IBS is a very common modern phenomenon, and orthodox medical support can be insufficient for many people, especially those at a stage in life where accepting the situation as permanent in not acceptable.
The synonym for this is allergic colitis and is a condition caused by abnormal muscle movements in the colon. Management of this condition should involve the management of food sensitivities.
Gut motility is often under the control of the autonomic nervous system and can be affected by any disease in which the autonomic nervous system is imbalanced.
Before you start, you may wish to consider our Detox Formula which will cleanse your body and aide your gut's ability to absorb the nutrients within the IBS program. It will also help replenish the intestinal tract with healthy flora and enhance your overall health and wellbeing.
Dietary Recommendations
Positive Foods
Cereal grains oats, whole brown rice, millet.
Vegetables garlic, chives, onions, leafy green vegetables, miso.
Fruits freshly squeezed & diluted lemon juice, grapes (including pips), pears, apples, plums, dates.
Legumes green peas, leaks, green cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, water cress, onions.
Teas, Herbs & Spices camomile tea, fenugreek seed tea, green tea, basil, turmeric, ginger.
Nuts & Seeds sesame seeds, sunflower seeds (chewed thoroughly), flax seeds (soaked), almonds (not more than 10 per day), celery seeds.
Fungi Maitake mushrooms.
Fish deep-sea white fish (occasionally) – not grilled or fried.
Dairy daily portion of live organic yoghurt.
Additional Foods organic honey, psyllium husks.
Negative Foods
Refined carbohydrates, hydrogenated fats, battery chicken & hens’ eggs, white sugar (sucrose), excess garlic, artificial sweeteners, sulphates (preservative), tartrazine.
Reduce dairy products to a minimum (especially cheese).
Avoid too much flesh food, and reduce intake of proteins from red meat especially.
Avoid shell-fish absolutely.
Restrict foods with additives.
Avoid acid-forming foods.
Possible irritants include caffeine drinks, alcohol, chocolate, eggs and salty foods.
Avoid salami, smoked and pickled foods, Brazil nuts.
Avoid citrus fruits (except lemons), and especially orange and grapefruit.
Additional Comment
Take plenty of fresh water. Good quality still mineral water from a glass container is the superior form; though a good tap filter is also satisfactory.
High Fibre Diet
A high intake of dietary fibre is commonly recommended. Gastric emptying and small bowel motility are slowed by soluble fibre. Both soluble and insoluble fibre reduces sigmoid intraluminal pressures and overcome spastic constipation. A high fibre diet has proved to be effective for constipation. Whole brown rice increases stool weight and decreases transit time, but some patients react adversely to certain dietary fibres.
Refined Carbohydrates
A diet high in refined carbohydrate may provoke spasm of the smooth muscle.
Sugar
Dietary sugars, including lactose, fructose, sucrose and sorbitol may significantly contribute to the IBS. Sucrose increases faecal bile acid and decreases intestinal transit time.
Additional Help & Support
Aside from the usual guidelines on diet, it is important with irritable bowel to make plenty of time to eat so that no food is rushed. Sit quietly and settle before beginning to eat and if possible rest for up to 30 minutes afterwards.
A glass of warm water 30 minutes before eating can also be helpful to prepare the digestive tract. This also encourages the ’winding down’ which is needed before a meal.
Since the bowel is concerned with digestion and elimination, any irritable tendency should immediately draw attention to diet. It may contain items to which you are sensitive. Dairy products and cereals (particularly wheat) are common culprits. If this applies, a four-day exclusion of the entire respective food family, followed by challenge with a typical portion, will usually arouse an acute irritable response within twelve hours and confirm your suspicions.
Far more common, as has been stated, are instances in which non-nutrient food chemicals have produced the irritation. These range from nitrate and pesticide residues from agriculture, through colours and preservatives, to sugars, paraffins and gums. Recourse to whole, unrefined foods may not entirely eliminate this problem, although it usually helps. Organic food is desirable here, which avoids the use of artificial chemicals at any stage in its production; but this can be hard to obtain in sufficient range, and is apt to be more expensive.
Many people find relief with a combination of the greatest possible improvements to their diet alongside regular support for their gut microflora. Before commencing supplementation with a probiotic supplement some people find benefit by confining their diet to apples or apple puree for 48 hours to weaken any un-friendly bacteria in the gut, and provide an auspicious environment for supplemental probiotics to establish.
