Have you been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, and told to just live with it? That there is not much to be done about it? IBS is an idiopathic diagnosis meaning that once every other reason for your pain and discomfort has been ruled out, the only thing left is IBS. Irritable bowel syndrome is exactly what it sounds like; the bowels are often hyper spastic and/or hypersensitive, or irritable, and it is not a disease, but rather a condition that you are dealing with, a syndrome. Conventionally, some antispasmodics may help, or you may be told to take extra fiber, but otherwise, you are left suffering. This does not have to be the case. Naturopathically, a diagnosis of IBS indicates the need to dig deeper. Natural IBS treatment considers looking at your diet and food sensitivities, your stress, and, of course, your digestion through stool tests.
Analyzing stomach pain without looking at what a patient is eating and how they are digesting and reacting too food is nonsensical. Some people react to foods in an obvious way, such as lactose intolerance, or a less obvious way, such as gluten sensitivity or fructose intolerance. Any of these can cause gas, pain, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea. Food sensitivities are often even more stealth, not showing any indication of a reaction until days after the food is ingested. Those who react to foods in such as way have a constantly elevated IgG immune response, especially when they eat the same foods every day. A common IgG reaction is to various proteins, such as casein or whey in dairy, or albumin in eggs. Commonly over 100 foods are tested by a simply finger prick to determine if you have any delayed food sensitivities. Symptoms of these reactions range from the above stomach problems to migraines to skin problems to reduced immunity.
Today, most people are so rushed doing too many things throughout the day that sitting down to eat, even stopping what needs to get done for 10 minutes, just doesn’t happen. This means that we are eating while our nervous system is in fight or flight mode, sympathetic mode. This poses a problem because our body thinks we need to run from something, thus shunting blood from our gastrointestinal system to our muscles. The acid in our stomachs’ is not adequately secreted, thus the pH is not low enough to break down food. Our intestines contract rather than relax and expand for incoming food. None of this is conducive to optimal digestion. Instead, stopping and sitting for at least 10 minutes to relax, eat, taste, and enjoy your meal is enough to switch from the hectic sympathetic mode to the calming, digestion promoting parasympathetic mode.
Finally and probably the most efficient way to determine why you may be suffering from IBS is to analyze the digestive process is by actually analyzing the stool. This is done through off sight labs and they send back information regarding the good, bad, and ugly bacteria, yeast, fungi, and parasites that have colonized your gut. And it tells us about your body’s breakdown and absorption of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. These results almost always give additional valuable information that is the key to treating IBS.
Looking at all of these factors together, a comprehensive protocol for natural IBS treatment can be put together that will likely be different for every patient. It also means the IBS is no longer idiopathic. Now we are able to say, “you need more stomach acid,” or “we need to kill the parasite that has taken over your gut.” Given a protocol like this, in just a few months if not sooner, symptoms will start to resolve, and by 6 months to a year, you will likely be free from IBS. Depending on what the cause of your symptoms are, you may need to avoid certain foods or change your habits permanently, but the gas, pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation will be gone and your day will no longer be determined by your stomach. Don’t go another day with suffer the aches and pains of IBS. Let natural IBS treatment restore your gut and quality of life.