Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common and most annoying, painful problems in modern society. If you suffer from it then you will have found little long-term help from your doctor and it can be years before there is any solution, if at all. This is because the causes are very complex, poorly understood, and difficult to treat with conventional drugs.

In this article, I’m going to briefly outline the symptoms, statistics, and proposed causes, then provide you with some potential natural solutions.

IBS SYMPTOMS

Diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) include recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort at least 3 days per month in the past 3 months associated with two or more of the following:

• Improvement (Pain reduction) with defecation;
• Onset associated with a change in the frequency of stool;
• Onset associated with a change in the form (appearance) of stool; and/or
• Criteria fulfilled for the past 3 months with symptom onset at least 6 months before diagnosis.

Discomfort means an uncomfortable sensation not described as pain.  During screening evaluation, pain or discomfort frequency must be at least 2 days per week to qualify subjects for clinical trials. (1)

It is well established that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms give feelings of shame, fearfulness, and embarrassment, while patients also report being misunderstood by their doctors, their family members, and friends. (12)

IBS STATISTICS

You can see in this chart just how common the symptoms of IBS are in the general population. (17)                                 

To mention just a few, 15-19% of New Zealanders, 10-14% of British, and 5-9% of Americans and Australians are affected. It is interesting how less than 5% of Chinese and Indian people have IBS while Mexicans are over 30%. The obvious question here is has this got something to do with local dietary habits?

POTENTIAL CAUSES OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

Although the cause of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has not yet been completely understood, multiple factors appear to have a role, including the composition of the gut microflora, intestinal permeability, immune response, and the gut-brain connection.

Gut microflora

The gastrointestinal microflora is a diverse and numerous ecosystem that inhabits the entire gastrointestinal tract and has a systemic influence on our health. Associations were observed between patients’ self-reported symptoms and the presence of quantities of certain gut bacteria. Among IBS subjects several gut bacterial strains were significantly reduced. (4) 

Microflora activity mirrors differences between herbivorous and carnivorous mammals, reflecting trade-offs between carbohydrate and protein fermentation. Foodborne microbes from both diets transiently colonized the gut, including bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. These results demonstrate that the gut microflora can rapidly respond to an altered diet. (6)

An imbalance of intestinal microflora and/or the presence of unwanted fungi, bacteria, and viruses can disrupt the sensitive mucous membrane of the gut. 

Intestinal permeability

On one hand, an intact intestinal barrier protects the human organism against the invasion of microorganisms and toxins, on the other hand, this barrier must be open to absorbing essential fluids and nutrients. Such opposing goals are achieved by very complex anatomy and physiology. The intestinal barrier represents a huge mucosal surface, where billions of bacteria face the largest immune system in our body. (3) 

In one study the permeability of colon tissue samples was found to be significantly higher in patients with IBS compared to healthy subjects. (5) This may be caused by disturbances to the microflora which in turn may have triggered an inflammatory immune response. Immune response

Infectious gastroenteritis is the strongest risk factor for the development of IBS and increased rates of IBS-like symptoms have been detected in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission or in celiac disease patients on a gluten-free diet. The number of immune cells in the small and large intestines of patients with IBS is increased in a large proportion of patients. (2)

Supporting the immune system and microflora of the gut may be of assistance, improving digestive processes while simultaneously reducing gut inflammation. The gut-brain connection

The brain, the gut, its microflora, and the immune system present two-way communications in health and disease. The brain, via the nervous system, influences intestinal motility and fluid secretion (8), intestinal permeability (3), immune function (10), and gut microflora (11), all of which have been reported to be out of control with IBS. 

The mental and emotional connection to the digestive system is powerful and must be considered in the context of IBS.

Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain consists of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus. The second brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system, technically known as the enteric nervous system. (16)

The enteric nervous system uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain, and in fact, 95 percent of the body’s serotonin is found in the bowels. Irritable bowel syndrome also arises in part from too much serotonin in our entrails, and could perhaps be regarded as a “mental illness” of the second brain. (16)

COMMON ALLOPATHIC TREATMENTS (mainstream treatments)

The most commonly prescribed drugs for IBS include laxatives, antibiotics, antidiarrhoeals, and anti-depressants.

