You might hear people tell you that it’s healthy to have a bowel movement at least once a day. While that may be true for some people there actually is no “right” number of bowel movements a typical person should have. Everybody is different and just needs to figure out your body’s normal number of bowel movements. There are many factors that determine this such as the type of food you eat, how much you exercise, how stressful your life is, etc.

At one time or another, almost everyone gets constipated. In most cases, it lasts for a short time and is not serious. When you understand what causes constipation, you can take steps to prevent it. If you have IBS with constipation you probably already know how important fiber-rich foods are to your comfort.

The major cause of constipation is unhealthy eating habits and you’d be surprised how quickly you’d have a bowel movement after changing your diet for a few days. Fiber foods are also important in helping to reduce the cholesterol levels in the body. They are not easily digestible by the intestinal tract hence putting them in the position of bulk forming enhancers and enable the feces to pass easily.

If you don’t already include foods like bran, wheat, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your daily diet it’s time to start now. In short, all high fiber foods are part of the foods that relieve constipation.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends you eat 20-35 grams of fiber a day but in order for a high-fiber eating plan to work its magic, you have to do three things:

• Reach the higher-fiber target (of 20-35 grams of fiber a day) almost every day.
• Spread your high-fiber foods throughout the day so it works better on your bowels.
• Drink plenty of water and other non caffeinated, noncaloric liquids/beverages throughout the day as well. Fiber works better in the intestines if there is plenty of water to go with it.

For me, I found my solution by learning from someone else who has lived with constipation for many years. She travels three times a month (and probably just like you and I), her constipation was worse on the road. After reading her step-by-step e-book and learning her techniques, I was able to prevent my constipation in the future. I’ll include a picture and link to her e-book below if you’re interested in getting a copy.

Now I usually start the day by waking up and drinking a large glass of water and then eating a bowl of Raisin Bran or Fiber One. Just make sure to pick a cereal (or oatmeal) that has a lot of fiber and ideally low sugar. Look at the side of the box when you’re at the grocery store for the number of grams of fiber it contains. Having this for breakfast helps me have a bowel movement usually right after lunch or on a good day a few hours after breakfast. I also eat lots of green vegetables and drink green tea. The green tea helps in more than one way and is a natural way to help cleanse the body.

To help relieve constipation in the fastest and most painless way possible, try following some of these tips which have worked well for me:

• Change your diet and start eating more fiber on a daily basis. I’m not asking you to drop all junk food and just eat spinach but instead try something like a bowl of high fiber cereal in the morning, 1 to 2 slices of whole-grain bread with peanut butter & a banana for lunch, and steamed vegetables with brown rice and a meat dish.
• Drink water regularly and other liquids such as fruit and vegetable juices and clear soups. At least 6 glasses of water a day would be very great and therapeutic. Large amounts of water aids quick digestion and enables easier bowel movement.
• Get regular exercise which will help your digestive system stay active and healthy. You don’t need to become a great athlete. A 20 to 30 minute walk every day may help. I personally go to the gym 2-3 times a week which also helps me reduce stress.
• Add fiber supplements to your daily intake. Products like Fiber Choice, Metamucil, Konsyl, FiberCon, or anything basically containing psyllium husk powder will do the trick. You may get gas the first couple of days while your body gets used to the additional fiber but give it a week and the gas will pass (no pun intended).

I hope these tips help you as they’ve certainly helped me with my constipation and diarrhea as well. Bulking up your stool by eating fiber really helps push out and clean your bowels so besides feeling better, it’s a healthy way to live.

If you’ve got any questions or comments, please add them below. As you can see, I’ve added direct links to the fiber supplement products I mentioned above. You can order them from Amazon.com without having to make an embarrassing trip to the grocery!

Oh, and that constipation e-book I was talking about before….it’s well worth buying a copy. I would’ve paid $100 bucks for it (or more) if I knew about it sooner. It really changed my daily lifestyle and for only $30, it was a steal. When it comes to my health, I don’t like putting things off and when you can instantly download a book online, it can save you from an embarrassing in-person purchase.

IBS mainly results from the dysfunction of the spleen and stomach, whose purpose is to digest food then transport the food essence to other parts of the body. Chinese herbal medicine usually treats IBS very effectively. However, each individual patient is treated with a different prescription according to the main treatment principles.
Cold-dampness is usually a result of dysfunction of the spleen and stomach. The condition is manifested by frequent bowel movements with loose, watery stools, wind in the stomach, bloated abdomen, poor appetite and white greasy tongue coating.

