Stress, Improper Nutrition and Other Causes of IBS
So what’s making you have those crabby abs? There are so many root causes for IBS in today’s society that we cannot even begin to expose them all here. But some of the major ones are stress, poor diet and nutrition, and clogged up colons.
Those Butterflies in Your Stomach may Be Making You Sick! Stress & IBS
If you took a poll of the average American, most of them would admit to being overstressed for a good portion of their day. While we all know that some stress is good for us, too much stress may be taking a higher toll on our health than we realize. Two of the main victims of this stress are two very important organs – the liver and spleen.
Chinese researchers believe that the common problem of emotional stress and frustration depresses the liver and spleen, making the “qi” (pronounced “chee”) of these organs become stagnant. In Chinese medicine, “qi” is defined as “the life force in all body functions, including breathing, heartbeat, metabolism, and even emotions.” When this stagnation occurs in the liver or spleen, the result is that the spleen and liver cannot work properly in the integral fashion in which they were created to work, and important processes such as digestion, moving of fluids from the body, movement of blood, digestion of food, and kidney function are halted. Once these processes come to a halt, you will experience things like abdominal distention and pain and sometimes painful diarrhea. As well as contributing to IBS symptoms, a compromised liver and spleen may leave you with pain in the chest or on the rib sides, irritability, fatigue, cold hands and feet, hypotension, easy bruising, menstrual irregularities, and others. So, the liver and spleen are one of the things that play a very important role in keeping that bowel in a good mood.
Is Your Dinner Turning Your Stomach? Improper Diet & IBS
In the U.S. and abroad, the human race these days is known for eating too much, too often, and too poorly. We ingest so many empty calories, so many saturated, processed, refined, radiated, and chemically treated foods that our bodies have become the victims of modern food service technology. In addition to all the bad things that we ARE eating, there are plenty of good foods that we ARE NOT eating, so our bowels have a right to be irritated.
People who suffer from IBS often experience more symptoms after eating a meal high in fats. This is because “fat is the major dietary stimulant of the gastrocolonic response.” Those suffering from diarrhea tend to be more sensitive to a meal full of fats than those who suffer from constipation, so you may want to limit your intake of fats depending on the type of IBS symptoms that you experience.
Another food product that does a number on our bowels and digestive system is sugar. Sugar increases the “fecal bile concentration” in the colon. What this means is that sugar causes more bacteria to grow in your body while waste is being processed and removed, and this build-up of extra bacteria can make you experience symptoms you’d rather not have. All types of sugar should be limited for people with IBS. In tests, 38% of the IBS sufferers examined were “found to be fructose-intolerant [and] experienced significant symptom reduction so long as they stuck to a fructose-free diet.” Sorbitol (sugar alcohols) and sucrose have also been indicated as provoking symptoms.
Diet and nutrition play a major role in our health, and researchers have said that “simply eliminating common foods from the diet for two weeks is likely to result in symptom relief for up to two-thirds of patients.”
Are you Trying to Operate with a Semi-Colon? A Clogged Colon & IBS
According to Dr. Michael Cutler, the colon is the first organ of the body that is fully developed in a fetus, so it is not surprising that many people say that “life starts in the colon.”
The colon is the organ of your body that is responsible for handling waste, and because of this, it is the point of origin for many diseases. After you have digested food and the nutrients and valuable content has been sent to the proper places, the colon receives whatever unusable matter remainsâÂ?¦including the toxins, pollutants, bacteria, fermented foods, and gases that your body cannot use and must eliminate. “A dirty colon becomes a breeding ground for parasites, yeast infections, tumors, and disease,” and stagnant toxins that your colon cannot eliminate are reabsorbed back into your body. That is why if your colon is backed up for extended periods of time, you are going to get sick. And when it comes to your colon, this sickness can get serious. It is estimated that “colon cancer will claim the lives of more than 50,000 people this year.”
Symptoms like constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, which are common symptoms of IBS should not be ignored because they may be telling you that your colon is in crisis. Even if the symptoms are mild, the colon may be in serious trouble. Nearly 90% of all degenerative disease begins in the digestive tract of the body, so taking care of that colon is essential to preventing IBS and even more serious conditions.
