IBS Support

Simply adding fermented foods and/or probiotics to your diet provides incredible IBS support and can eliminate 75 to 80 percent of all cases of IBS.

The first step for dealing with IBS and other bowel problems is to add fermented food and/or a probiotic supplement to your daily regimen. Research and clinical work has shown that anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of those who make this change will notice a significant difference in their health.

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, provide a health benefit to the host by engaging and neutralizing toxic compounds. It’s a constant battle for control, and beneficial bacteria are often sacrificed in the process.

While commercial supplements are the first thought that comes to mind when you mention probiotics, naturally fermented, “live” foods have been around since the beginning of mankind. The most common include:

• fermented vegetables,
• fermented milk products (clabber, yogurt, cheese, buttermilk),
• kefir, and
• fermented soy products (natto, miso, tempeh, soy sauce, fermented tofu.

I highly recommend you include foods like these regularly in your diet.

My favorite fermented food is homemade sauerkraut. I keep a fresh batch going almost constantly, and some already made in the fridge at all times. It provides one of the widest varieties of beneficial bacteria that are known to protect against everything from bowel troubles to cancer. It’s inexpensive and easy to make and keep. A little salt, cabbage, and a crock are all that’s needed.

During those times when you’re not home or don’t have access to homemade sauerkraut or other fermented foods, I recommend the use of a commercial probiotic product. Look for one that can maintain viability without refrigeration, available in health food stores and over the Internet.

I would venture to say that adding probiotics to the diet (and eliminating products that contain HFCS) would provide tremendous IBS help and could eliminate 75 to 80 percent of all cases of IBS, maybe even more.

IBS is a digestive disorder marked by cramping, constipation and diarrhea.

It’s estimated that condition called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Unfortunately, an estimated 70 percent of the people with IBS don’t seek any medical attention.

On top of that, being able to diagnose IBS still seems to be a problem for most doctors. The medical profession is more comfortable with diseases that present a consistent set of symptoms. However, roughly a third of those who suffer from IBS experience diarrhea, another third have constipation problems, and the remaining third alternate between the two.

If you have the problem, you likely experience abdominal pain or discomfort that is:

• relieved with defecation,
• associated with a change in frequency of stool, or
• associated with a change in the form or appearance of the stool.

Other symptoms also support a diagnosis of IBS:

• abnormal stool formation—either hard and lumpy or loose and watery,
• abnormal stool frequency—either more than three bowel movements a day or fewer than three a week,
• abnormal stool passage—straining, extreme urgency (in the case of diarrhea), or the feeling of not being able to completely evacuate,
• passage of mucus in the stool, or
• bloating or the feeling of bloating.

If you are looking for IBS help, you first need to understand IBS trigger foods and the role they play in the disease.

One of the main IBS trigger foods is wheat. IBS patients are often sensitive or allergic to wheat and other grain products. As such, wheat bran and other cereals are generally not the best source of fiber for people looking for IBS support. Instead, water-soluble fibers that promote the formation of protective gel and mucus in the bowel are best. This type of fiber is found in guar gum, psyllium or Indian husks, oat bran, flax seeds, fruits, vegetables and legumes. (Legumes is a fancy word for beans and peas.)

Keep in mind that most of these fiber sources are either absorbents or binding agents. One of their characteristics is that they absorb or bind with water. This causes them to soften, swell, and increase in volume. This creates the extra bulk necessary to gently stimulate the cleansing movement in the colon. For the whole process to work, you must consume adequate amounts of water. This means that it’s absolutely necessary to drink a minimum of eight glasses of water a day.

Note: Although increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables is essential in treating IBS, during periods of diarrhea they are best avoided. But they should be reintroduced gradually when the bowels are normal. The amounts and timing will vary from individual to individual. The same holds true for the amount of guar gum or psyllium that needs to be taken. It would be impossible for me to give the exact amount needed. Each person will have to monitor bowel regularity, consistency, and looseness and adjust the dosages accordingly.

IBS treatments are few and far between. One that I've found to work well for many individuals in an extract of mucin. This substance is a part of the lining of your intestinal tract, so supporting it creates an environment that provides help for IBS patients.

The product I like is called Sialex, available from Ecological Formulas. I recommend taking 1 to 3 capsules with each meal.

Among my favorite IBS treatments is the supplement known as slippery elm bark. It will help soothe an irritated digestive system, pretty much from top to bottom.

For IBS support, you can mix a heaping teaspoon of the powder with a little water to make a paste, then pour on a cup of hot water and mix until it's thoroughly dissolved. (If you've ever made gravy, this procedure will sound familiar. Mixing the powder with the hot water directly will give you a lumpy, sticky mess.) Let it cool, then drink it. Do this three times a day.

