What Can Be Done With an Irritable Bowel

                                                                                         

An estimated 10 to 20 percent of people in the UK have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a painful and devastating disease that can cause abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhoea and bloating. If you suffer from an irritable bowel, you are far from being alone!

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

IBS is classified as a functional disorder that affects a person's digestive tract. With IBS, every organ from the mouth, to the small intestines, the large intestines, to the rectum and the anus could be affected, and as such will not function properly. This syndrome is also known by other names like mucous colitis, Spastic colitis, and spastic colon,

This syndrome is not a curable disease. As it is now, researched into bowel syndrome, its causes and more importantly, its treatment, are still largely inconclusive. In fact, the main cause of this syndrome is not known.

How is it treated?

People suffering from irritable bowel, however, can get relief from changing their diets. Unfortunately, doctors usually forego giving their patients dietary guidelines to manage irritable bowel symptoms. But watching what you eat and drink can be very helpful.

Changes in the sufferers diet goes a long way in managing the symptoms associated with an irritable bowel. Especially if you also have lifestyle changes, or take specific medicines for your condition. This is very heartening to know, especially because people who suffer from this can have some major disruptions in their lives if the symptoms they have are not managed well.

Food is a direct agent of IBS symptoms, because it goes through the digestive tract. An irritant would come in direct contact with the affected part. So it makes sense to control what you eat and drink.

As a general rule, avoid fatty foods, caffeine, coffee, carbonated drinks and alcohol if you have an irritable bowel. These types of food are gastrointestinal irritant and can give rise to an IBS attack. Another food group to avoid is dairy (which contains lactose).

For most other foods and drinks, however, you should try them to see how they react with your IBS. If you suffer mostly from constipation brought about by IBS, you might do well to add more fibre in your diet. There are also physiological tests that you can go through, like the ELISA, or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, food allergy test that can identify what foods would cause a reaction with an irritable bowel.

How can probiotics help?

Probiotics have also been found to be beneficial for an irritable bowel. Probiotics are different kinds of live microorganisms that provide healthy benefits for the body. Probiotics include all "good bacteria" like lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria. Depending on the type of probiotics present in the food or drink being consumed, it can:

• prevent colon cancer
• lower cholesterol
• lower blood pressure
• manage lactose intolerance
• improve immune function and prevent infections
• treat certain kinds of infections including peptic ulcer
• improve absorption of trace minerals
• treat diarrhoea
• reduce inflammation
• Prevent the growth of pathogens, or bad bacterial.

Probiotics have also been found to reduce the severity of symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome, specifically specific strains of B. infantis and lactobacillus plantarum.

About the author:
Kirthy Shetty, Platinum author. Get all your tips related to IBS treatment from: IBS Treatment

For more information on: Probiotic Foods

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