Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Monday, 18 February 2013 15:16

aloeverajuiceIf you are unfortunate enough to suffer from IBS you are not alone. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Australians will suffer from the condition at some time in their lives.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is a disorder of the bowel characterised by abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits (eg diarrhoea or constipation or a combination of both).

Other symptoms include bloating, flatulence, mucus present in the stools, nausea and a feeling of incomplete evacuation.
None of these symptoms are exclusive to IBS so diagnosis is important. If you suspect you have irritable bowel syndrome, check in with your doctor to confirm the diagnosis.

Causes of IBS

Stress is a common trigger of IBS. Certain foods can also trigger an attack, namely wheat, dairy, sugar and citrus specifically. Caffeine or alcohol can aggravate the condition and hormones can exacerbate symptoms (eg menstruation can aggravate symptoms).
Believe it not women are affected twice as much as men.

How We Can Help

There are 3 main areas we can address:

1. Stress

Stress exacerbates IBS so identifying and managing stress is the first step. Stressful situations can’t often be avoided so employing stress management techniques is vital (daily meditation, exercise, yoga, regular massage, gardening etc)

Using herbs and nutrients to relax the bowel is also a great idea:

· Magnesium relaxes muscles so if you have pain (abdominal cramping) magnesium helps relieve the spasm.

· Cramp Bark is a wonderful herb for IBS because it is a muscle relaxant and anti-spasmodic – so it is fantastic for any intestinal and bowel tension

· Scullcap and Valerian are great nervine tonics to use if stress is triggering your IBS

2. Diet

Identifying the foods that trigger your symptoms is very important because there is strong correlation between some foods and IBS symptoms.
Don’t forget the most common food triggers are wheat, dairy, sugar and citrus but other foods may be exacerbating your symptoms.

Keeping a diet diary where you record everything you eat and also record your corresponding symptoms is a great way to identify patterns and trigger foods. You can also record your stress levels (scale 1-10) to see the impact of both stress and food on your IBS symptoms.

It is important to minimise or avoid fried foods, dairy, chocolate, coffee, carbonated drinks and artificial sweeteners.

Include soluble fibre in your diet – lots of fruit and vegetables, psyllium and my favourite, linseed meal. These are great fibres to eat to help ease abdominal pain, cramping and gas.

3. Soothe, Nourish and Repair your Gut Lining

a) Aloe Vera Juice is great for any gastrointestinal inflammation and is used to health the gastrointestinal tract. Aloe also helps relieve pain and spasm

If you are around today be sure to pop in and sample Michelle’s “Aloe Shots – a very delicious “combination of soothing aloe coupled with mint, pineapple juice and pear.

b) Probiotics are beneficial as they promote the growth of good intestinal bacteria. Clinical studies show the particular strain Lactobacillus plantarum assists in the management of medically diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

c) Saccharomyces boulardii (SB) is a probiotic strain specifically beneficial for the relief of diarrhoea

d) The presence of mucous indicates some gastrointestinal irritation so use Golden seal or Meadowsweet

“Because it’s Not a Rehearsal”
Live Better

©2013 Live Better Naturally Pty Ltd

 
Prev Next

Our Top Immune Herbs to Prevent Winter Il…

Our Top Immune Herbs to Prevent Winter Illness

There’s been a lot of noise in the media in recent weeks about the “deadly flu” hitting Australia... and it’s about this time every year that we...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 20 Apr 2013

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate and pamper our Mum. It’s about acknowledging and appreciating how nurturing, caring, loving, ...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 20 Apr 2013

Depression

Depression

Life is too short not to be happy… but unfortunately anxiety and depression inhibit many to fully enjoy life’s pleasures. Those who experience t...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 20 Apr 2013

Stress Buster

Stress Buster

Ghandi once said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed” And if we truly desire to live a healthy and happy life we need to make a re...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 20 Apr 2013

PMS

PMS

There is still not a great deal of understanding of the causes of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) but a staggering 150 symptoms have been identified...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 19 Apr 2013

Mood Changes and Menopause

Mood Changes and Menopause

About one in ten women experience depression, anxiety or feelings of inadequacy around menopause (Trickey, 1998). Whether the cause of this is d...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 18 Mar 2013

Power Surges

Power Surges

For many healthy women menopause is a smooth and easy transition with very few adverse symptoms. However the transition to menopause, known as p...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 12 Mar 2013

Menopause… a Time of Change

Menopause… a Time of Change

Menopause is a time of change. And making it a time of positive change is not just pot-luck! There is now plenty of evidence to suggest that pre...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 06 Mar 2013

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from IBS you are not alone. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Australians will suffer from the condition at so...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 18 Feb 2013

Feeling Bloated?

Feeling Bloated?

