You can’t turn the channel on your radio or television these days without hearing about gas, bloating and indigestion – the technical name is “irritable bowel syndrome” (IBS). These messages make it seem as if just about everyone has this problem. And most of the time, those messages are telling you that medication is the only way to treat it.

At least half of the message is true. Yes, there are literally millions of people who suffer with IBS. In fact, it is second only to the common cold as the leading reason for sick days. Unfortunately, the part about fixing it with medication can be misleading.

I can’t state this strongly enough: you can reduce or eliminate your IBS symptoms without drugs. I can say that because I have seen it work in literally thousands of patients. But to make it work, you’ll have to make some changes in your current lifestyle. It’s not as easy as taking a green or red or purple pill—those pills only relieve your symptoms, they won’t address the real cause of the problem. Plus, all drugs have risks and side effects.  In addition, the simple fact remains that you’re NOT going to absorb the nutrients that are in your food! This means your body doesn’t get the nutrients it needs to repair and rebuild.

Do You Have IBS?

IBS is characterized by some form of altered bowel habits, and/or abdominal pain. In essence, we’re talking about bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhea. Not exactly pleasant, but a reality for many people. You may not even realize that you have IBS, even though you’ve been suffering with the symptoms.

The definition of IBS groups many symptoms together and classifies them as a syndrome. And as you can see, many of these symptoms are things that people don’t openly speak about with their friends – or even with their doctor. For the majority of people it’s ‘taboo’ to talk about these types of symptoms. It’s OK to tell someone you’re always tired, or have cravings or headaches, but who wants to admit they’re gassy and constipated?

But no matter how much you try to sweep these symptoms under the rug, you can’t. And you shouldn’t—not only are these symptoms embarrassing, uncomfortable and inconvenient, they have a critical connection to your overall health.

You Are What You Eat…Sort Of!

We’ve all heard the phrase, “you are what you eat.” In a general sense, that is correct. But a more accurate description would be “you are what your body absorbs and what it doesn’t eliminate.”

Just because you swallowed the food doesn’t mean your body digested it properly and absorbed the nutrients. If your body can’t absorb the nutrients in your food because of all the irritation in your tummy, you’re never going to properly nourish your body with all the vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and antioxidants you need to keep you healthy.

In a nutshell, the symptoms of IBS (gas, bloating, indigestion) are signs of improper digestion. In fact, IBS and other digestive difficulties are one of three core issues that need to be addressed before you can start restoring your health. (The other two are ‘blood sugar imbalances’ and ‘hormonal dysfunction’, which we’ll cover at another time.) So, IBS is not just an inconvenience and an embarrassment, it’s also a real threat. The key to solving the problem is to identify what is disrupting the digestive process.

 Keep An Eye On Your Food Combinations

Mainstream medicine will tell you there are no identifiable causes for IBS, but practitioners of natural medicine have known about them for years. The fact is, IBS symptoms are the result of poor dietary choices and stress.

The first place to look is your diet. Do you eat lots of refined, processed, ‘fast’ foods?  Do you drink lots of fluids when you eat? Do you eat on the run? Is there a lot of stress in your life? The answers to these questions can help you identify the root of the problem.

Food allergies or food sensitivities are another common cause. The most common food allergens are dairy, wheat, corn, soy, MSG and artificial sweeteners. I have had patients almost completely turn all their symptoms around by simply remove these foods from their diet for a few short weeks.

Another thing to look at is the way you combine foods in your meals. Generally speaking, some foods combine or digest easier together, while other foods are more difficult to digest when eaten together. The basic principles of food combining are:

-         DO eat protein with fibrous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and greens

-         DON’T eat starchy vegetables like potatoes with proteins like meat and beans

-         DO eat starchy vegetables with fibrous vegetables

-         DON’T eat fruits in conjunction with other foods – eat them by themselves

-         LIMIT the amount of fluids you drink when you eat

Look at the way most Americans have been taught to eat. Steak and potato, chicken and rice, shrimp pasta—these are classic protein meals combined with starchy vegetables. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you can’t ever eat those combinations. Once you get your IBS under control and get your healthy digestion is back on track, it will be easier for your body to digest combinations like this.

But when you’re just starting out, watching the way you combine foods can make a big difference. I’ve seen hundreds of people realize life-changing improvement after beginning to pay attention to food combinations.

Stomach Acid Can Be A Good Thing

IBS symptoms can also be caused by insufficient production of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid (HCL) in your stomach. Unfortunately, all the commercials over the past 25 years have everyone thinking their tummy ache is a result of too much acid. But most of the time, the real problem is that they aren’t producing enough enzymes and hydrochloric acid to break down all of the protein they are eating.

Additionally, the foods many people eat are contributing to the imbalance: while raw fruits and vegetables are loaded with enzymes, cooking robs them of most of the good stuff.  Also, packaged, processed, refined and fast foods are devoid of enzymes.  To make matters even worse, as we age we produce less enzymes and HCL, which makes it more difficult to properly digest and absorb the nutrients in our foods.

To counteract these problems, add a good digestive enzyme/HCL formula to your supplement regimen. A formula with HCL will help your body break down food in your stomach and your small intestine.  This is a must for people suffering with IBS. Actually, just about anyone can benefit from digestive enzymes, especially people who eat a lot of protein, cooked, or processed foods. This is particularly important if you have had your gallbladder removed, in which case you want to make sure your formula also has some ‘ox bile’ to help break down the fats in your diet.  Bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder and is needed to breakdown fats, unfortunately, without a gallbladder you cannot effectively break down fats, which leads to all other types of problems.  Ox bile is safe and you should not have to worry about mad cow's disease.

The Stress – IBS Link

Stress will always interfere with our health, especially with regards to IBS. This is why I sometimes have to tell my patients that I am NOT as concerned with what you eat, but with WHAT’S EATING YOU!  

Stress  will cause your stomach to continually produce HCL.  This sounds like a good thing considering I just said most people don’t make enough.  But it’s not good if you don’t have food in your stomach.   But even more importantly, cortisol, which is produced in response to stress, will erode your intestinal lining. This makes your body more susceptible to food allergens and other pathogens such as the overgrowth of yeast, fungus, parasites and candida, which further exacerbates the IBS.

This becomes a vicious cycle, because stress/cortisol will first erode your lining, which leads to inflammation of your digestive system (i.e. bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux), which then leads to more production of cortisol to reduce the inflammation. But you can break the cycle by following the steps I outlined above: eliminating common food allergens, watching your food combinations, and using digestive enzymes. Once you have that under control, you’ll feel less stressed—and you’ll have more energy to focus on other ways of getting the stress in your life under control.

The majority of the time, IBS can be alleviated without the use of drugs or medications. That’s not to say it will be easy—you will have make some changes in your daily habits. But remember, if you don’t make changes, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting: the uncomfortable, embarrassing symptoms of IBS and a malnourished body to boot. When you look at it that way, the choice—for better health—is simple.