For a slight variation, make it with warm milk, or flavor the mixture with cinnamon or nutmeg.

Slippery elm capsules also provide IBS support. I suggest two capsules (400 or 500 mg each) three or four times daily.

Probiotic benefits of a digestive health supplement containing Bifidobacterium infantis  include the relief of bowel irregularity and the abdominal pain associated with bloating and gas--making it among the few effective IBS treatments.

As you might imagine from the name, B. infantis is one of the dominant digestive bacteria in children, in whom it helps support immune health. The population of B. infantis declines with age, but it still remains an important part of your digestive flora. As a side benefit, the bacteria can help improve bowel regularity in children.

Look for a digestive health supplement that contains B. infantis, along with a variety of other bacteria species, to get the full range of probiotic benefits.

IBS help can be achieved through hypnosis. While many physicians are reluctant to recommend IBS treatments such as this, numerous studies have shown that the mind-body connection can provide a great deal of help for IBS patients.

Now Dr. Roland Valori, the editor of a brand new peer-reviewed journal called Frontline Gastroenterology says that he has used hypnotherapy among the IBS treatments for more than 100 of his patients.

90% of that group saw significant improvement in the bowel problems associated with IBS--including bloating and gas, constipation and diarrhea. Even better, 40% saw positive bowel changes leading to complete relief.

The bad news? Reviewers of Dr. Valori's writing say that hypnotherapy should be among the last-resort IBS treatments, after drugs have failed. I'm sorry, but that's just crazy. The drugs used for IBS support have significant side effects, and they aren't any more effective than hypnotherapy. Why would you not start there?

The FDA has announced that it approved the drug Amitiza as one of the available IBS treatments for those patients who have IBS with constipation. The approval was based on trials that included more than 1,100 patients, nearly all of whom were women.

IBS is a condition that can produce varying bowel changes, including both constipation and diarrhea, plus bloating and gas along with abdominal pain. Until this drug approval, there had been no prescription IBS treatments that addressed the constipation.

That's not to say that there were no IBS treatments at all, however. Dr. Williams has recommended digestive health supplements for IBS support, including peppermint oil, to calm the gut and improve bowel regularity. As a bonus, peppermint oil doesn't produce the common side effects of Amitiza, which include...abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Take enteric-coated capsules of peppermint oil three times a day, between meals.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), also known as spastic colon, nervous stomach/indigestion, mucous colitis, and intestinal neurosis, is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) complaint reported to physicians. IBS accounts for as many as 50 percent of all referrals to gastroenterologists (physicians who specialize in problems of the GI tract). If you happen to be part of the estimated 15 percent of the population who could use some help for IBS, you undoubtedly know how debilitating this condition can be.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a complex problem with numerous causative factors and a wide variety of changing symptoms. Some of the more common unpleasant bowel changes are: both constipation and diarrhea; pain and distention of the abdomen; frequent bowel movements associated with pain; colicky pain often relieved by a bowel movement; indigestion; nausea; intestinal bloating and gas; and bowel incontinence.

Fortunately, there are some easy, inexpensive ways to help resolve the discomforts of irritable bowel syndrome.

One of these is peppermint oil. Peppermint is an underutilized herbal remedy that can treat and heal a variety of gastrointestinal disorders. To reduce the contractions associated with IBS, help comes from enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules. European studies show that they're quite effective.

For general digestive discomfort, you can simply make peppermint tea. Peppermint tea bags are readily available in both supermarkets and health food stores. The tea can also be made from fresh leaves. Simply add 1 or 2 teaspoons to a cup of hot, not boiling, water and let it stand covered for 10 to 15 minutes. I would recommend keeping a supply of peppermint tea around the house; however, it shouldn’t be used on a casual, regular basis. Use it only during periods of stomach, liver, gallbladder or pancreatic upset. Regular habitual use will lessen its effect.

Most physicians and herbalists don’t realize that the active menthol ingredients in peppermint are rapidly absorbed in the stomach and upper GI tract. Taking peppermint in the form of tea, oil, or tinctures will have little, if any, effect on bowel problems further down the line. To provide proper IBS support, enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules must be used to deliver the active ingredients to the colon. European studies have found that these enteric-coated capsules are very effective in treating the disease (Br Med J 79;835-6). Doctors in this country who scoff at the use of peppermint as help for IBS are undoubtedly unfamiliar with the European use of enteric-coated products.

The dosage generally recommended for IBS support has been 2 to 3 capsules a day taken between meals. The only side effect noted has been a temporary burning sensation in the rectal area after a bowel movement. This comes from excess, unabsorbed menthol. It poses no danger and can be alleviated by simply reducing the dosage.