Do you often feel bloated after meals, or suffer from flatulence, belching or indigestion? Bloating is a sign that your digestion is not working...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 13 Feb 2013

Magnesium on the Menu

Magnesium on the Menu

In our ‘Back on Track’ program we include magnesium as an essential supplement - and here’s why... 1. Magnesium is needed for our body to produc...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 29 Jan 2013

Getting Back On Track

Getting Back On Track

Are You Ready to Reach your Potential in 2013? Well Here’s the thing... …if you keep on doing the same things, you can only expect the same r...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 21 Jan 2013

Break the Habit

Break the Habit

The great thing about Christmas and New Year in the Southern Hemisphere is that it falls in summer. And summer for a lot of us means holidays, s...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 16 Jan 2013

Take Time to Feast, Reflect & Relax

Take Time to Feast, Reflect & Relax

A Time to Feast The Christmas season is a traditional time for feasting and I believe it is very important to preserve and practise our cultura...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 24 Dec 2012

Obesity is growing

Obesity is growing

According to a report released last month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) the rates of obesity in Australia have increa...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 12 Dec 2012

Weight Loss

Weight Loss

The Second 3 Drivers that may Impede Weight Loss 4. The Impact of Stress on Fat Loss Cortisol is a hormone which is normally present in the body...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 04 Dec 2012

Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

When thinking about implementing any kind of weight management program, a distinction must be made between fat loss and weight loss. Many low-fa...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 27 Nov 2012

Transformation… the first piece of the pu…

Transformation… the first piece of the puzzle

Around 500BC, the Greek philosopher and founder of modern medicine, Hippocrates, first hinted at the notion of lifestyle medicine. He warned us...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 20 Nov 2012

2012 Healthy Trends for Weight Loss

2012 Healthy Trends for Weight Loss

In the past couple of years mention the word “svelte” or “leptin green coffee”, “high protein diets like Dukan or Atkins ” and you’ll have anyon...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 13 Nov 2012

The Mind-Body-Soul Connection

The Mind-Body-Soul Connection

At Mammoth Health we’re about more than just addressing illness with supplements and diet. We are also about living our lives to their full pote...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 06 Nov 2012

How Positive Are You?

How Positive Are You?

Have you noticed we tend to spend a lot of time focusing on our weaknesses, forever striving to turn a weakness into a strength and often becomi...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 22 Oct 2012

Liver Detox

Liver Detox

These past couple of weeks we have been discussing how to detox safely and effectively… and discovered it’s not as simple as taking a liver for...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 15 Oct 2012

Detoxing… gotta get the gut right first!

Detoxing… gotta get the gut right first!

When most people think “detox” they think liver. And the liver is an important detoxifying organ but most people (and products) only focus on th...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 08 Oct 2012

Ginger Offers Chemotherapy Relief

Ginger Offers Chemotherapy Relief

It was reported in The Age (16/5/09) that a study has found Ginger reduced, by 40 per cent, the sick feeling of cancer patients taking chemothe...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 01 Oct 2012

Take Control

Take Control

Channel 9 news recently reported (16/4/12) that each year 80,000 Australians will get the flu. 15,000 of these flu victims will end up in hospi...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 01 Oct 2012

Krill Oil or Fish Oil

Krill Oil or Fish Oil

With all the marketing noise out there it’s difficult to know whether we should be taking Fish Oil or Krill Oil. Let’s have a look at the two… ...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 01 Oct 2012

It’s Time To Detox & Cleanse

It’s Time To Detox & Cleanse

I don’t know about you but this morning I could smell the promise of Spring in the air. And Spring is traditionally the time for renewal, new...

Mary Petherick - Wellbeing | 01 Oct 2012

Cats youngster ready to play

Cats youngster ready to play

Geelong's Josh Cowan is expected to play his first game since 2011 this weekend.

23 May 2013

GFL Skipper to prove his fitness

GFL Skipper to prove his fitness

The GFL interleague squad is sweating on the fitness of its skipper.

23 May 2013

Cadel cemented to second spot in Italian …

Cadel cemented to second spot in Italian Tour

Cadel Evans is running out of time to make a move at the Tour of Italy.

23 May 2013

Supercats at home this weekend

Supercats at home this weekend

Two big basketball matches at The Arena this weekend.

23 May 2013

Jade Augustine - Solid foods and babies

Jade Augustine - Solid foods and babies

Geelong Supermum, Jade Augustine, was chatting with The Morning Crew about 6 month old baby Jack and the process of trying solid foods. Was she successful?...

22 May 2013

Lee Kernaghan - Costa Hall Saturday 25th …

Lee Kernaghan - Costa Hall Saturday 25th May

              The Morning Crew caught with an Aussie country superstar, Lee Kernaghan, and chatted about his 'Beautiful...

