April is the month of awareness for IBS. Perfect timing! Why? Seeing that it’s IBS Awareness month, I feel a bit qualified to write about it having struggled with gut issues in the past year. This little note is not to take the place of you consulting your physician, if needed and following medical recommendations.
What is IBS? I like to keep things simple as a health enthusiast so anyone can understand and implement. Irritable Bowel Syndrome? Big word, right? Let’s break it down. It simply means a digestive system (bowel) that is irritated! Angry! Offended! Rebellious! For movie lovers, IBS is a DIVERGENT bowel! And as such, lashes out with different signs and symptoms like abdominal pain, gas, bloating, and altered bowel habits ranging from constipation to diarrhea.
Some causes of IBS can be a low fiber diet, food allergies, free radicals, nutritional deficiencies, stress, leaky gut, and poor lifestyle choices such as drugs or alcohol. I was never diagnosed with IBS but my research revealed to me I had leaky gut (twin sister to IBS). My gut decided to have a Halloween party in summer!!
I had been having digestive symptoms on and off for a while, which got so bad last summer. I wondered why I was going through this because I ate healthy; 98.137% of the time (that’s a distinction), yet it got worse! I would eat and the food would sit in my belly like “Rock of Ages,” not moving, not shaking… just there. I struggled with mental fogginess in the morning. I’d wake up in my room and felt like I was on a ping pong table with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker having an essential gist over my head. I always wanted to go back to bed as I struggled with great amounts of fatigue and I was chronically constipated. I was bloated all the time, like I was crying 3-month-old twins…ah! More importantly, my quality of life and productivity suffered.
I felt miserable and wondered what I was doing wrong, I ate right, attended a body pump class 4 times a week. Having a great degree of self-awareness, I began to ask myself questions -what is new or recent in my life? STRESS! At that time, I was going through an unusual amount of stress. I knew deep within that popping a pill wouldn’t help me (besides I don’t like pills). A friend suggested I see a natural health specialist who helped her some time ago. I did and got some recommendations which helped tremendously.
Now, this isn’t for everyone because the root-cause of different issues helps determine the treatment modality. Like I said I lived a healthy life but poor sleep and stress were two “E-s-s-es” that seemed constant in my life and I needed to change that. I’d encourage practicing self-awareness so you can know how your body responds to different things.
I went gluten free! The first day I had breakfast that was gluten free- my favorite yogurt mix, (will share recipe later) which has NOW become my morning favorite. I felt like there were eyes in my brain. I felt so alert, had so much clarity and was so energetic.
I already ate lots of fruits and veggies. I started incorporating healthy fats like coconut oil into my meals. I incorporated foods heavy in natural probiotics into my meals like kimchi, organic bone broth, organic plain kefir, organic raw kombucha and also high quality 400 million strains of probiotics daily and digestive enzymes. YES! My bowel was so naughty and needed to be contained and regulated. Increased water intake and more importantly, worked to eliminating stress in my life. Having made these lifestyle changes with exercise, as well, helped me. It took me several months to be where I am today, not bloated and having a bowel that respects its owner (ME!) doing what it should do. I adhered to my treatment regimen.
As highlighted above, if you have any of these symptoms, finding the cause is half-way to breakthrough. Seek your health care provider for help. Make lifestyle changes as recommended! BE WELL!
http://www.aboutibs.org/site/living-with-ibs/ibs-awareness-month/
By Tolu Oyewumi, a health enthusiast with background and practice in primary care medicine and public health.