The diet for an irritable bowel syndrome involves avoiding all of the foods which irritate the colon and has the potential to cause a spastic colon. A gastro colic reflex takes place when the food goes to the stomach. Foods which help in healing and regulating the colon should be a part of your daily diet in order to prevent and avoid those foods that cause painful spasms and cramps, gas, nausea, and bloating, and assist in the healing of the colon.
The body finds it very difficult to digest fats and certain kinds of animal products. These two kinds of foods trigger IBS Colitis and are also the main causes for both constipation and diarrhea. All these foods should either be completely avoided or limited to the maximum possible extent from your diet. Your diet might need a complete overhaul in order to bring the symptoms under control but they are all positive changes for your health and well being.
Fat is a great stimulant, which is present in the digestive tract. When the food we consume reaches the stomach, a gastro colic reflex takes place, and the colon starts contracting automatically. Sometimes an attack of IBS takes place immediately after the wrong kind of food has been consumed and takes place in a more powerful manner especially when fat is consumed. Though the normal consumption of fat would only result in a bowel movement, this can cause serious problems for people that have IBS colitis or diarrhea. This is because people with IBS do not have a normal gastro colic reflex and the colon could respond in a violent manner. People who have a chronic problem of constipation will find that such spasms will make the colon react very severely, cramps from the colon can cause some sever pain and this will also aggravate the constipation since motility has closed and the feces is not able to move. The muscles should relax in order to provide relief but with IBS it takes some time for normal motility to be restored after such a reaction.
Foods which contain a lot of fat can only aggravate the condition of IBS diarrhea since the muscle spasms which take place as a result of fat digestion will result in such quick gut contractions that there will not be enough time to absorb water. The spasms and diarrhea will also cause a lot of pain. High fat foods can result in both diarrhea as well as constipation for people who have IBS colitis and this is due to the delay in the gastro colic reflex. You can imagine what your body would go thru if the whole meal consisted of fatty fast foods.
It is very difficult to completely avoid high fat foods and people with IBS colitis should try to limit and/or avoid these in their diet pattern. In understanding that your body will have a reaction you can consume a little portion and help yourself by drinking lots of water to keep the system moving. These dietary changes will help you in living a healthier life and pain free life.
About the Author
Heath Medcalf helps you understand the dynamics of Fat & IBS, Detailed information on the different aspects of Irritable Bowl Syndrome can be found at http://ibs-solutions.info.
Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Heath-Medcalf/56707