IBS - the Do's & Dont's

What is IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a collection of symptoms (predominately abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and diarrhoea) involving the small and/or large intestine. It can often be referred to as ‘spastic colon’ or ‘sensitive stomach’

What causes it?

Unfortunately there is no one cause for everyone, common causes can be

• Stress
• Food allergy &/or intolerance
• Poor diet
• Emotional
• Lifestyle changes
• Hormone imbalance
• Infection
• Medications
• Genetics
• Depression &/ or anxiety

What are the Do’s?

•  Keep a food diary: this way you may be able to eliminate any food sensitivities. These tend to be but are not limited to wheat, glutens and dairy.
• Increase your good bacteria: in the form of pre & probiotics 

          Prebiotics: your garlic, onion, leeks and asparagus 
          Probiotics: Yoghurt, probiotic supplement

• Increase Omega 3 fatty acids: fish, flaxseeds, avocado, nuts
• Increase Glutamine:  High glutamine sources include Cabbage, bananas, slippery elm, onions, oats, most animal protein sources and dairy
• Increase Flavonoids: these are found in brightly coloured fruits and vegetables e.g. berries, capsicum, apricots, eggplant, plums
• Increase Catechins found in Green tea
• Increase Vitamin A ( your Carotenoid foods such as Pumpkin, carrots, pawpaw, squash, green leafy vegetables, dairy, fish liver oils, eggs
• Increase Allicin (Garlic) & Quercetin (Onion & pineapple) 2 powerful nutrients responsible for reducing inflammation in the gut
•  Increase Dietary fibre: keep your skins on your fruits & vegetables to increase your fibre intake

What are the Don’t’s 

• Eat

o   spicy food

o   caffeine

o   highly refined carbohydrate

o    rich foods

o   citrus fruits

o   alcohol

o   These will all inflame and aggrieve your symptoms

• Have big portions: Reduce size of meals ( 5-6 small meals per day) to make it easier for your digestive system to deal with the types of food and the volume of foods
• Eat 2-3 hours before lying down: your digestive system needs time to properly digest your food. Once you lie down this makes it much more difficult
• Eat high meals: Lower fat meals will increase gastric emptying and decrease acid production

Are there any supplements that help with symptoms? 

•  Iberogast – this is one of your amazing ‘magic’ supplements that fix it all. Stomach pains, constipation, cramps, diarrhoea a, a must of IBS sufferers. I have not seen a supplement like this on the market for treating acute and instant pain. Small enough to fit in an evening bag, powerful enough to reduce symptoms in 10 minutes
•  Probiotics – a quality probiotic will reduce the severity of your symptoms. It must be multi strain and refrigerated. I recommend MultiFlora.

If you need more guidance for an IBS friendly diet simply try the IBS friendly meal plan at our Naed Nutrition Store