It’s that awful feeling of wanting to have a bowel movement but for some reason you can’t – which is the opposite of how you felt only a few days ago when you were running to the toilet with diarrhea. Either way, whether it’s constipation or diarrhea, you experience constant stomach cramps, bloating and gas. Sometimes the symptoms are manageable, and sometimes they can be debilitating enough to make you want to cancel your social events, or need to call in sick to work.
These symptoms described above are what most people with IBS experience. Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or IBD, or any other type of gastrointestinal disorder, you may still be experiencing these symptoms and you’re not sure what to do about it. You’ve likely done searches on the internet for natural methods to relieve these symptoms, or have searched for naturopathic doctors Toronto, or naturopathic medicine Toronto. And now you’ve found our blog post which will give you some assurance that there is lots you can do to naturally relieve IBS symptoms. In our three week protocol which includes herbs and diet, most people find their symptoms disappear.
First and foremost, we recommend trying an anti-inflammatory diet to help calm down inflammation in the digestive system. This would mean removing common allergenic foods such as dairy, gluten, wheat, eggs, corn, and soy. The next step will be to remove all gas-producing foods such as beans, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts. Making dietary changes may seem daunting, especially if you have a social event coming up with lots of tempting treats. But trust us, we’ve seen amazing results with our patients when they removing these types of foods from their diet to relieve IBS symptoms.
The next best thing to do is to keep a food journal. This will help you to learn which foods aggravate your IBS symptoms. This is also an important tool for your naturopath or nutritionist to help you come up with a treatment plan to ease your IBS symptoms.