by Lorn Allison L.M.T., Doctoral Candidate
The Irritable bowel diet and possible causes of IBS.
By now, you probably know that a sensible irritable bowel diet can help control symptoms but probably not cure them. I say ‘probably’ because IBS technically doesn’t have any permanent fix, it is currently considered incurable. If you have spent any time trying to fix your IBS, you know how frustrating this can be.
I have seen a few people beat IBS entirely to which many would argue that they didn’t actually have true IBS, though technically, they were accurately diagnosed with the disorder. These cases were definitely the exception to the rule when it comes to IBS.
There are many positive things you can do to avoid, reduce and sometimes completely remove symptoms altogether for long periods but it is fair to say IBS can can be a very difficult problem to beat.
I personally have had bouts of what was clinically considered IBS but my symptoms were arguably less severe than that of many clients I have consulted with. Also, I no longer have symptoms, due to, I believe, diet and certain concepts I am sharing on this website.
In my experience clinically, IBS is based on the over activity of the sympathetic nervous system. This part of the nervous system handles ‘fight or flight’ response of your physiology included in the enteric nervous system (brain of the gut).
Due to a calming effect on the sympathetic nervous system, irritable bowel diet choices, relaxation techniques, certain supplements and exercise have a great neutralizing effect on IBS symptoms.
Most food stimulants are allergenic triggers for people with IBS. The most important of these are…
Eliminating these from an irritable bowel diet can definitely help reduce IBS symptoms. Other causes…
If you are keeping a food diary and have noticed that a food sometimes causes a flareup and other times doesn’t, it would be important to note whether it was warm, room temperature or cold. Some foods are not as much of a trigger when cold and vice versa. But you can take a non-stimulating food and make it stimulating by consuming it cold. If you had coffee cold, it would probably cause more intense symptoms than if it were warm because by consuming it cold you have concentrated its stimulating and contracting factor. If the coffee is warm, it may inhibit its stimulating quality slightly because warmth has muscle relaxing quality. These reactions can be person specific and not universal, which it is why it is so important for each person to construct their own reliable irritable bowel diet choices. The medical community is many long years away from understanding these things. Based on observations over the last seven years, I believe there will come a time when research will recognize the many physical problems that are stemming from irregular breathing patterns. Keep in mind, if something aggravates your bowels, it is having the same effect on your immune system and this can lead to additional sickness.We know this, because research now shows that the majority of the immune system is based in the intestines. Another thought about the cause of IBS is plausibly that someone suffering from IBS may have an erratically stimulated immune system. Conditions responsible for this could be high food sensitivities and aggressive sympathetic nervous system. This would cause IBS symptoms that are additionally aggravated by stimulating foods. |
Serotonin levels seem to play an important role in the severity of IBS symptoms.
Research indicates that 95% of the serotonin in the body is in the intestines.
Research also indicates IBS sufferers have intestinal serotonin that is not being transported properly (as what happens in the brain with depressive disorders). This can cause depressive type effects on the intestines and irritation of the sympathetic nervous system, making the activity of the bowels sporadic and easily irritated.
This data would indicate that a an appropriate irritable bowel diet along with exercise may help serotonin be received properly on receptors and help improve the IBS symptoms, just as they do in the brain.
The incomplete picture of IBS at this time shows that there is no conclusive cause of IBS-just contributing factors.
With this in mind, let’s look at some IBS solutions… Irritable bowel diet and other IBS solutions
