The Essential Guide to IBS

 A whopping one in five of us will suffer some IBS symptoms, and around one in 10 will experience deeply distressing, life-restricting.

IBS is frequently described as a functional condition, meaning that there is limited evidence of physiological changes to the gut wall. For many years, the lack of evidence of physical changes meant people suffering debilitating symptoms were told, ‘It’s all in your head.’

Fortunately, the world has moved on, and medical practitioners recognize that IBS unquestionably impacts life quality. Symptoms include bloating, discomfort, pain, diarrhoea, constipation, cramping, and nausea, amongst others. As with any gut imbalance, diagnosis takes time and often involves some pretty invasive tests.

While this book can help you heal your gut, you should always visit your doctor and ask for a formal diagnosis for any bloating or digestive issues. Although more rarely, these symptoms can indicate other more serious conditions, including some cancers, so always avoid self-diagnosis.

Gut health distress can also cause a significant amount of time off work. Whilst the condition of IBS is now widely known, and many of us have direct experience of it, it’s still common to avoid sharing this with managers at work, increasing the sense of isolation and anxiety.

Curiously, IBS has become a kind of ‘catch-all’ term for what may prove to be a more complex array of underlying gut health issues that we are only just starting to fully unravel. It turns out a lot can go wrong with our guts. I’m sure everyone knows something about the bloating, unbuttoning unease of indigestion. But there’s a more serious side to this occasional discomfort because we’re discovering that gut health has wide-ranging implications for our health, including our immune system.

And at a time when we really want to be healthy and well there’s never been a more important time to understand the link between our gut health and our immune system.

To find out more about how you can support your gut health with simple lifestyle changes check out the simple FREE resources on my website.

Calm Your Gut: A mindful and compassionate guide to healing IBD and IBS available from all good bookshops now.

Photo by Alicia Petresc on Unsplash

#gut #guthealing #guthealth #ibs

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