22 May 2013

The Voice - Michael Stangel

The Voice - Michael Stangel

The Morning Crew caught up with the last Geelong performer on Channel 9's The Voice, Michael Stangel. They wanted to who has made friends with, and also ho...

21 May 2013

Craig Meddings Weird Science

Craig Meddings Weird Science

            Today Craig Meddings was chatting about a device that plugs into the bottom of a smart phone and produces a scent ...

20 May 2013

Rug up for a great weekend ahead!

Rug up for a great weekend ahead!

Well this cooler weekend ahead promises to deliver great options in fulfilling your leisure time, just make sure you take your woolly jacket and an umbrella...

16 May 2013

Here we come Weekend!!!!

Here we come Weekend!!!!

Gosh the weeks fly and here we go heading straight into winter with a few summer days thrown in! Let’s make the most of those this weekend as next week is p...

10 May 2013

Trojans, Malware and Adware

Trojans, Malware and Adware

For today, we'll discuss the insidious nature of this type of annoying and sometimes damaging code that plagues the majority of PC users at some-time or anot...

10 May 2013

Smartphone care and damage prevention

Smartphone care and damage prevention

Most of us regard ourselves as savvy users of technology when it comes to operating our smart phones. Whether your flavour is Apple, Android or Windows based...

10 May 2013

4 reasons to finally dump your dumb-phone

4 reasons to finally dump your dumb-phone

The smartphone as we know it is about 5 years old now, and while people have moved in droves, there are still many who sport a phone like the one shown abov...

09 Apr 2013

Facebook set to change timeline

Facebook set to change timeline

From 5AM tomorrow your Facebook news feed will change. Industry insiders say that the news feed will feature seperate feeds for different things like imag...

07 Mar 2013

Cauliflower – The Ultimate Comfort …

Cauliflower – The Ultimate Comfort Food

Cauliflower makes me think of winter comfort food, but few gardeners realise that NOW is the time to plant it for the best ...

09 Apr 2013

It's Great To Be Corny

It's Great To Be Corny

    Believe it or not, corn is actually originated from a South American grass species called Teosinte.   ...

01 Mar 2013

Going completely bananas!

Going completely bananas!

  Wild weather in Australia's north has once again shown how vulnerable our food system can be.  With most of ou...

26 Feb 2013

Dealing with leaf curl so your summ…

Dealing with leaf curl so your summer's nice and peachy

A bad dose of leaf curl can render your peach and nectarine trees fruitless. FRUITLESS I TELLS YA!   Also known a...

04 Jan 2013

New house designs, requirements & tips.

New house designs, requirements & tips.

Homes By Chapman, Penny Chapman Designing your home, one of the most important steps before you build. Listen to Penny has she gives us tips on everything ...

How an agent negotiates

How an agent negotiates

Dylan Taggert, Buxton Dylan goes through on how to negotiate, very interesting on how agents actually negotiate for you, this is a must listen if you want ...

Should you advertise your property in January?

Should you advertise your property in January?

Shaun Gilbert Realestate.com.au Shaun takes us through on why you should continue to advertise your property in January if you are going to sell   Lis...

Steps involved in building a new home.

Steps involved in building a new home.

Homes By Chapman, Steve Chapman Steve Chapman takes us through the steps on what you should do once you have purchased your block and are ready to build, t...

Listen to Win The Voice, The Final …

Listen to Win The Voice, The Final 32

Listen out all this week on The Morning Crew to win a copy of The Voice, The Final 32 double album. All thanks to Universal...

13 May 2013

WIN WRECK IT RALPH ON DVD AND BLUE …

WIN WRECK IT RALPH ON DVD AND BLUE RAY

Listen to the BayFM Morning Crew all this week to win your own copy of the Disney animation Wreck It Ralph on either DVD or ...

07 May 2013

Kokoda For Kids- Make A Difference!

Kokoda For Kids- Make A Difference!

Do you want to change a life? What about having your own life changing experience? Donate now to Kids Plus as Part of BayFM’...

08 Apr 2013


2012 Voice finalist on the Catch Up

2012 Voice finalist on the Catch Up

Mark & Paula with 2012 Voice finalist Ben Hazelwood.   2012 The Voice finalist Ben Hazelwood dropped in for a chat...

21 May 2013

heart-warming Super Bowl 2013 Comme…

heart-warming Super Bowl 2013 Commercial

                          We’re kicking off Feel Good Febru...

04 Feb 2013

93.9 BayFM
Level 3, 83 Moorabool Street
Geelong, VIC 3220
reception@bayfm.com.au

Phone: (03) 5229 2939     Studio: (03) 5229 9939


A part of the 100% Australian family-owned Grant Broadcasters network. ABN: 65 000 667 470