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Strategies for Managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Strategies for Managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Sunday, November 02, 2008 by: Rich Stacel
Source: Natural News
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that sometimes
causes significant discomfort even though it is not a serious health threat. It is a
disturbance of the bowels with symptoms of abdominal pain or discomfort featuring a
change in bowel habit - chronic diarrhea or constipation or alteration between the two.
Nearly everyone suffers from occasional bowel problems; however, to be diagnosed with
IBS, the symptoms will be more severe or occur chronically.
IBS Symptoms
Typical IBS symptoms include abdominal bloating and soreness, gas, and alternating
diarrhea and constipation. IBS patients are more likely than others to have backaches,
fatigue, and several other seemingly unrelated problems. The cause of IBS remains
unknown.
There is no blood or medical tests for IBS. The criteria for diagnosis are based on the
set of symptoms. Western medicine uses the "Rome III Diagnostic Criteria" to determine
if the symptoms fit and thereby used to determine if you have IBS or not.
IBS Statistics
Irritable Bowel Syndrome can affect both men and women; however there is
predominance in women. 10-20% of the world's population has symptoms associated
with IBS. Mild symptoms affect about 70% of people diagnosed with IBS. Moderate
symptoms affect about 25% of people diagnosed. 5% of the people diagnosed report
severe symptoms.
It stems from a number of causes, the main ones being diet and stress. Although some
say that IBS is caused by abnormal function of the nerves and muscles in the bowel and
that stress is not a factor. Stress is known to affect the nervous system so this makes
little sense when compared to the number of people who report stress as either a
trigger of their IBS or who report an increase in symptoms coinciding with an increase in
stress.
It's often the stress which pushes the digestive system over the edge thus causing
incomplete digestion and irritation of the bowels when certain foods are consumed, thus
leading to the external manifestation of IBS symptoms.
In Chinese medicine, stress is known to be a major factor in nearly all digestive
disorders of one kind or another. That's because the spleen and stomach are a strongly
linked organ pair in traditional Chinese medical theory. The spleen feeds the energy
that it extracts from food, the bio-energy that is, directly to the brain.
Since the brain gets a lot of its energy for thinking from the food via the spleen, the
reverse is also true. So too much thought or worry, which often aggravates or causes
stress, will in turn weaken the spleen and stomach chi and thus decrease the strength
and functioning of these organs.
If your immune defenses are not solid and strong, all it takes is one serious bout of
illness or stress of a physical or emotional nature to push the bodies energy limits to low
enough levels to cause a serious imbalance and deficiency of chi. This can lead to long
term symptoms which can be very difficult to recover from. This is why keeping the body
strong and the mind calm are so strongly emphasized in Chinese medicine which has a
strong focus on preventative care.
If you are currently suffering from IBS, here are a number of techniques and strategies
that are known to greatly alleviate both long and short term symptoms;
Herbs: Chamomile, Comfrey, Evening Primrose Oil (for premenstrual IBS), St. John's
Wort, Lemon Balm, Marshmallow, Fennel, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Turmeric, All spice,
Slippery Elm, Digestive Food Enzymes,
Chamomile acts as a carminative as well as soothing and toning agent for the digestive
tract. Chamomile's essential oils have also helped to ease intestinal cramping and
irritation in animals.
Chamomile is typically taken three times per day, between meals, in a tea form by
dissolving 2–3 grams of powdered chamomile or by adding 3–5 ml of herbal extract
tincture to hot water.
Comfrey has a long, consistent history of use as a topical agent for improving healing of
wounds, skin ulcers, thrombophlebitis, strains, and sprains.42 43 It was also used for
persons with gastrointestinal problems, such as stomach ulcers and inflammatory bowel
syndrome, and for lung problems.
Some people with IBS may benefit from bulk-forming laxatives. Psyllium seeds (3.25 g
taken three times per day) have helped regulate normal bowel activity in some people
with IBS. Psyllium has improved some symptoms of IBS in double blind trials.
A combination of peppermint, caraway seeds, and two other carminative (gas relieving)
herbs, fennel seeds and wormwood, was reported to be an effective treatment for upper
abdominal complaints, including IBS, according to another double blind study.
Acacia: has high fiber content and is often reported to ease bowel irritability.
Fruits: such as papaya, bananas, mango, pineapple, strawberries and blueberries.
Vegetables: which include sweet potatoes, pumpkin and carrots.
Vitamins:such as a good whole food multivitamin, stress B complex, vitamins C, D
(Sunlight or fish oils, not dairy) and vitamin E. Whole food vitamins with green food
complexes in them may irritate people with certain type of IBS.
Beware of some prescription medications for IBS as a few have been recalled due to
toxic ingredients. Ingredients in some over the counter cold medicines have also been
shown to aggravate IBS sufferers. Zinc drops are said to be a great alternative during a
cold since they don't irritate the stomach and have immune boosting effects.
