Stomach troubles can be debilitating for those that have severe symptoms, but its biggest culprit might also be its perfect remedy: food.
Maybe you’re always running to the bathroom or you have abdominal pain from not being able to go at all.
The discomfort can be so severe it dictates how you socialize, eat and travel, greatly impacting your quality of life and productivity.
It’s easy to assume irregular bowel movements could be from stress, anxiety or a stomach bug. But according to Shanti Eswaran, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Michigan Medicine, it could be irritable bowel syndrome, which affects 10-20% of Americans.
IBS triggers and symptoms are individual to each patient, so it’s not a disease with a magic pill to make it go away.
According to Eswaran, it’s a lifelong commitment to managing your diet, exercise, stress, sleep and medications. Basically, sticking to a healthy routine can aid in keeping tummy troubles away.
But diet does play a major role. In fact, one study revealed that 63% of people with IBS report specific foods worsen their symptoms.
“The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to certain foods. Some people are sensitive to certain carbohydrates, and some people are sensitive to fatty or rich foods,” Eswaran explains.
“Decreasing those triggers, minimizing portions or staggering certain foods in your meals can help improve IBS symptoms.”
As a registered dietitian nutritionist at Michigan Medicine, Emily Haller, M.S., R.D.N. often helps patients manage IBS with an individualized diet plan.
One of the most successful methods is the low FODMAP diet, which first eliminates and then slowly reintroduces certain carbohydrates, or FODMAPs, that are found in some foods and aren’t fully absorbed in all people.
This poor absorption causes bacteria in your intestines to react, prompting typical IBS symptoms like abdominal pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation.
“A low FODMAP diet has been shown to manage symptoms in 50-70% of IBS patients, and has validated the patient experience that food triggers symptoms,” she says.
“This kind of diet can also be helpful in reducing symptoms for patients with another gastrointestinal condition called Crohn’s disease.”
Written by Jordyn Imhoff.
