority of patients, careful eating reduces the symptoms as well as causes of IBS.
11. Naturo-food therapists make an effort to study the diet and life-pattern of each patient holistically and then devise the diet-plan to suit the individual patients. Where wrong diet is the aggravating factor, the patient is advised to stick to natural, simple, light, easily digestible and homemade whole food.
IBS AND OFFENDING FOODS
12. People with IBS may find that many ordinary foods cause their bowels to act up. Try keeping a diary for a week or so, and make notes of how you react to certain foods. If your symptoms only occur when you drink milk, it is more likely you may have lactose intolerance. That means you can’t digest the natural sugar in milk. You need to add lactase enzyme to milk products, or in extreme cases, avoid all foods containing milk. Or may be high-sugar foods cause gas and bloating. By keeping track, you can eliminate the offending foods from your diet. But don’t forget about nutrition. For example, if you stop drinking milk, you will need to take calcium supplements and/or eat lots of green leafy vegetables to keep your bones strong.
13. Some doctors and naturo-food therapists increasingly blame packaged foods and carbonated beverages with harmful additives, preservatives, artificial colourings/flavourings,sweetners, stabilisers, bleaching agents and emulsifiers for the increase in IBS. Instead of eating mostly natural plant-based foods, people now eat refined and processed foods with these added harmful chemicals. You will be surprised to know that the food industry in the UK and elsewhere uses more than 3,000 food additives in the refinement and processing of food. May be you are one of these whose stomach is protesting. But the good news is, you can take control of this irritating condition.
