How To Deal With IBS
10% - 20% of people (depending who’s stats you go by) are suffering from IBS. It’s a cluster of symptoms which can be summed up as: something is fucking with your digestive system, so food is not being digested and passed through as it should.
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There’s different specific ways this syndrome will manifest but basically if you’re getting bloating, gas, abdominal pain, cramping in the gut or even as low as the uterus in women, infrequent OR too frequent low quality bowel movements - something is going wrong. If the docs can’t pinpoint a specific physical / chemical obstruction or dysfunction they’ll call it IBS. From the western medical standpoint there is no known cause for IBS or a clear picture of what it even is - this doesn’t stop them giving you meds though which will prob make the whole thing worse...
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Western medicine is really good at treating disease if the disease can be treated with drugs. IBS generally is not being caused by an infection or a virus or a chemical dysfunction. For that reason, throwing a drug at the problem is missing the point. IBS is a syndrome which usually needs lifestyle intervention, NOT chemical intervention. .
So if you suffer from IBS, do this for the next 4 weeks:
Minimise foods which might be causing issues (wheat, milk, coffee, chocolate, shitty low quality oils, chewing gum, refined sugars - not all of these cause issues all the time but these are the big ones. Despite what some dimwits will say, you will not be missing out on any nutrients by minimising these foods - if you’re eating well. You can bring these foods back in one by one after things start working well again, to test what your body can and can’t digest) .
Let’s keep it simple - make each meal a serve of animal protein + a handful of COOKED veggies (broccoli, beans, peas, spinach, kale, carrot, Brussel sprouts, zucchini, etc. In some cases people will struggle to even digest these - msg us) + some white rice or potato + a little good fat (grass-fed butter / coconut oil / olive oil / flaxseed oil). In the morning you might not be in the mood for a meal like that - so have a banana or an apple. .
Eat ONLY when you’re actually hungry. When you eat, sit down and eat the meal slowly, it’s important to be mindful and stay relaxed during the meal and for a little while after. .
Get a high dose wide-spectrum probiotic, particularly one with bifidobacterium infantis. .
Drink water - duh
Use herbs like ginger root, oregano oil, fennel, peppermint oil. Peppermint oil is really fkn good for IBS acting as an anti-spasmodic, anti-bacterial pain-killer, which stimulates gastric juices and bile, while relaxing the muscles of the lower digestive tract - but it’s strength can cause heartburn for people who’s digestive system is really compromised. In this case use enteric coated peppermint oil so the oil bypasses the stomach OR use fennel / ginger root which are a bit milder.
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Exercise more, worry less. Consider stress a major cause in this issue, and do what you can to minimise it.
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If you aren’t close minded and you realise drugs aren’t the only possible solution to human ailments - try acupuncture or hypnotherapy. Both of these have proven themselves to work really well for IBS sufferers, maybe because of their ability to help lower or mediate the autonomic nervous system’s stress response which is often heightened in IBS sufferers. Fact is we don’t have a clear explanation of how these work so well from a contemporary medical standpoint - we just know they tend to help. We’re lucky to live in a country with plenty of access to these therapies - google these two specific to IBS and find a clinic near you. .
Try this for a couple weeks and see if it makes a difference. As always if you need a hand just msg us - we live to help xxx
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