All of these drugs may provide some temporary relief of symptoms but none offer a long-term solution by way of treating the cause of the problem. The underlying dietary habits, general gut health, and mental status may not have been resolved. This is where natural solutions come into their own.  

IBS NATURAL SOLUTIONS

When looking at a complex multi-faceted problem like IBS conventional treatments often work short-term but fail to provide long-term relief. This is because the problem can be subtle and lie largely within the realm of dietary, nutritional emotional, and mental systems.

The areas of gut microflora, intestinal permeability, immune response, and gut-brain connection all fall into strong categories for natural solutions. Let’s look at each of these individually

Irritable bowel syndrome diet There are a lot of theories on dietary advice for IBS but nothing that is conclusive or that can be applied to everybody.

Some things seem fairly obvious when you look at the research. Inflammatory foods, lack of pre-biotic containing fruits and vegetables, and low fiber intake must all be factors. Foods to Avoid Irritating food for the digestive system includes the following:

• Red Meats – Highly acid-forming and inflammatory

• Added Sugar – Highly detrimental to gut health

• Processed foods in general (including pasta)

• Processed grains especially wheat, and other products containing gluten, pasta, pastry, cake, etc.

• Too many high-lectin nuts and legumes like baked beans, chickpeas, and lentils. Read more about Lectins Here.

• Gas-forming foods – Raw cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. Read more about Bloating and Gas Here.

• Plus don’t follow a raw food salad diet until the IBS symptoms have gone

Recommended foods

• Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables (try stewed apples)

• Cooked root vegetables (except potatoes)

• Vegetable Soups, mushroom, pumpkin, parsnip

• Chicken and fish (instead of red meats)

• Probiotic drinks and yogurt smoothies

• Digestive herbs and mild-medium spices especially turmeric, mint, cinnamon, rosemary

• Black tea and herbal teas (see above)

Immune response

The intestinal immune system has developed a tightly regulated control to optimize the protection against pathogens, while at the same time avoiding unnecessary immune activity. (15)

Supporting the entire immune system along with prebiotics and probiotics will be the best approach. You can use foods to do this:

• Mushrooms – which boost our immunity;

• Garlic – high in sulfur which boosts immunity;

• Vitamin C foods – anything fresh will contain Vitamin C;

• Aloe Vera juice – 50ml daily.

For a selection of ideal recipes Click Here and Choose ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ for the ‘Special Diet’ Selector.

Healing The Gut Wall

There there’s nothing I have found better for healing the gut wall over the long term than Aloe Vera Juice. You will find it mentioned further below, but it’s worth looking at it and a little more detail if you’re really interested. Aloe Vera has an amazing power to heal tissues and has a great reputation for speeding recovery from Burns and other tissue damage. Science doesn’t fully understand how it works yet, as it has over 200 active components in the Aloe Gel. I personally recommend this hello vera gel which has no additives or preservatives, or you could grow yours at home and make it yourself. Watch this video if you want to try that. DOSE: Take 30ml daily first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  Get my Recommended Aloe Here

Gut Microflora

Diet has a marked impact on gut microflora diversity, understandable given that resident micro‐organisms obtain energy for growth via the metabolism of dietary nutrients. (13)

The effect of dietary fiber consumption on the intestinal microflora composition was reported in global population studies with very similar results. Using recent and long‐term dietary questionnaires and stool samples from healthy human subjects, microflora analysis demonstrated that a diet low in fat and high in dietary fiber was associated with higher positive bacteria, but a diet high in fat was more highly associated with negative bacteria. There has been growing concern that even short‐term dietary changes, particularly to a ‘Westernised’ style diet (high animal fat, high sugar, and low in plant‐based fiber) can rapidly alter the composition and metabolic activity of resident intestinal microflora, with decreased levels of beneficial bacteria and increased numbers of bile‐tolerant, inflammation‐associated bacteria (13) I suggest using the powerful Human prebiotic strain L-Reuteri, which you can get in the product called BioGaia. Take 2 tablets daily for the first month and 1 tablet daily for the second month. Click here to find out more. DOSE: Take 1 tablet with water just before Dinner

Intestinal permeability

The gut barrier plays a key role in the avoidance of inflammatory responses to the microflora and is regulated by a finely tuned network of immune mechanisms (3) Because increased intestinal permeability and inflammation go hand in hand, natural methods to reduce intestinal inflammation will be useful.

