IBS Symptoms
What is IBS?
Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a disorder that affects mainly the bowels. It has also been called spastic bowel, spastic colon, and spastic colitis.
The large intestine is the organ in the digestive system where stool is produced and stored. When a person has IBS, the bowels may squeeze either too hard or too lightly, causing digested food to travel either too slowly or too quickly through the intestines.
The symptoms of IBS include the following:
1. stomach cramps
2. bloating of the stomach
3. loose and excessively moist stools(diarrhea)
4. dry and hard stools (constipation)
5. excessive flatulence
If you have been having these symptoms over an extended period of time, be sure to consult your doctor. Irritable bowel syndrome is a common problem; it affects up to twenty percent of the population.
What causes IBS? What can be done about it?
The causes of IBS are not very clear. All we know about it is that it causes an abnormality in how the bowels function. Aside from that though, no one really knows where it originates.
A few things are clear, however. One is that diet plays a major role in the onset and severity of IBS symptoms. Think of IBS as a form of allergic reaction; there are food items that trigger it and some that do not. Fatty and oily foods, dairy products, caffeine, and alcohol are some of the most commonly-cited culprits.
On the other hand, certain foods help to minimize the impact of IBS symptoms. Food items with high fiber content are excellent here. Fruits like apples, peaches, and pineapples should be at the top of your list; vegetables like broccoli and cabbage might help as well. Don’t forget the legumes either peanuts and groundnuts will help keep those stools moving.
Watch what you eat, and you will soon find that you are suffering from irritable bowel syndrome symptoms less and less. It might be useful to keep a food journal; by listing all the food items you eat during any given day you should be able to pinpoint the offending foods. Then you can avoid them. However, it might also be a good idea to consult an expert, such as a nutritionist. That way, you can be sure that you are not throwing out the baby with the bathwater you don’t want exclude healthy, nutritious food from your diet just because some items cause IBS symptoms.