Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Irritable Bowel

Question:
\ My sis was just diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.  She has gained 25 lbs since Christmas.  The doctor contributes the weight gain to the IBS. She only has bm's about once every 8-9 days...  She's been really suffering with this, feeling very sick to her stomach, acid reflux, etc for a long time.  It's hard for me to believe that IBS could cause such a huge weight gain, but I know how she eats, and she doesn't eat very much, and what she does it is pretty healthy. Does anyone have first hand experience with this problem?  I've been researching, but if you guys have anything you could share, that would be great.

Answer:
There is a difference between Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Disease. The first is not as serious as the second. No single cause or cure has been found but control through diet can sometimes help. I have IBS and am having a very bad flare up following a month long bout of flu. I also found coffee and dried fruit were aggravating it. Several foods I have tolerated on the SCD diet for gastro intestinal problems suddenly began to bother me. What I am doing until my system calms down is using animal protein, many fresh cooked vegetables, salad, and a little fruit. I have eliminated much dairy until I feel better. I did experience an almost immediate weight loss and reduction in bloat as a secondary side benefit.  The problem is getting enough calories. (This is not a diet specifically written put by a doctor, but it has worked for me before without medication. Many allergists suggest similar simplified food plans under the heading of exclusion diets.) I also did a lot of research on the Internet under Irritable Bowel Syndrome but would not venture to speculate on the cause of the weight gain without knowing what your sister has been eating or how much. Here is today's menu: Breakfast; poached egg on whipped cauliflower, pat of butter, asparagus, 1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese. diluted orange juice, mint tea. Lunch: Spaghetti sqaush, minced turkey cooked with garlic, onion, mushroom and tomato juice on the squash with a tbsp. grated parmesan cheese, raspberries Dinner: Dry pan grilled King Salmon, butternut squash, green beans, salad, blueberries It means shopping often for fresh fruit and vegetables.  After a week of this, if I feel better I will carefully introduce excluded foods one at a time. She may wish to check out the SCD diet which has helped many. http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.org/community/communitytoc.html My ex has IBS.   And part of his prescription is a high fiber diet, and fiber substitutes to help move things along. Also - after years of the problem, they finally put him on anti-anxiety drugs and that has helped ease up the symptoms. IBS is a stress related illness. Begin with handling the stress and getting the body to cope better, and you can then work on the other symptoms Stress seems to be the root of MANY evils... Wouldn't you think it difficult to evaluate the weight gain without an exact record of what was eaten and how much, how often? Perhaps the best idea is to try a beneficial diet and see if there is weight loss. YES it is! One of the best courses I took in school was a stress management course. Yeah, it was a blow off, easy A, way to get the credit I needed to graduate. But it was great to learn a lot of stress triggers, reactions as well as ways to deal with it.   Now, that was taken over 10 yrs ago, so now I can't remember half of what was learned. But still.  I do recall that stress causes a great deal of health problems.   One exercise I was assigned in nursing school when doing an oncology rotation was to find out if my patients had any major stressors in the year prior to being diagnosed with CA. The vast majority had lost a job, divorced, suffered a death in the family, etc. It is notable that many people in the same age group as my patients (60+) would have suffered similar stresses but it was a very powerful learning exercise. We have always eaten a tremendous amount of dairy. I personally drink about a quart of milk or more per day, plus yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese, cheddar, etc.  I believe my sister has said that when she started drinking the lactaid ultra milk, her symptoms decreased, so she may have to give up or at least limit dairy intake.  Maybe those lactaid tablets would help her.