Foods to Avoid: Dairy, eggs (particularly yolk-due to high fat content), bagels, broccoli,
corn, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, apples (due to high fructose
content), beans, chocolate (because of the caffeine), coffee, caffeinated teas.
Goats milk over cows milk also offer relief for many with IBS. Vegan desserts (no milk or
eggs) are said to be better tolerated by some IBS patients. Olive oil and organic
coconut oil often have soothing and calming effects on the digestive tract.
During a flare up the following foods may help;
Plain Chicken/vegetable broth with a few cloves of all spice-you can add (non egg)
noodles or chicken.
Carrot Juice
White rice
Plain mashed potatoes
Once a week fasting to give the stomach, digestive and elimination systems a rest is
also shown to be effective. This is a healthy activity that IBS and non IBS suffers should
do on a weekly basis.
Other alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture and
acupressure (acupuncture with your fingers) breathing exercises and massage are all
said to help tremendously by various sufferers of IBS. This also includes regular
moderate exercise which helps one to de-stress and strengthens the nervous and
digestive systems.
Chi-gung, meditation and breathing exercises and herbs including as much raw foods
as you can tolerate are the best overall methods to boost immune activity. This not only
relieves the symptoms but the root cause of disease which is nearly always a lack of
true bio-energy or blocked energy flow. Stress and poor quality foods are known to be
major factors in decreasing and blocking bio-energy flow.
For your individual case you'll likely have to keep a food diary and keep track of those
foods that are your personal triggers and which foods help alleviate symptoms. After
that it's a matter of reading labels and avoiding those foods while also taking other
measures to boost the immune system and chi stores to help regain the organ/energy
balance of all the organs. Once this re-balancing occurs, symptoms simply disappear.
While this may not make sense to a western mindset, it's been observed to be true for
thousands of years in eastern medical traditions.
About the author
Rich Stacel is a natural health, Qigong and Chinese martial arts practitioner for over
twenty four years. Having read scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, nutrition,
supplements, meditation, martial arts, healing, science, astronomy, physics, Einstein,
general health and more. Rich has helped numerous people achieve their health and
fitness goals over the years. Rich is also interested in health freedom including
spreading truth on health, fitness, spiritual truths and more. You can learn more about
breathing, meditation, what foods to eat, avoid, food additives, acupressure and more
through my Chinese Health And Fitness video now on sale at
www.chinesehealthandfitness.com
Sunday, November 02, 2008 by: Rich Stacel
Source: Natural News
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that sometimes
causes significant discomfort even though it is not a serious health threat. It is a
disturbance of the bowels with symptoms of abdominal pain or discomfort featuring a
change in bowel habit - chronic diarrhea or constipation or alteration between the two.
Nearly everyone suffers from occasional bowel problems; however, to be diagnosed with
IBS, the symptoms will be more severe or occur chronically.
IBS Symptoms
Typical IBS symptoms include abdominal bloating and soreness, gas, and alternating
diarrhea and constipation. IBS patients are more likely than others to have backaches,
fatigue, and several other seemingly unrelated problems. The cause of IBS remains
unknown.
There is no blood or medical tests for IBS. The criteria for diagnosis are based on the
set of symptoms. Western medicine uses the "Rome III Diagnostic Criteria" to determine
if the symptoms fit and thereby used to determine if you have IBS or not.
IBS Statistics
Irritable Bowel Syndrome can affect both men and women; however there is
predominance in women. 10-20% of the world's population has symptoms associated
with IBS. Mild symptoms affect about 70% of people diagnosed with IBS. Moderate
symptoms affect about 25% of people diagnosed. 5% of the people diagnosed report
severe symptoms.
It stems from a number of causes, the main ones being diet and stress. Although some
say that IBS is caused by abnormal function of the nerves and muscles in the bowel and
that stress is not a factor. Stress is known to affect the nervous system so this makes
little sense when compared to the number of people who report stress as either a
trigger of their IBS or who report an increase in symptoms coinciding with an increase in
stress.
It's often the stress which pushes the digestive system over the edge thus causing
incomplete digestion and irritation of the bowels when certain foods are consumed, thus
leading to the external manifestation of IBS symptoms.
In Chinese medicine, stress is known to be a major factor in nearly all digestive
disorders of one kind or another. That's because the spleen and stomach are a strongly
linked organ pair in traditional Chinese medical theory. The spleen feeds the energy
that it extracts from food, the bio-energy that is, directly to the brain.
Since the brain gets a lot of its energy for thinking from the food via the spleen, the
reverse is also true. So too much thought or worry, which often aggravates or causes
stress, will in turn weaken the spleen and stomach chi and thus decrease the strength
and functioning of these organs.
