Reasons for Low Vitamin D in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Some people confuse irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with inflammatory bowel disease. They both have the same symptoms and both show a low amount of vitamin D in the body, but the reason may be quite different in both cases. IBS does not show any signs of inflammation or damage to the bowels, and is a functional disease. Stress may be the culprit that creates a spastic colon.

Function

• A shortage of vitamin D causes gastrointestinal problems, which in turn can lead to IBS.

Significance

• Vitamin D comes from sun exposure. Shortages may develop if a person works long hours indoors and can't get out during the day.

Diet

• People with IBS often restrict their diets in an effort to eliminate the problem. These changes may result in dropping foods high in vitamin D such as eggs, salmon and dark leafy vegetables.

Fortified Milk

• Doctors often remove milk fortified with vitamin D from IBS sufferers' diets because they suspect that the problem comes from lactose intolerance.

Absorption

• Despite popular belief, IBS sufferers do not normally have a problem with poor absorption of vitamin D. Rather, as noted above, vitamin D shortage may be the actual cause of IBS.