IBS: R&R
Replace and Repairing the Gut Lining After Relief From IBS
Once we have removed the problem, the irritant; be it chemical (i.e. coffee, salicylate), bacterial (staphylococcus), fungal (candida), protozoal (blastocyctis hominis), we can start to replace what is lost and repair the gut lining. If we haven't identified the problem accurately and removed or reduced it, we are ABSOLUTELY wasting our time and money on gut repair methods such as probiotics and fish oils.
Taking for granted at this stage that we know what the problem is, let's talk about the road to recovery and how to make it a sustainable one.
Replace
When we have had a long standing illness we are often leached of vitamins and minerals. It is important that we replenish them as consequential symptoms such as nervousness, anxiety; even peripheral numbness can be a product of vitamin/mineral deficiency from leaky gut.
You can get an extensive range of blood tests etc. to ascertain which vitamins and minerals you need the most; and this could be very beneficial. However, these kinds of tests are generally expensive. It is worthwhile at least getting your iron, B12 and vitamin D levels checked when you get a general blood test from your GP. These are usually covered under public health benefits in many countries.
It is common in IBS sufferers to have deficiency in Vitamins B1,6 and 12, folate and zinc. A multi vitamin B supplement is a good place to start and zinc is an essential mineral which will also help to heal your gut lining and maintain healthy stomach acid levels.
When we look at the biological pathway that regulates stress, anxiety and sleep, B vitamins and zinc are often poorly absorbed in IBS sufferers. As the gut lining heals, you will most likely get enough vitamins and minerals from your diet (provided it's a healthy one) as you should naturally. However, for the first couple of months you can use appropriate supplements.
Vitamin C is also very useful in IBS. The reasons I use it are 4 fold. I use unsweetened powdered vitamin C. the best quality you can get. It should have no additives, be 100% calcium ascorbate. Containing ascorbic acid (vitamin c). The particular one I use 'Melrose' also contains calcium ascorbate.
1. It naturally balances the acids in the stomach. Many sufferers of IBS have low stomach acid.
2. It acts as a natural anti-biotic in the gut
3. It replaces deficiency in Vitamin C which is common in IBS, boosting the immune system acting as an anti-oxidant
4. It has a bitter flavour which stimulates digestive enzymes and bile
Bicarb Soda
I use this in cases of bacterial overgrowth where the gut has become too acidic. Just one teaspoon in a glass of water, 2 hours after a meal the first 2 meals of the day for 1 week.
This will make you very thirsty! Keep up your fluid levels!
I don't recommend you do this long term (just one week at a time) as blood pH must remain in a narrow spectrum and taking too much of an alkalyzing agent can shift the pH too far one way.
Pro Biotics
Most people diagnosed with IBS have already been on a course of probiotics. And because you're reading this now, they probably didn't work for long. This comes back to our 3AB, 3 aspect balance. Bacterial, Emotional/Mental and pH balance.
If you only focussed on increasing the 'good bacteria' without removing the 'bad bacteria' and addressing emotional triggers and balancing pH, you're going to have a hard time fixing things properly.
If you had the FMA (fecal microbial Assay), it will show you what you need to get rid of and what you need to replace. What needs replacing is quite often Ecoli and acidophilus, but this will be individual to everyone. Ecoli has many different strains and some are beneficial, and some not. If your FMA says you need to replace your gut with more Ecoli, you can get a product made in Germany called Mutaflor and take as directed.
If your FMA says you have very low bacteroides, you need to culture more. We are given bacteroides at birth and they cannot be taken as a supplement as it can be toxic to take orally. Bacteroides is difficult to increase. Some things that may help is a heme supplement which contains ferrous gluconate dihydrate. Other methods include faecal therapy or 'donation' where a member of your family or someone close (that has a healthy digestive system) donates a sample of feces which is mixed in saline and flushed in your colon under professional and hygienic conditions. This is said to re-populate your gut with healthy, balanced levels of bacteria.
The pro biotic that I most commonly recommend is kefir. Kefir is a live cultured yoghurt drink that is said to have originated in Turkey. You can buy the live crystals or powder and add it to milk. It is usually fermented for around 12-20 hours at room temperature (20 deg C) and then placed in the fridge. If you have grains, they can be kept and as they grow, you can continuously make kefir over and over.
Note: After taking antibiotics, it is a good idea to take the kefir or a standard probiotic to reintroduce bacteria.
Over View
1. Vitamin C powder. 1 teaspoon in water before first 2 meals of the day. 2 weeks
2. BiCarb of soda. ½ teaspoon in water 2 hrs after first 2 meals of the day. 1 week
3. Kefir. As much as you enjoy. ½ glass a day at least.
Repair
The road to repair is usually a long and slow one, don't expect immediate miracles. You should be feeling better and have less symptoms, but you will have up's and downs. So, the important thing is to recognize and identify what might have caused the 'flare up' of symptoms.
The general aetiology is like this:
Stress and poor diet àLow Stomach Acid àBacterial Overgrowth àIBS
Right there we cover
1. Emotional
2. pH
3. Parasite
Once we know the mechanism, we can deal with the treatment.
Then, once we are starting to get better and stabilised we need to start repairing the gut lining.
This is a fairly simple process and will improve over months.
1. L-Glutamate- great for gut epithelial cells
2. Zinc- also great healer
3. Fish oil- some people prefer krill oil due to low likely hood of mercury toxicity and some prefer the fermented cod liver oil which is a little more expensive.
It's good to keep things simple, then you know what things have worked and you're not spending thousands of dollars on products you don't need.
It is also important to go back to the '4 pillar' approach as that has many tools to prevent the IBS returning.
Clinically I tend to notice a relapse after 9-12 months quite often; however this is very short lived when patients go back to the basic principles of IBSpro. If you're stressed and IBS has come back, it's time to review stress coping techniques. Then if it's still there, look at pH and bacterial balance. For pH adjust your stomach acid. If it's low use vitamin C powder or Betaine HCL. If your small intestine may be too acidic, start bicarb soda again for a week. If there is bacterial overgrowth, try herbs first like berberine extract or grape seed extract. If that doesn't work get retested with another FMA and use another course of antibiotics.
You will eventually develop your own rhythm and get to know your body very well. You will then begin to get a feel for how to use the techniques in this guide and become less self-reliant on supplements and I hope live a long healthy, happy life!
An excerpt from my book available at IBSpro
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