Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

What is IBS?

Irritable Bowel Syndrome does not cause permanent damage to the colon. It appears as cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas and alternating bouts of diarrhoea and constipation. It is uncomfortable and can seriously affect a person's quality of life. Around one in five Australians experiences the unpleasant symptoms of IBS at some time (Source: Better Health Victoria).

Normally when you eat food the muscles of your gastrointestinal tract contract and relax rhythmically, moving food through your digestive system until it exits your body. It's thought that in IBS the contractions are sometimes stronger and longer lasting than normal. As a result food is hurried along the GI tract without being properly digested - causing gas, bloating and diarrhoea. But sometimes the contractions may be weak and short lived, causing constipation. IBS is estimated to affect 11% of the global population, but since there are no biological markers to test for it clinically, it's thought to be largely undiagnosed.

What causes IBS?

The cause of IBS isn't clear, but stress, altered gut bacteria, genetics and food sensitivities may all be involved. Whatever the cause, multiple factors can exacerbate IBS symptoms. These include certain foods, stress, hormonal changes and mood issues such as anxiety and depression. Research has shown that the neurotransmitter serotonin may be important in the symptoms of IBS, by altering the function of nerve cells in the bowel and causing changes in pain sensation and bowel function (Source: Better Health Victoria).

Other bowel complications

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is becoming increasingly common among the population and include: 

• Ulcerative Colitis - usually limited to inflammation of the innermost lining of the large intestine and colon
• Crohn's Disease - causes inflammation anywhere along the digestive tract and can penetrate into the deep layers of the intestinal wall.

Because these are diseases of ongoing inflammation, infection is a prime culprit for the cause. Research also shows they may also be autoimmune disorders meaning that your body reacts as if it is fighting a pathogen when in fact no threat is present.

Coeliac Disease is a condition in which you cannot tolerate gluten, a food protein. In these cases, eating gluten damages the small intestine and causes adverse side effects.

Intestinal Obstruction occurs when the intestines become blocked. As a result, the intestines are unable to complete processing food or pass stool (Source: Health Line).

What can I do?

• see your Doctor for advice - they may suggest certain medications for controlling diarrhoea or constipation
• increase fibre and water intake
• alcohol, nicotine and caffeine can be triggers for some people, cut down or stop completely and see if things improve
• keep a food diary and eliminate foods which cause uncomfortable symptoms
• graze during the day instead of having 3 large meals
• add yoghurt to your diet - a quality yoghurt with the good bacteria, acidophilus or take acidophilus supplements
• do other elimination tests like removing lactose and gluten from your diet - do things improve?
• try supplements like Effervescent Magnesium Ascorbate Crystals, Peppermint Oil or Artichoke Leaf Extract
• Peppermint tea and Ginger tea are known for relaxing stomach muscles
• remember to exercise (Source: Health Arizona and Best Health Magazine).

A personal perspective

I have suffered from IBS for most of my adult life. To make matters worse, when I had a colonoscopy, the surgeon discovered I also have a twisted bowel. I needed to eliminate or drastically reduce the following from my diet:

• full fat products
• highly processed foods
• full cream milk, cheese and dairy- I switched to lactose free and skim
• gluten and/or wheat
• excessive amounts of pasta
• deep fried food

If I keep these foods to a minimum (only splurge once in a while) then I'm OK. After years of suffering excruciating abdominal pain, I now know what the triggers are and avoid them as much as possible. However it isn't always possible to avoid them, i.e. eating birthday cake at your friend's birthday, so I simply have a very small piece and flush it out with lots of water. My general rule of thumb is be good to your gut 80% of the time and allow yourself to be naughty 20% of the time...it's called living!

Previous blog post...Organic Farming

Low FODMAP diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

I've always been an IBS sufferer but have mainly ignored it and eaten whatever I like. However from time to time, the "poisons" I will call them - build up in my stomach and bowel to a point where I can no longer ignore it. Two weeks ago I had a weekend where I overindulged with friends and ate too much cheese, crackers, dips, salami, cabanosi and processed food! Tsk Tsk! I suffered for two weeks!!!

It was so painful I went to the doctor thinking I had a bladder infection as the pain had migrated to my bladder, but the urine test was negative. She assured me it was only IBS and sent me home with a printout of the low FODMAP diet. WTF!? As a long time sufferer of IBS I had never heard of this diet. It had never been offered to be before. I took home the printout, read it and it all made sense.

There is a lot of information online about low FODMAP foods, but I will briefly explain it here.

"Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) affecting one in seven Australian adults and is also common in the USA, Europe and many Asian countries. This condition is characterised by chronic and relapsing symptoms; lower abdominal pain and discomfort, bloating, wind, distension and altered bowel habit (ranging from diarrhoea to constipation) but with no abnormal pathology." (Monash University).

"The research team at Monash University have developed a diet to control gastrointestinal symptoms associated with IBS/FGID. The team has focused on a group of carbohydrates they have named FODMAPs (stands for Fermentable Oligo-saccharides, Disaccharides, Mono-saccharides and Polyols).
FODMAPs can be poorly absorbed in the small intestine. Mal-absorbed carbohydrates are fermented by gut bacteria to produce gas. Current research strongly suggests that this group of carbohydrates contributes to IBS/FGID symptoms. FODMAPs are found in a wide range of foods." (Monash University).

Referring to the above chart, you can see which foods create problems for IBS sufferers, and those which do not. 

Other links:

• The cooking and/or storing process of some foods may alter the levels of FODMAP's in them. See this link for more information  
• If you're a cheese lover like me, this link is helpful about which cheeses are OK
• Also if you love garlic like me, this link explains about cooking with it for flavour and then removing it
• This link explains why creams, sauces and gravies are problematic
• If you're a big bread eater - sour dough is better for you. This explains why
• I've also noticed if I reduce gluten in my diet it helps. This article explains the different between gluten-free and wheat-free
• The low FODMAP diet doesn't have to be a lifestyle change. It recommends trying it for 2-6 weeks (like an elimination diet) and then slowly re-introduce foods and monitor your symptoms. More info here.

There is lots of information about IBS and the low FODMAP diet on the Internet. Let your fingers do the walking and Google it. Good luck XD