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Windchimes, I agree with some of what your saying and then some not.

The exact cause of IBS is not known, but there has been a ton of research on it in the last five years. It doesn't mean every IBSers has a different condition really.

However, foods don't cause it, they are a method of controlling it and not setting it off and management.

Certain foods are also well known to set it off.

They know for sure now that a good doctor pateint relatioship can be extremely benefical in IBS. But people are not getting enough time with their doctors to help explain it all, or they have doctors that just are not well educated on IBS.

Some meds really help people.

"Some things some people need to avoid is not necessarily what others need to avoid."

This is true for the most part, but there are specific foods most likely to set it in motion.

Both the brain and the gut are operational to cause the symptoms. Both are targets for treatments.


"Do claim power over your own body! Doctors and prescriptions are of little or no help if the patient takes control of their eating habits and introducing faithfully simple soluable fiber and supplements."

Work with your doctor, not against them. Its not just about foods. There is mild, moderate and severe IBS, and they might require different methods to treat it. It may not just be foods why the gut and brain are unbalanced, but a combination of factors.

I agree that Heather has put together wonderful products and dietary advise. It is important to keep good nutrition when you have IBS and not cut out all food groups. Some people with mild IBS maybe able to achieve very good results with just diet, but moderate and svere, its about diet and more.

Since I have suffered for thirty eight of IBS I wonder what role foods play in IBS. So I asked Dr Douglas Drossman at the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility disorders and here was his response. This is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from your doctor on any specific conditions you may have, but for educational purposes only.

Dr. Drossman is a Co-director of the Center and Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at UNC-CH. He established a program of research in functional gastrointestinal disorders at UNC more than 15 years ago and has published more than 250 books, articles, and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes research in gastrointestinal disorders.


Dr Drossman's comments on foods for IBS Health.

Shawn,
To say that people with IBS may get symptoms from food intolerances is an acceptable possibility, since the gut will over react to stressors of all types including food (high fat or large volumes of food in particular). Furthermore, there can be specific intolerances. So if you have a lactose intolerance for example, it can exacerbate, or even mimic IBS. Other examples of food substances causing diarrhea would be high consumers of caffeine or alcohol which can stimulate intestinal secretion or with the latter, pull water into the bowel (osmotic diarrhea). The same would be true for overdoing certain poorly absorbed sugars that can cause an osmotic type of diarrhea Sorbitol, found in sugarless gum and sugar substituted foods can also produce such an osmotic diarrhea. Even more naturally, people who consume a large amount of fruits, juices or other processed foods enriched with fructose, can get diarrhea because it is not as easily absorbed by the bowel and goes to the colon where it pulls in water. So if you have IBS, all of these food items would make it worse.

However, it is important to separate factors that worsen IBS (e.g., foods as above, stress, hormonal changes, etc.) from the cause or pathophysiology of IBS. Just like stress doesn't cause IBS, (though it can make it worse), foods must be understood as aggravating rather than etiological in nature.

The cause of IBS is yet to be determined. However, modern research understands IBS as a disorder of increased reactivity of the bowel, visceral hypersensitivity and dysfunction of the brain-gut axis. There are subgroups being defined as well, including post-infectious IBS which can lead to IBS symptoms. Other work using brain imaging shows that the pain regulation center of the brain (cingulate cortex) can be impaired, as well as good evidence for there being abnormalities in motility which can at least in part explain the diarrhea and constipation. So finding a specific "cause" of IBS has grown out of general interest in place of understanding physiological subgroups that may become amenable to more specific treatments. Hope that helps.
Doug

http://www.ibshealth.com/ibsfoods2.htm

People might also want to read this in regards to an IBS diagnoses. Scroll down

Diagnostic Testing in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Theory vs. Reality

http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/Autumn_2009_Digest.pdf

I agree about being your own health advocate, about good nutrition, but also a good doctor pateint relationship if possible. That goes both ways.

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