Bloating, gas, cramps, heavy and uncomfortable? One minute you can’t go to the loo and the next minute you can’t get off it?

The likely cause is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It’s incredibly common. According to Guts UK, a charity set up to promote awareness of and funding for digestive problems, IBS affects up to a third of people at some stage in their life and is one of the main reasons people visit their doctor. According to The IBS Network, between 10% and 20% are affected by IBS in the UK.

Unfortunately, according to the NHS, there’s not a lot you can do. The official view is that it’s a lifelong problem that no one really understands and that there’s no cure for (although over-the-counter medicines can help symptoms). So sorry, you’ll need to deal with it yourself – if this sounds familiar, read on…

Any nutrition professional will tell you, there IS hope. A consultation with a nutritional therapist specialising in digestive health will be able to, in the first instance, provide some natural solutions that are likely to be better than taking over-the-counter medication AND your nutritional therapist will be able to work with you to find the root cause. This will enable you to get to the bottom of what is causing the symptoms of IBS (excuse the pun), and then you can take steps to fix it.

One of the most common causes of IBS is SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), which accounts for more than half of all IBS cases. This describes a condition where bacteria manage to grow and thrive in the small intestine. It’s not a question of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ bacteria. There shouldn’t really be many there at all, as most bacteria in the gut should live in the large intestine.

It might be that you have a lactose intolerance. This is when your body is not able to tolerate lactose, a type of sugar found naturally in milk and other dairy products, leading to a host of ‘IBS symptoms’. It might similarly be fructose malabsorption. Again, some people are not able to absorb fructose and symptoms are very similar to lactose intolerance, so it can be hard to know what is the cause.

Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the levels of beneficial (good) and pathogenic (bad) bacteria in the large intestine or colon.  This could be potentially caused by the overuse of antibiotics or alcohol, a high sugar diet, and stress.  Stress can often play a part anyway – if you suffer with IBS, have you noticed that your symptoms are worse when you’re under pressure or stressed?  For some people they will improve on holiday.

Or you might have a yeast overgrowth. Simply, the gut environment gets out of balance (due to dysbiosis) so that unwelcome yeast can thrive.

None of these symptoms are pressing issues for regular doctors because there is often not the NHS testing or the framework for treatment of these problems. In some cases, digestive problems can be tricky to solve, and it almost always involves a lot of detective work. But if your symptoms are hampering your life in a significant way, I want you to know that there ARE things you can do. Although IBS might be very common, it is not normal to experience some of the symptoms.

What can I do about my IBS now?

There are some simple tricks you can put into practice today and that might make enough of a difference to help you get your life back on track. I’m going to tell you what they are in a moment.

I also want you to consider the degree to which your symptoms bother you. Are you satisfied with just covering up the symptoms and hoping for the best? That might be enough for you. If it isn’t, please book yourself in for a free 30-minute digestive health call to get an idea of what you can do right away and what might be possible for you. You can do this by booking a free call and adding a note that you’d like to focus on digestive health.

10 ways to improve your digestion

The following suggestions are very basic but surprisingly effective at improving symptoms of digestive distress.

DO

• Try a cup of hot water or ginger tea before meals to stimulate digestion.
• Apple cider vinegar (with the ‘mother’) also works – take 1tsp in a little water before a meal.
• Take your time and think about your food before eating it – the thought and smell kickstarts the digestive process.
• Make sure you’re chewing properly. If you had to spit out the mouthful, no one should be able to tell what you’ve been eating.
• Try a few cubes of pineapple or papaya before a meal. These contain enzymes that can boost your digestion. You might also consider taking a natural digestive enzyme supplement from a health food store to support your body’s natural digestion process.
• Have a small starter of ‘bitter’ greens such as rocket or watercress as these can stimulate the digestive juices in your stomach making digestion easier.
• Take a 15-minute walk after eating if you can. This lowers blood sugar levels and improves digestion (see, your granny was right).

DON’T

• Eat at your desk at work. Getting up and out is important for so many reasons. In this case, checking emails while you are also eating means you are distracted from the eating process and can cause you to gulp down your food or not chew properly. Neither are good for your digestive health.
• Eat on the go or when you’re stressed out. You won’t digest your food properly or absorb the nutrients. This is the quickest and easiest way to get heartburn!
• Don’t eat too quickly. If you find you finish before everyone else this probably means you aren’t chewing your food properly and are not giving the enzymes in your saliva chance to do their job.
• Don’t eat fruit after a meal. Fruit likes a quick passage through the digestive system. It can get stuck behind other foods that are digested more slowly and then ferment, causing gas and discomfort.

If you’re sick of feeling bloated, gassy, crampy or going to the loo too much (or too little), book in for a free 30-minute digestive health call. You can do that by clicking here and adding a note that you would like to discuss your digestive health.