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Natural Food & Remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms include difficulty in digesting food after eating, cramps, diarrhea and nausea. Although prescription drugs and antacids help to relieve symptoms, there are several natural remedies that also work.

  1. Trigger Foods

    • Recognize what your "trigger foods" are so you can to avoid them. Trigger foods are those that are most likely to cause your IBS symptoms to flare up. They include fried or greasy foods, vegetables that are likely to cause gas such as broccoli, alcohol, caffeine and dairy products. Over the course of a week, monitor the foods you eat and note those foods that bring about IBS symptoms. Avoid those foods in the future.

    Fiber

    • Soluble fiber can improve your digestive health and stop some of your IBS symptoms. Fiber promotes good digestion, which means that your digestive system moves food through your bowels more effectively. Although you can take a supplement, you can instead increase your fiber intake slowly through choosing a range of foods that are high in fiber. Your daily fiber intake should be between 25 and 38 g, and you can achieve this by eating an array of fruits like cranberries and figs and whole grain products like whole grain pasta, potatoes and bran.

    Relaxation Techniques

    • You may find that your IBS gets worse in stressful situations, causing your symptoms to flare. You can combat stress in a variety of ways, but be aware of your stress level as it coincides to your IBS. Avoid stressfull situations, and especially avoid eating trigger foods while you're stressed. You can reduce stress by exercising, meditating or using relaxation techniques. You may also want to see your doctor about your stress and discuss how to curb it so that you reduce your IBS symptoms. Therapy and hypnotherapy have been known to reduce stress.

    Herbs

    • Some herbs also help to alleviate IBS symptoms. Mint, when chewed or taken in tea form after meals is shown to promote good digestive health and sooth upset stomachs. Ginger is also known to calm upset stomachs, and can be taken as ginger ale or eaten as crystallized ginger. Drinking chamomile tea before bedtime can reduce IBS symptoms that flare up at night and using oregano in your cooking can also help with bloating and gas.

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