Natural Remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Natural remedies for irritable bowel syndrome

From a Functional Medicine perspective all treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome should be natural remedies. Medications purporting to treat IBS address only symptoms. This type of medical treatment ignores diet and food sensitivities which is the first place to start. Eliminating the most common food offenders like dairy, eggs, wheat, corn and fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup in soda and flavored yogurts can significantly decrease gas and bloating in just a few days. Also to be eliminated immediately are soy foods, peanuts, all process meats and red meats, chocolate, ketchup, mustard, relish, chutney, soy sauce, barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, margarine, butter, shortening, processed and hydrogenated oils, mayonnaise, spreads. We give an extensive list of acceptable food substitutes, menus and recipes so no one goes hungry.

What could be a more natural remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome than eating good foods? The only side effects are good ones because frequently the IBS symptoms go away. After people learn the connection between what they eat and how it affects their bowels it becomes a much easier choice as to what to eat or “it’s eat now pay later.” Sometimes a blood test may be helpful in identifying unsuspected food sensitivities. I order the IgG test for the delayed reactions to foods occurring 24-48 hours after the food is eaten in contrast to the IgE test for an immediate reaction. The skin tests are IgE. The higher reactive foods are eliminated for three or six months, not for life. The only exception may be wheat due to the gluten protein which could be a genetic issue and would need to be eliminated permanently.

After foods have been taken care of, it may important for people to have digestive enzymes or betaine HCL (stomach acid) to properly digest foods. Replacing the good bacteria is almost always necessary and a specialized stool test can identify deficiencies. With all these proven natural remedies for irritable bowel syndrome there would be very little need for prescription medications.