Chronic gastro-intestinal complaints are becoming almost an epidemic in America.
The sheer number of ads on TV for acid blockers, laxatives, and now even yogurt that promotes "regularity" tells you that our tummies aren't working well.
Much of it is related to nutrition and the chemicals in our food.
Processed foods are, unfortunately, the norm for many families, and the cost it's having on our health is obvious.
One condition I hear about often is Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Because IBS has no "known" cause, it's more difficult to treat medically.
The drugs prescribed are sort of thrown at the condition, hoping to help the symptoms with no clear idea of why those symptoms are happening.
Let's start with the basics.
What is IBS and how did you get it? From WebMd: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the intestines.
It causes belly pain, cramping or bloating, and diarrhea or constipation.
Irritable bowel syndrome is a long-term problem, but there are things you can do to reduce your symptoms.
Your symptoms may be worse or better from day to day, but your IBS will not get worse over time.
IBS does not cause more serious diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Doctors do not know exactly what causes irritable bowel syndrome.
In IBS, the movement of the digestive tract does not work as it should, but there is no sign of changes in the intestines, such as inflammation or tumors.
Doctors think that IBS symptoms are related to problems with the signals sent between the brain and the intestines.
This causes problems with the way the muscles of the intestines move.
Since I'm a chiropractor, I'm going to focus on the last couple sentences of that description.
"Doctors think that IBS symptoms are related to problems with the signals sent between the brain and the intestines.
" Let's look at basic anatomy in relation to that description.
Your Brain Controls Everything Most people won't argue with me here.
We all know that if you break your neck you can become paralyzed or die.
Those brain signals control everything below the brain, and the spinal cord is the way the messages are sent.
As a chiropractor, I work with the body's natural healing ability by allowing the brain to talk to the body without interference.
One of the ways I do so is through chiropractic adjusting of the spine.
The nervous system has three parts: The Central Nervous System or the brain and spinal cord, the Autonomic Nervous System, or the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions (these control things like breathing, heart rate and digestion), and the Peripheral Nervous System, or the nerves that control all of your muscles and transmit sensations back to the brain.
Each division of the nervous system starts in the brain, and MUST travel down the spinal cord.
Protecting these delicate nerves is your skull and vertebrae.
If your vertebrae didn't move, you wouldn't move (or not much anyway!).
Unfortunately, there are lots of places in the vertebral column where the joints can get stuck during this movement.
When the joints of the spine get stuck several things can happen.
First, the nerve coming out from between the stuck vertebrae may be pinched.
Second, the tissues surrounding the stuck vertebrae may become inflamed.
Third, the cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF) that flows around your brain and spinal cord may become stagnant at that level; this may impede the electrical impulses going through those nerves.
My job is to "un-stuck" those vertebrae and I do it through chiropractic adjusting.
Doing so allows the nerve to communicate properly to its end organ (finger, toe, stomach, bowel, or wherever).
It also relieves the inflammation around the nerve and gets the CSF flowing again.
This allows natural healing.
So from just an anatomy point of view, chiropractic adjustments of the spine may help relieve some symptoms.
I have several patients who have had bowel problems resolve after we started working together for low back pain.
What Do You Put in Your GI Tract Every Day? Food, right? After all, if it weren't for food, you wouldn't need a bowel.
Let me break down the GI tract for you so you understand what each part does.
The mouth is where the food starts being broken into smaller parts.
That happens through the physical act of chewing and the enzymes that are secreted in saliva.
After you swallow, your food goes down the esophagus to the stomach, and hydrochloric acid breaks the food down into very tiny parts.
Here's where irritable bowel syndrome starts in a lot of patients, in my opinion.
If you suffer from acid reflux and are on stomach acid blockers (prescription OR over the counter, like Tums), then you're stomach isn't able to break down your food the way it's supposed to.
That means that larger chunks of food will eventually make their way to the bowel, which can cause your immune system to launch an attack against the "foreign invader.
" So if you have IBS and you ALSO have reflux, my recommendation is to either add a supplement that increases hydrochloric acid, take digestive enzymes with your meal, or add unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar to your meal (I actually have some patients who drink a tablespoon straight with their meals).
After the food is broken down into tiny little pieces, it goes to the small intestine and this is where all the nutrients are absorbed into your bloodstream.
When it reaches the end of the small intestine and passes into the large intestine (or colon), your body will then absorb any water out of what's left, and you will eliminate the remainder.
The first thing I tell people with irritable bowel syndrome to do is eat low glycemic for a month.
Because low glycemic eating is based on whole, unprocessed foods, it's a good way to get many of the chemicals can that cause tummy upset out of your system.
You'll also find that you may drop some weight and if you any sort of inflammatory condition or type II diabetes you'll probably see improvements there, too.
Changing diet is the absolute first thing you should try, as it's the most likely culprit to your IBS.
I've Already CHANGED my Diet - And my Tummy STILL Hurts Sometimes though, diet change alone doesn't make as big of a difference as we think it will, and at that point it's time to dig a little deeper.
If this is you, you may have a food sensitivity or intolerance that is causing you trouble.
With food intolerances, there's not enough of an issue for your body to create the antibodies that can be found in routine blood work.
For example, I have an intolerance to wheat, but my blood work shows a negative anti-gliaden antibody.
That's the anti-body you make if you have a wheat allergy.
Through extensive trial and error on my part, I've learned that wheat will cause my joints to ache.
It took me nearly 4 years to figure it out, and while wheat is one of the main culprits, it's not the only one.
The thing that I find fascinating about food intolerances is that you could be intolerant to anything.
Did you know that apples and bok choy could be the culprit? If you've already changed your diet and eliminated processed foods AND if you've already eaten low glycemic for at least a month AND if you've already eliminated wheat, dairy, corn, eggs, and nuts AND if you're still having symptoms, THEN I think it's time for some more specialized testing to rule out a delayed food intolerance as cause of your IBS.
The ALCAT Test for Delayed Food Sensitivities In the office, I offer blood testing for delayed food intolerances using the ALCAT test.
This blood test looks at white blood cell activity when whole blood is exposed to foods known to cause sensitivities.
Along with your test results, you're given a complete report and a 6 month elimination diet so that you can heal your GI tract.
After you've eliminated the offending foods for a period of 3 to 6 months, you then slowly start adding them back in to see if you can now tolerate them.
The great thing about this kind of program is that often you CAN add the foods back in - once you've healed the bowel.
Remember, here's your plan if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome: oEat a low glycemic diet with no processed foods oHave your spine adjusted (especially if you also have low back pain) oEliminate wheat, dairy, corn, eggs and nuts if the change to low glycemic eating doesn't help oHave an ALCAT blood test to see if you have delayed food intolerances Many cases of IBS will get better with just the change in diet, so it really is the very FIRST thing you should try.