A diet rich in plant and vegetable fiber has been shown to greatly reduce inflammation. A recent demonstration from the Nurses Health study that subjects had a 50% lower risk for the development of Crohn’s disease, which was directly associated with long‐term ingestion of a diet rich in fruit and vegetable fiber. (13) The Herbal Detox diet plan promotes a pure fruit and vegetable diet and has been reported to assist with IBS.

Powerful triggers for inflammation are the presence of microorganisms in sites where they do not belong. Microorganisms contain structures alien to the body. Bacteria and fungi, for example, have cell walls in contrast to human cells that lack these structures, and viruses have unique forms of DNA and RNA. Cells and molecules involved in the inflammatory defense system react immediately against these foreign elements; they are danger signals to the body. (15) Again this points to supporting the microflora, as above, which also introduces antiparasitic, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agents.

Traditional herbal remedies include:

Herbal Medicine for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

One of the most effective things I have seen help with irritable bowel syndrome is the 14-day herbal Bodicleanz program. It contains a combination of 24 herbs designed to support bowel health and digestive processes. You simply take the powder twice a day and a smoothie for two weeks. I highly recommend using these two recipes every day if possible, StomachClenz and BowelClenz. DOSE: Take 2 scoops daily in a smoothie as your Breakfast and Lunch Some of the anti-inflammatory herbs traditionally used to encourage healthy microflora, heal the gut wall, and reduce negative bacteria and parasites include the following herbs, all of which are contained in the BodiClenz formulation.

• Aloe Vera
• Licorice
• Goldenseal
• Peppermint
• Black Walnut
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Wormwood
• Fennel

DOSE: Take 10ml twice daily away from food. Repeating some of these herbs in a liquid formulation, and adding a couple of extra anti-inflammatory, immune-supporting herbs in a liquid will help increase the effect of the powered herbs taken in a smoothie.

• Licorice
• Chamomile
• Peppermint
• Andrographis
• Black Walnut
• Mushroom blend
• Goldenseal
• Ginger

See the ColonEze Liquid Formulation Here Herbal Teas to reduce inflammation and intestinal permeability:

• Raspberry
• Peppermint
• Chamomile
• Ginger

Try a mixture of these teas in your teapot and drink 2-3 cups daily. You can get this blend pre-made here. You will just need to add some fresh ginger. DOSE: Take 2-3 cups daily from a teapot, great in the evening.

Get everything in one complete package, and save 25%. The Ultimate IBS and Crohn’s Program comes with everything you need for the full 1-month treatment program. Click Here to Find out more 

Meditation

Going back to the brain-gut connection, there is an important role for the nervous system to play in IBS. Meditation can play a major role here. One randomized controlled trial demonstrated that mindfulness training has a substantial therapeutic effect on bowel symptom severity, improves health-related quality of life, and reduces distress. (7)

Interestingly, changes in quality of life, psychological distress, and visceral anxiety were not significantly different between groups immediately after treatment but evidenced significantly greater improvements in the meditation group at the 3-month follow-up. (7) This makes sense, as the effects of meditation are known to increase over time. Read more Here

See my article for more detail on Meditation

Follow up Plan to Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment

I would recommend continuing with the dietary advice until IBS symptoms have been absent for over 3 months, preferably 6 months, then gradually introducing foods as you feel comfortable.

Long term it would be best to minimize the inflammatory, acid-forming foods mentioned and keep up the good food and herbs.

It is always good to complete a Herbal Detox at least once a year and you can also use our other herbal products to continue your journey.

I hope this article has been helpful and please share your comments if you also find success with our recommendations. Many Blessings Brett Elliott  ®

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solutions Free eBook

How Food & Herbs can Heal IBS. This eBook explains what can cause IBS and what you can do yourself to solve the problem at home. Brett Elliott has helped over 100,000 people with his Herbal Health Programs

You’ll Learn:

• What are the statistics, symptoms and potential causes of IBS look like from a holistic perspective
• Understanding the gut-brain connection, and how mental and emotional states affect IBS
• What your Doctor would prescribe versus the natural solutions you can use at home, including specific herbs and foods
• What’s involved in Brett Elliott’s Herbal program for IBS and some success stories from other IBS sufferers