Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS? If so, you’ll know that this bowel condition can make living your life difficult, stressful, and nearly impossible during an “attack.” Understandably, many IBS patients wonder: how can I make life easier with IBS, how can I manage IBS naturally, and how do I get my IBS to calm down? In this blog, we’re going to give you some actionable tips that can help you live your life a bit more comfortably!
How Can I Make Life Easier with IBS?
If you’re wondering how can I manage my IBS naturally or how do I get my IBS to calm down, you’ll want to take a look at the following lifestyle tips. Keep in mind that not every body is going to react the same way to all of these lifestyle changes. Use what works for you:
1. Follow the FODMAP Diet
This is a diet that essentially brings you back to basics with food, then slowly reintroduces everything else. You’ll be eating foods that are not fermentable in the gut and you will be avoiding oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
This diet is best practiced in conjunction with the next tip you’ll see: keeping a food diary. If you’re going to try the FODMAP diet, go all in and get yourself an awesome notebook that you’ll want to keep notes in.
2. Keep a Food Diary
As mentioned above, a food diary will help you keep track of how the FODMAP diet is working for you and help you identify any triggers that may have been causing your symptoms. Your food diary doesn’t have to be fancy, but if a nice journal helps you remember to log your food and beverage intake, it’s worth the extra money.
3. Cook with Fresh Ingredients
Processed foods and other “food-like” substances can be extremely bad for our intestines. You could start out your journey simply by cutting out all processed foods and going back to basics! Cook meals at home with fresh ingredients from the meat counter and produce section. Avoid precooked meals and only use flash-frozen fruits and vegetables.
4. Try Eating Out Less – Especially “Fast Food”
As an extension of the point above, stay in control of the quality of food that you eat. Eating out at restaurants or at a friend’s house can be fun, but you have no control over how the food was prepared. Furthermore, “fast food” is bad for our bodies in general and extremely high in fats.
5. Avoid Your Triggers and Potential Triggers
As is the intention of the FODMAP diet, finding and eliminating your triggers is the best way to enter remission for IBS. If you aren’t quite ready to commit to the FODMAP diet, you can try eliminating some common triggers and any triggers that you think are contributing to your symptoms. Potential triggers may include:
Caffeine
Alcohol
Tobacco
Spicy foods
High-fat foods
Dairy
6. Drink Plenty of Water
While you should be drinking plenty of water anyway, it’s even more important if you have IBS. Constant diarrhea means constant water loss – and you’ll need to replace this water. Drinking water can also help IBS patients maintain regularity once their diarrhea resolves.
7. Get Regular Exercise
Even if you just do a little bit of yoga every day, getting your body into different positions and challenging your heart can go a long way to helping with other areas of your health. Try meditation to help reduce your anxiety, too; IBS has been linked to anxiety, after all!