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IBS is complicated.
We don’t know exactly what causes funky poops, bloating, pain and all the other frustrating and embarrassing symptoms that come along with having a dysfunctional gut.
There are several possible factors, including:
- altered gut transit time
- enhanced gut-brain interactions
- changes in the gut microbiota
- genetics
- gastrointestinal infection
- and even possibly low-grade inflammation and immune system activation (although more research is needed here)
And it’s likely that for most people, more than one of these factors is at play.
Lots of detective work is required to find your root cause(s) and establish personalised coping strategies.
The obvious place to start is looking at your diet, and most people with IBS have at some point been told things like “eat more/less fibre“, “drink more water“, “cut coffee/alcohol“, or even “stop eating gluten/dairy” (not all of these things are necessary, or supported by evidence, by the way!).
BUT today I want to share with you some lesser-known things that can contribute to your symptoms, that you may not have realised.
The best part is, they’re all easy to fix so you can get some relief today!
Constipation
Holding in your poop
When you ignore the urge to go to the toilet, your stool stays in your colon for longer, meaning more water will be absorbed, making your stool drier and harder to pass.
If you need to go, go!
I get that pooping in public is less than ideal and may even cause you anxiety, but holding it in is worse.
If you’re out and about, here are some resources to help you find a public toilet/bathroom:
https://www.phlush.org/find-a-restroom/ (US)
https://www.toiletmap.org.uk/ (UK)
https://toiletmap.gov.au/ (Australia)
GoHere™ Washroom Locator App (Canada) App Store / Google Play
(if you’re not in one of these locations, I recommend searching on Google for “public toilet map ” to see if anything similar exists.
Under-eating
Not consuming enough food or calories means you won’t be producing enough poop! It can also affect your gut transit time – the speed at which food moves through your GI tract – slowing everything down, again meaning more water is drawn out of the stool by the colon, making your poop harder to pass.
Balanced meals with adequate veggies or fruit, complex carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats are important for everyone, and having IBS doesn’t mean you have a ticket to dodge this recommendation. You need to find a balance between keeping your symptoms at bay, and looking after your overall health and reducing your risk of future lifestyle disease.
The key is finding out what you can and can’t tolerate, and focusing on what you can eat, not what you can’t.
How to build a balanced meal when you have IBS
Here’s some inspiration:
*some of these foods can be high FODMAP, please use the Monash app for guidance around portion sizes.
If you’re not a plant-based eater, lean proteins such as chicken breast or fish can also be consumed.
Bloating
Wearing tight clothes
This is making it harder for food and gas to pass through your guts because you’re physically restricting movement. This can lead to bloating and pain.
It also increases pressure around your abdomen making you feel uncomfortable, and it’s probably going to make you feel self-conscious too.
Try wearing low-rise trousers, stretchy or loose waistbands or dresses without a waistband at all instead.
Eating too quickly
Eating in a hurry, on the go, and just generally not being mindful at mealtimes leads to swallowing air with your food, not chewing your food thoroughly, and often overeating (hello, bloating).
This can be a tough habit to break, but the rest of your digestive system (you know, that thing giving you so much grief) depends on you doing the two stages of digestion that you have conscious control over mindfully and thoroughly; chewing and swallowing.
Give your gut a fighting chance of digesting the food you eat by slowing down. Put your cutlery down between mouthfuls if you need a reminder.
Diarrhoea
Eating spicy foods
Does a meal feel incomplete unless it has hot sauce all over it? Or perhaps your cultural cuisine is heavy on chilli?
Well, sorry, I have some bad news for you: capsaicin – an active compound found in chillies – is a gut irritant.
It activates pain receptors in the small and large intestine, and in an effort to protect your gut lining, your gut transit time speeds up leading to diarrhoea and urgency.
Us IBS sufferers also appear to have more pain receptors in the gut than healthy controls AND we’re hypersensitive to the stimulation of these pain receptors, so this process doesn’t go unnoticed. Cue: pain.
Maybe try turning down the Scoville scale a few notches and see if that helps.
Eating too much fruit
The fruit sugar, fructose, when consumed in excess and in the absence of sufficient glucose can lead to diarrhoea. This is because fructose is osmotic so it draws water into the intestine, making your stools loose and watery.
So that morning smoothie you’re gulping down to get closer to your five-a-day may be getting you closer to the toilet instead.
Not all fruits contain excess fructose (the balanced meal graphic above has lots of low FODMAP ideas for you), but if you have IBS-D, here is some advice about fruit consumption:
- limit fruit to 3 portions a day
- eat these portions at different times of day (no more 3-fruit combo smoothies!)
Final word
There are so many possible causes of IBS symptoms, and these are some of the less obvious ones. It’s never just as simple as cutting out one food or taking a miracle supplement and finding overnight relief. It’s important to do a deep dive into all diet and lifestyle factors where IBS is concerned.
This is exactly what I help my clients with – regulating bowel movements and getting to the root cause of their constipation, bloating or diarrhoea.
If you’d like help getting your gut back on track, fill out this short application form so we can have a chat about your options.
