Intense stomach pain, bloating and odd toilet habits are all part and parcel of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition which is thought to affect around 20% of the population.
There is no cure but the NHS advises altering your diet and lifestyle to ease symptoms and prevent major flare ups. Most sufferers will be aware of certain foods that upset their bowels, but there's far more to IBS than just what you eat.
Hannah Braye, a nutritional therapist at Bio-Kult, shared some simple diet and lifestyle factors that might be triggering your IBS and causing a bout of bloating, without you even realising.
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Not drinking enough water
Often the best place to start for most people suffering from anything from acne to gut problems - drinking water.
While we may drink other forms of liquid throughout the day, water is the most important for keeping hydrated, although Hannah notes this "can include herbal teas". Squash is a great alternative for people who prefer flavoured drinks over plain water.
The nutritional therapist advises aiming for two litres of water every day, which is in line with the eight glasses per day rule that is often cited by health professionals.
For IBS sufferers, Hannah said: "Staying well hydrated throughout the day is important to help soften stools and make them easy to pass. Those suffering with constipation type IBS often find an improvement in symptoms by increasing their water intake.
"It’s also important that IBS diarrhoea sufferers drink enough to replenish water lost from diarrheal episodes."
Drinking too much caffeine
"Many people rely on caffeine from coffee, tea, sports drinks, cola and even green tea to give them a kick start in the morning and see them through the day," said Hannah.
The prevalence of coffee shops on every street and queues out the door to get your flat white in the morning show just how reliant on caffeine we all are. However, even if you're only drinking one coffee in the morning, your lunch time bottle of cola could be upping your intake and upsetting your IBS.
Hannah added: "Whilst antioxidants in good quality coffee and tea can offer some benefits to the gut by increasing beneficial bacteria levels, too much caffeine has a stimulant effect, triggering the fight or flight response and the release of stress hormones.
"This is likely to have a negative impact on IBS symptoms and many sufferers, especially those who suffer with IBS-D, see an improvement in symptoms when they cut caffeine out."
Holding on to stress
We all get stressed on occasion but many IBS sufferers note their symptoms get worse when they feel stressed, which only serves to exacerbate their stress levels.
"Research is increasingly showing that IBS may in fact be a combination of irritable bowel and irritable brain, with the two being intrinsically linked via the ‘gut-brain axis’," explained Hannah.
"It’s perhaps unsurprising therefore that interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy and mediation, which help to build resilience to stress, are showing significant benefits in studies in IBS patients."
Letting go of stress and reducing stress factors in your life could go a long way to easing your IBS symptoms, and making you happier all round.
Not cooking from scratch
It's no secret that homemade cooking is usually better for you than takeaways or fast food, but even processed food and ready meals could be impacting your IBS.
The nutritional therapist said: "Evidence suggests that many preservatives and dietary emulsifiers have a negative impact on the balance of bacteria in our gut and can have a pro-inflammatory effect."
She added: "Dysbiosis, the imbalance of gut bacteria, has been observed in over 70% of IBS sufferers and numerous studies have found that live bacteria supplements can be beneficial in the condition."
Eating meals that use fresh ingredients reduces these additives and helps encourage healthy bacteria to grow in the gut. This has an ongoing effect as digestion starts the second we anticipate eating, in preparation for the meal so cooking allows your digestive system to warm up.
"If [there's no warm up], our guts have to work twice as hard to do their job, which can lead to food fermenting in the gut, producing gas and contributing to symptoms such as bloating, reflux, constipation or loose stools," said Hannah.
"Whilst it may not be possible to cook every single meal from scratch yourself - just before eating, make sure to take time over meals and think about it beforehand. Focus on what you are eating away from distractions such as computers, tvs and phones, to allow your gut time to catch up with your brain."
Binge Drinking
Bad news for anyone who likes a drink, Hannah said: "Many IBS sufferers report a worsening of IBS symptoms the day after a big night out."
It's no surprise that an excess of alcohol is bad for you, as we often feel the hangover the next day but it could be just as bad for your gut health as it is your head.
Hannah said: "Alcohol is known to affect digestive tract motility, absorption, and permeability. It is also often high in sugar, providing a potential food source for disease causing microorganisms in the gut.
"The negative effect observed in studies is associated with binge-drinking - over 4 drinks in a day- so it’s best to keep alcohol consumption low to moderate, and have at least a couple of evenings a week alcohol free."
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