He irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) It is a common diagnosis that causes abdominal paingas and abdominal bloating, diarrhea and constipation, in various combinations and with different degrees of severity.
Treatment often consists of dietary advice, such as eating small, frequent meals and avoiding excessive intake of trigger foods such as coffee, alcohol, and soft drinks. Patients may also be given medications to improve specific symptoms., such as gas or constipation, diarrhea, bloating, or abdominal pain. Antidepressants are sometimes used to improve IBS symptoms.
Many people seek to avoid these symptoms through food and They turn to restrictive eating and supplements to try to alleviate their symptoms.
But according to one gastroenterologist, many mistakes are made in this self-diagnosed balance and They can actually make intestinal problems worseas explained in a note published by Business Insider by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, gastroenterologist and American medical director of the nutrition company ZOE.
Addressing the following habits can help, she told Business Insider, though she noted that if you’re concerned about your gut health, talk to your doctor.
In 1994, there were about 4,000 dietary supplement products available for purchase in the United States, according to official figures. There are now up to 100,000, from classic vitamin C pills and fish oil capsules to fiber supplements. like psyllium husk and trendy prebiotics and probiotics.
“Supplements are beneficial, but they do not compete with food. So don’t try to supplement a bad dietBulsiewicz said. “Eat healthy foods, with lots of fiber and a diversity of plants, and then supplement them with supplements.”
And he added: “You can’t go from a C-minus gut to an A-plus gut with supplements alone; diet has to come first.”
In fact, Dr. Bulsiewicz no longer regularly prescribes probiotic supplements, but instead prefers to recommend fermented foods such as kefir and yogurt to his patients.
This is consistent with the “food first” approach that many dietitians advise their patients: Get nutrients from food and then supplement for those things your body is deficient in or your diet doesn’t provide enough of.
As Bulsiewicz explained to Businses Insider, restrictive fad diets are a “major reason” why people struggle with gut problems. Eliminating food groups means that a smaller variety of foods enters the gut, and the microbes that populate our digestive system, known as the gut microbiome, “suffer the consequences,” he said.
He noted that there are thousands of different types of microbes in the intestine, all provided by different foods. Bulsiewicz considers them little people with food preferences and “colleagues” of other microbes with which they function.
“If we want all our microbes to do their job, we need to feed them all. To feed all the microbes, you basically need to create a varied buffet for them,” he said. “So a gut-healthy diet is a diet of abundance and variety.”
In another Business Insider report, the doctor already shared his method for incorporating as many intestinal-healthy foods as possible into your diet.
Many people misunderstand bloating as if your body rejects certain foods. But that’s not necessarily true :pyou could have eaten more of that food than your intestine could handleor most likely it’s because you don’t have a healthy gut microbiome, Bulsiewicz said.
If you don’t eat a certain food frequently, The gut microbiome may not be used to it, which could lead to bloating as the body struggles to digest it.
“The healthy foods that cause those symptoms are, in fact,the foods that are probably most needed” to increase the diversity of the gut microbiome, Bulsiewicz said.
Instead of eliminating healthy foods that cause bloatingstart by eating smaller amounts and gradually increase portions to incorporate them into your diet.
“It’s like going to the gym for your intestine, except you do it with a fork,” said.
Bulsiewicz previously told BI that you can “maximize your diet” by increasing fiber, fermented foods, and the variety of plants you eat.
