People who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome know first hand the effect that a poorly functioning digestive system can have on your health and wellbeing. Not being able to properly enjoy and process your food can make you utterly miserable, and has a whole range of knock on effects on various other aspects of your health.
Nutrition is essential in combating the effects of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. A diet that provides just the right nutritional balance can have a huge impact on how you cope with the condition, and therefore on how you feel both physically and mentally.
What IBS does
When your body digests food, it starts the process within the stomach itself, with the food passing through to the small and then large intestines. The process whereby your food is passed through these stages is affected when you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, having an impact on how you absorb the nutrients in the food as it moves through your system.
Suffering from IBS can have a generally negative effect on your relationship with food. Your mental attitude to food is essential when it comes to achieving a healthy balance, and if you’re accustomed to experiencing discomfort whenever you eat food, this will more than likely make you feel apprehension towards the act of eating itself.
The main visible symptoms of IBS tend to be either constipation or diarrhoea, or indeed both in an alternating pattern. Naturally these both have knock on effects when it comes to how your body absorbs the nutrients in your food.
Some people tend to find that certain foods exacerbate their IBS symptoms, and in these cases it is naturally helpful to know which foods these are, and either reduce or avoid them, remembering to replace any essential elements that are lost through avoiding specific sets of food types.
Fibre
As with many digestive problems, a diet that gives you an adequate supply of fibre will often be helpful with IBS. Foods that naturally form part of a vegetarian diet, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, will therefore be ideal options here. Similarly, eating wholegrain products will provide plenty of fibre for your system to feed into the digestive process. Cutting back on animal products can also be helpful, as these tend to clog up the digestive system as they’re more troublesome to digest.
Water
Drinking plenty of water is doubly important if you have digestive issues such as IBS. The water aids your body’s ability to absorb the nutrients in the foods that you consume, helping you to get the best out of your diet.
What to avoid
Avoiding foods that contain caffeine, alcohol and sweeteners can also reduce the effects of IBS. Many foods that produce gas can also exacerbate the symptoms, such as broccoli, cabbage, peas and lentils, so these may be best kept to a minimum also.
Overview
In general, maintaining a regular routine of eating healthy food should aid your body’s ability to cope with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Small, frequent meals should ease the load on your digestive system, while keeping it functioning regularly throughout the day.
