# A new approach to IBS **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455 "2013-07-25T03:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jack\_V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@Jack\_V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_V)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/1 "2013-07-25T03:13:43Z")
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.\*\* What do you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/2 "2013-07-25T03:38:25Z")
> [@Jack\_V](#): > > Well IBS stems from a lack of intestinal flora. Start with that. As far as I know (which may not be far on this subject) IBS describes symptoms without attributing a specific cause. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/3 "2013-07-25T03:52:01Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/4 "2013-07-25T12:49:35Z")
I think you should read this article, if you haven’t. [ **Some of My Best Friends Are Germs** Michael Pollan\* The New York Times Magazine\*, May 15, 2013](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&src=dayp): > [@](#): > > My first reaction to learning all this was to want to do something about it immediately, something to nurture the health of my microbiome. But most of the scientists I interviewed were reluctant to make practical recommendations; it’s too soon, they told me, we don’t know enough yet. Some of this hesitance reflects an understandable abundance of caution. The microbiome researchers don’t want to make the mistake of overpromising, as the genome researchers did. **They are also concerned about feeding a gigantic bloom of prebiotic and probiotic quackery and rightly so: probiotics are already being hyped as the new panacea, even though it isn’t at all clear what these supposedly beneficial bacteria do for us or how they do what they do.** There is some research suggesting that some probiotics may be effective in a number of ways: modulating the immune system; reducing allergic response; shortening the length and severity of colds in children; relieving diarrhea and irritable bowel symptoms; and improving the function of the epithelium. **The problem is that, because the probiotic marketplace is largely unregulated, it’s impossible to know what, if anything, you’re getting when you buy a “probiotic” product. One study tested 14 commercial probiotics and found that only one contained the exact species stated on the label.** > > _ **\** _ > > So I gave up asking scientists for recommendations and began asking them instead how, in light of what they’ve learned about the microbiome, they have changed their own diets and lifestyles. Most of them have made changes. They were slower to take, or give their children, antibiotics. (I should emphasize that in no way is this an argument for the rejection of antibiotics when they are medically called for.) Some spoke of relaxing the sanitary regime in their homes, encouraging their children to play outside in the dirt and with animals — deliberately increasing their exposure to the great patina. Many researchers told me they had eliminated or cut back on processed foods, either because of its lack of fiber or out of concern about additives. In general they seemed to place less faith in probiotics (which few of them used) than in prebiotics — foods likely to encourage the growth of “good bacteria” already present. Several, including Justin Sonnenburg, said they had added fermented foods to their diet: yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut. These foods can contain large numbers of probiotic bacteria, like L. plantarum and bifidobacteria, and while most probiotic bacteria don’t appear to take up permanent residence in the gut, there is evidence that they might leave their mark on the community, sometimes by changing the gene expression of the permanent residents — in effect turning on or off metabolic pathways within the cell — and sometimes by stimulating or calming the immune response. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/5 "2013-07-25T12:59:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/6 "2013-07-25T18:52:49Z")
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. Gritty but true… ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/7 "2013-07-25T19:04:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/8 "2013-07-25T20:12:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Bisector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@Black\_Bisector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Bisector)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/9 "2013-07-25T23:11:42Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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. > > Gritty but true… Dude… I love ya.. and all your wonderful contributions over the years. But some days man, some days. I’ll be bleaching my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/10 "2013-07-25T23:24:29Z")
> [@Hodge](#): > > 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 ☹ 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 “ **I** ts **B** ull **S** hit”. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/11 "2013-07-26T16:07:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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. > > Gritty but true… 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. > **[Fecal microbiota transplant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy)** > > Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), also known as a stool transplant, is the process of transferring fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy individual into another individual. FMT is an effective treatment for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). For recurrent CDI, FMT is more effective than vancomycin alone, and may improve the outcome after the first index infection. > Side effects may include a risk of infections, therefore the donor should be screened for pathogens. > With CDI... ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/12 "2013-07-26T18:17:48Z")
Heh. Speaking of fecal transplants (a phrase I never thought I would utter), I was reading about [The RePOOPulator](http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2013/01/post_229.html) not too long ago. ::sniff:: I’ve never been so proud of my Alma mater. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-approach-to-ibs/664455/13 "2013-07-26T18:25:02Z")
Other possible causes of IBS: abnormalities in the digestive system, unnatural serotonin levels. Thought that was interesting. Check out the Mayo Clinic’s site for accurate info.