Here is something an approach to IBS that I found interesting:
**What’s the best way of treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome, otherwise known as IBS? Well IBS stems from a lack of intestinal flora. So the goal of treating IBS really is to re-establish the intestinal flora. There’s several ways of doing this. First of all we have what’s called probiotics. Probiotics are sources of the actual bacteria that inhabit the intestines. Various examples of probiotics include: kefir, cultured vegetables, miso, probiotic supplements, live cultured yogurts and so on. It’s very, very important to make sure that the cultures are active though.
Second thing to be done is with prebiotics. Now prebiotics are the food that feed the intestinal flora. This is actually more important for the long run because with probiotics you’re not going to find any supplement that will have the number of strains and the various strains that you are going to find in the intestinal tract that help to benefit our health. So if you take prebiotics to feed all of the existing flora in your intestines you’ll actually build up all their numbers instead of just replacing a few strains. Prebiotics include things such as: rice bran, oat bran, vegetable fibres, FOS and Inulin. Things like these that are natural fibre sources.
The intestinal flora will ferment these fibres generating beneficial acids such as lactic acid, acetic acid and fatty acids.**
I’ll believe it when I can eat an entire raw purple onion and 3 Taco Bell tacos with no ill effects. As TriPolar says, they normally check the diseases they can (“No, it’s not celiac. No it’s not…”) and if those are all negative, then IBS diagnosis makes sense. As it stands, I am incredibly skeptical about probiotic claims. Eh, at least they aren’t suggesting I should jam a hose up my ass.
I take a probiotic pill every day (I’ve got tummy issues) plus I eat a lot of yogurt. I still have the issues, but nowhere near as badly as I did. It took awhile for the good bacteria to build up in my system, however.
In all honesty, most normal GI flora is re-established in one’s tract after illness/antibiotics via the mechanism of less than hygienic contact with a household member. Unwashed toddlers, inadequately cleaned hands by the cook, or intense intimate contact with a spouse/spousal surrogate.
What is mentioned in the OP is nothing “new”. It’s all well-established bullshit. IBS is not an actual illness. It’s a “throw up our hands, we don’t know wtf is wrong with you, so this is what we will label you as” diagnosis.
The fact is that NOBODY, knows what causes IBS. It’s just a variable collection of symptoms with no currently identifiable cause(s). Doesn’t make it any less miserable for those of us who suffer from it, though
While I found that probiotic supplements and yogurt helped a lot when I was taking antibiotics, they don’t do anything to help with IBS-related diarrhea, nausea and stomach pains. The only thing that’s helped ease those symptoms is sticking to a high-fibre/low-fat diet. Zofran also helps when the nausea gets really bad. Of course, what works for me won’t work for somebody else and vice versa.
That’s the thing though, there is no “it”. For example, I have been diagnosed with “IBS” and I guarantee you that you and I share no symptoms at all except for perhaps diarrhea. And my diarrhea is secondary to my spinal cord injury, yet somehow I received a diagnosis of “IBS”. “I.B.S.” aka “Its Bull Shit”.
I’m waiting for the day they make stool transplant the goto ‘cure.’ As bad as it sounds, stool transplant has a long tradition of being successful in treating ill livestock.
