Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Probiotics

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Probiotics

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

As the name suggests, it is a disease related to the bowel. The Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the large intestine or colon, which is commonly seen in people with poor digestive efficacy and it is a chronic disease. Usually, it shows symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, and cramping.

Agree. The symptoms of IBS are uneasy and irksome. But, these, at least, do not bring any changes in your bowel tissue. Neither do they raise your risk of colorectal cancer? So you need not worry that much until you are among the rare that have severe signs (such as weight loss, rectal bleeding, or abdominal pain occurring at night) which are when you should really start taking measures. You will have to bring some changes in your lifestyle, diet and stress management.

Why does Irritable Bowel Syndrome Occurs?

Even more, it is hard to tell why this bowel syndrome takes place at first. A number of factors can be attributed to the disease. These may comprise lining of your intestinal walls with your muscle layers that contract and rest in an organized manner while they transfer food from your stomach to the rectum through the digestive tract. People with irritable bowel syndrome tend to have stronger than normal contractions, which may lead to diarrhea or gasses. On the other hand, weak contractions may lead to dry and hard stools.

Other factors may include abnormalities in the gastrointestinal nervous system or poorly synchronized signals between your brain and intestines. This can lead to pain or constipation.

How does IBS Occur?

It’s not surprising because these few things become the reasons for many diseases. IBS may be instigated by any of the following:

  • Some food items – Nevertheless, it is still to be proved. But, food intolerance or food allergy may be the reason behind IBS. Certain people, when they eat something in particular, such as cauliflower, chocolate, beans, milk, broccoli, fruits, or fats, tend to show more serious symptoms of IBS.
  • Hormones could be at play – As compared to men, women are more at risk of suffering from IBS. Thus, studies have linked the occurrence of the disease to hormonal changes. It has been witnessed among women that, during their menstrual periods, their symptoms tend to worsen.
  • Stress or anxiety – If you remain increasingly stressed, you may again worsen your IBS symptoms. However, stress only intensifies the symptoms. It is not the reason for the appearance of the symptoms in the first place.
  • Any other disorders –If you are suffering from some other illness such as gastroenteritis or bacterial overgrowth or infectious diarrhea, you are likely to develop IBS as a bonus.

How to treat it

As mentioned before, you can try making some changes in your regular diet and lifestyle. It helps in many cases. If not, you can go for some reliable, long-term solutions such as avoiding those problematic foods you are eating without thinking. These may include caffeinated beverages like coffee or tea, alcohol, dairy products like milk, medications like sugar-free sweeteners.

Make sure not to skip meals, and take high amounts of liquids like water. Make exercise a must in your daily routine. Eat fiber-rich foods like whole grains, beans, and fruits.

Apart from these, you can give a shot to alternative treatment techniques which may comprise acupuncture or herbs like peppermint. Also, you can go for probiotics which are basically “good” bacteria that act as protein supplements for you. As far as we can tell, probiotics are actually quite a valid alternative in fighting the IBS symptoms.

What are Probiotics?

Probiotics are live microorganisms which include bacteria and yeasts that provide you with notable health benefits. These protein supplements bolster your bowel wall tissue, act as antibiotics against bad bacteria, line your digestive tract surface, and boost your immunity.

By now, many studies have found that probiotics are safe to consume and are beneficial to the biological functioning of the organism. These are proven to work when it comes to improving the overall gastrointestinal health.

The reason is simple.

Humans need bacteria, both good and bad, for food digestion. While all bacteria may be doing their job, some might be more powerful. These help you break down your food in the intestine. All you need is the bacteria in the right ratio. This is because inappropriate proportions may quickly lead to digestive problems and among these, the IBS symptoms are one of them.

It is true that gut bacteria in people with IBS are far different than those in healthy people. Probiotics can help balance the good and bad bacteria. The good thing is that most probiotics are made up of only natural ingredients, which ensures that you will not suffer from any side effects. You can keep varied infections at bay just by taking a dose of a probiotic each day. And that too, without any additional problems.

What do Probiotics do?

Probiotics hold the potential to regulate your bowel function such as sensation, and motility. You can take these in the form of capsules or pills or liquid. You can also choose them as single or in combination.

You’ll be surprised, but many people are able to improve their IBS symptoms just by introducing a change in their gut bacteria. And this change comes through probiotics only. The only challenge for you is choosing the right kind of probiotic. You have to take into account that many brands are producing these products and each of them claims that theirs is natural and pure. But, you can trust only some of these probiotic products, those probiotics that are manufactured completely using natural ingredients.

Different Types of Probiotics

Probiotics may include many different kinds of bacteria. Also, each of these bacteria comes with their own kind of benefits. Nonetheless, these can be majorly categorized into two groups.

  1. Lactobacillus – Lactobacillus comes as the most common one when you talk about a probiotic. You can find this one in yogurt as well as in many other fermented foods. Different strains of these bacteria are helpful with treating diarrhea. Also, it is helpful for you in the digestion of lactose, i.e. the sugar found in milk.
  2. Bifidobacterium – You can take this bacterium through different dairy products. This bacterium is helpful in easing the IBS symptoms.

Probiotics are not limited to just these IBS benefits. In fact, various studies have found that these can even treat some skin problems like eczema, improve oral health, avert some allergies, and boost urinary and vaginal health.

Safety is guaranteed

And as I’ve already said, probiotics are totally safe. Most of them are. The authentic ones, of course. You can blindly trust them. These are tolerable and suit people of all ages. People with IBS can especially, easily take them without worries. However, it may also largely vary from person to person how they react to the protein supplement. If you go along with it, it is certain to provide you with a better digestive system than ever. Plus, you don’t need to change your routine to take them.

Since probiotics are being investigated for an entire range of benefits, not just those related to the IBS symptoms, taking them on a daily basis it is a no brainer.


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