Irritable bowel syndrome is an umbrella term given to chronic issues affecting the
bowels. This can be upper bowel (small intestine), or lower bowel (large intestine).
- Common symptoms are:
- Bloating
- Abdominal discomfort
- Flatulence
- Constipation / Diarrhoea
- Burping
- Reflux & burning sensations
- indigestion & Gurgling
From a Functional Medicine perspective, we will consider the factors:
Digestive Processes
Digestion begins when we first start to think about the meal we are going to eat, this initiates digestive secretions. Once we have eaten the food it is broken down by acids & enzymes and also the bile salts produced from the gall bladder. All of these phases of digestion can be impacted by stress and other factors. Issues with ‘bile sludge’ are more frequent that we think and it is common for bile to come back up to the oesophagus and throat, causes discomfort: reflux and silent reflux – often underdiagnosed. Bitter foods and supplements can be incredibly
helpful for issues around bile and reflux.
Gut Motility
The gut has a natural “cleaning wave” that moves food along when your stomach and small intestine are empty. If this movement is too slow, food can stay in the gut too long. This can lead to constipation, bloating, and bacterial overgrowth in the wrong places (called SIBO), which can cause discomfort and gas. There are natural solutions to help support this wave for example leaving 5 hours between meals or supplementing with natural MMC stimulants. This is often a good starting place for digestive support and can often resolve gas and bloating caused by
SIBO.
Presence of unhealthy microbes or overgrowths of yeasts
Microbes can flourish if there is an unhealthy gut environment, certain strains of unwanted microbes can secrete inflammatory particles called LPS (lipopolysaccharides) or endotoxins. These toxins, if they pass through into the blood stream can drive inflammatory conditions and affect our mood / brain fog.
Gut lining health
The gut naturally has a degree of permeability but in some people, the gut lining can become inflamed and damaged due to immune reactions to foods and or microbes. This inflammation can cause changes in the microbes which communicate with the immune system, the inflammation may also cause damage to the gut lining, enabling particles through from the gut into the blood stream that should have been excreted. This can drive further inflammation in a
vicious cycle.
Natural solutions would be to remove the triggers that are inflaming the gut lining and support gut healing, reducing the drivers of chronic inflammatory cycle.
Stress and Vagal Tone
Stress has a massive impact on how we digest our foods.
Being in a high cortisol state whilst eating can shut down digestion as we need to be in the ‘rest and repair’ state in order to digest foods properly. There are techniques that we can use to switch the body into the resting state before eating to help balance the production of stomach acid, enzymes and other digestive processes further downstream.