If your immune defenses are not solid and strong, all it takes is one serious bout of
illness or stress of a physical or emotional nature to push the bodies energy limits to low
enough levels to cause a serious imbalance and deficiency of chi. This can lead to long
term symptoms which can be very difficult to recover from. This is why keeping the body
strong and the mind calm are so strongly emphasized in Chinese medicine which has a
strong focus on preventative care.
If you are currently suffering from IBS, here are a number of techniques and strategies
that are known to greatly alleviate both long and short term symptoms;
Herbs: Chamomile, Comfrey, Evening Primrose Oil (for premenstrual IBS), St. John's
Wort, Lemon Balm, Marshmallow, Fennel, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Turmeric, All spice,
Slippery Elm, Digestive Food Enzymes,
Chamomile acts as a carminative as well as soothing and toning agent for the digestive
tract. Chamomile's essential oils have also helped to ease intestinal cramping and
irritation in animals.
Chamomile is typically taken three times per day, between meals, in a tea form by
dissolving 2–3 grams of powdered chamomile or by adding 3–5 ml of herbal extract
tincture to hot water.
Comfrey has a long, consistent history of use as a topical agent for improving healing of
wounds, skin ulcers, thrombophlebitis, strains, and sprains.42 43 It was also used for
persons with gastrointestinal problems, such as stomach ulcers and inflammatory bowel
syndrome, and for lung problems.
Some people with IBS may benefit from bulk-forming laxatives. Psyllium seeds (3.25 g
taken three times per day) have helped regulate normal bowel activity in some people
with IBS. Psyllium has improved some symptoms of IBS in double blind trials.
A combination of peppermint, caraway seeds, and two other carminative (gas relieving)
herbs, fennel seeds and wormwood, was reported to be an effective treatment for upper
abdominal complaints, including IBS, according to another double blind study.
Acacia: has high fiber content and is often reported to ease bowel irritability.
Fruits: such as papaya, bananas, mango, pineapple, strawberries and blueberries.
Vegetables: which include sweet potatoes, pumpkin and carrots.
Vitamins:such as a good whole food multivitamin, stress B complex, vitamins C, D
(Sunlight or fish oils, not dairy) and vitamin E. Whole food vitamins with green food
complexes in them may irritate people with certain type of IBS.
Beware of some prescription medications for IBS as a few have been recalled due to
toxic ingredients. Ingredients in some over the counter cold medicines have also been
shown to aggravate IBS sufferers. Zinc drops are said to be a great alternative during a
cold since they don't irritate the stomach and have immune boosting effects.
Foods to Avoid: Dairy, eggs (particularly yolk-due to high fat content), bagels, broccoli,
corn, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, apples (due to high fructose
content), beans, chocolate (because of the caffeine), coffee, caffeinated teas.
Goats milk over cows milk also offer relief for many with IBS. Vegan desserts (no milk or
eggs) are said to be better tolerated by some IBS patients. Olive oil and organic
coconut oil often have soothing and calming effects on the digestive tract.
During a flare up the following foods may help;
Plain Chicken/vegetable broth with a few cloves of all spice-you can add (non egg)
noodles or chicken.
Carrot Juice
White rice
Plain mashed potatoes
Once a week fasting to give the stomach, digestive and elimination systems a rest is
also shown to be effective. This is a healthy activity that IBS and non IBS suffers should
do on a weekly basis.
Other alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture and
acupressure (acupuncture with your fingers) breathing exercises and massage are all
said to help tremendously by various sufferers of IBS. This also includes regular
moderate exercise which helps one to de-stress and strengthens the nervous and
digestive systems.
Chi-gung, meditation and breathing exercises and herbs including as much raw foods
as you can tolerate are the best overall methods to boost immune activity. This not only
relieves the symptoms but the root cause of disease which is nearly always a lack of
true bio-energy or blocked energy flow. Stress and poor quality foods are known to be
major factors in decreasing and blocking bio-energy flow.
For your individual case you'll likely have to keep a food diary and keep track of those
foods that are your personal triggers and which foods help alleviate symptoms. After
that it's a matter of reading labels and avoiding those foods while also taking other
measures to boost the immune system and chi stores to help regain the organ/energy
balance of all the organs. Once this re-balancing occurs, symptoms simply disappear.
While this may not make sense to a western mindset, it's been observed to be true for
thousands of years in eastern medical traditions.
About the author
Rich Stacel is a natural health, Qigong and Chinese martial arts practitioner for over
twenty four years. Having read scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, nutrition,
supplements, meditation, martial arts, healing, science, astronomy, physics, Einstein,
general health and more. Rich has helped numerous people achieve their health and
fitness goals over the years. Rich is also interested in health freedom including
spreading truth on health, fitness, spiritual truths and more. You can learn more about
breathing, meditation, what foods to eat, avoid, food additives, acupressure and more
through my Chinese Health And Fitness video now on sale at
www.chinesehealthandfitness.com