Damp-heat usually manifests itself with frequent bowel movements with a burning sensation, abdominal pain and red tongue with a yellowish coating.

Stagnation of Liver Qi: The liver will not function correctly if one is depressed or stressed, or when the spleen and stomach can not function well. This condition is often called stagnation of the Liver Qi. It is characterised by general tightness in the chest in addition to frequent bowel movement.

Deficiency of the spleen and stomach is marked by frequent bowel movement with loose stools, tiredness, nausea and pale tongue with white coating.

Before starting treatment, it’s best to consult with a qualified Chinese medicine specialist. Da Peng Zhang is a doctor of Chinese medicine based at Dr&Herbs in the Manchester Arndale

Article Source: Manchester News

“While the precise prevalence and incidence depends on the criteria used, all studies agree that it is a common disorder, affecting a substantial proportion of individuals in the general population, and presenting frequently to general practitioners and to specialists,” write Robin Spiller, MD, from the University Hospital in Nottingham, United Kingdom, and colleagues.

“IBS is troublesome, with a significant negative impact on quality of life and social functioning in many patients, but is not known to be associated with the development of serious disease or with excess mortality. IBS generates significant healthcare costs both direct, due to IBS symptoms and associated disorders as well as indirect, due to time off work.”

In most countries, IBS affects 5% to 11% of the population, with prevalence peaking from age 20 to 45 years with a female predominance (female:male ratio approximately 2:1). The disorder may account for approximately 3% of all consultations referred from primary care.

The current recommendations were issued at the request of the Chairman of the Clinical Services Committee of The British Society of Gastroenterology to provide guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of adult patients with IBS. Members of the committee were assigned specific areas to review. Literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases and search of extensive personal reference databases focused on high-quality studies that used established methodology and substantial patient numbers with clearly defined entry criteria. Criteria for inclusion of treatment trials were randomization and placebo control.

The predominant bowel habit (diarrhea or constipation) is a useful classification scheme. When diarrhea is a prominent feature, few investigations are needed, although alarm features may warrant further investigations.

Careful attention to history is of vital importance to the diagnosis. Abdominal pain or discomfort is typically relieved by defecation and associated with change in stool form (usually looser) and change in stool frequency.

Associated features that may be helpful in making the diagnosis include frequent consultation for medically unexplained symptoms, somatization, and past history of anxiety or depression. Psychological assessment to evaluate current anxiety and depressive symptoms is also important.

The presence of alarm symptoms, though nonspecific, should mandate further investigations. These include age older than 50 years, symptom duration less than 6 months, weight loss, nocturnal symptoms, family history of colon cancer, rectal bleeding, anemia, and recent antibiotic usage.

When these alarm symptoms are present, further investigations may be useful in primary care settings. Before these are undertaken, however, patients should be told that IBS is the most likely diagnosis and that these tests are designed to rule out celiac and inflammatory bowel disease. Useful tests may include full blood count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, as well as testing for endomysial antibodies.

Many patients fear that their symptoms may reflect serious disease. These fears should be elicited and specifically addressed in an adequate consultation including exploration of patient anxieties and concerns.

Because of accompanying adverse psychological features and somatization, IBS is often best managed by evaluating the patients’ concerns and explaining symptoms in simple terms the patient can understand. Giving the patient a positive diagnosis and reassuring them of the benign nature of IBS without denying the significance of their symptoms tends to improve outcomes. Treatment of associated anxiety and depression often improves bowel and other symptoms.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a heterogeneous condition with a wide spectrum of treatments, each benefiting a small proportion of patients. Dietary management should begin with a thorough dietary history and moderation of excessive consumption of any 1 component. If intake of lactose, wheat, and/or insoluble fiber appears to be above average for the population, trial exclusion of these foods may be helpful.

Psychological therapies should be first-line treatment when anxiety, panic attacks, and depression are prominent features. Based on evidence from randomized placebo-controlled trials, cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic interpersonal therapy improve coping, and hypnotherapy benefits global symptoms in otherwise refractory patients. Relaxation therapy may also be beneficial.

In terms of drug therapies, antispasmodic drugs are safe, but offer only a small improvement relative to placebo. Soluble fiber supplements may benefit those with constipation, whereas bran and other insoluble fiber may aggravate symptoms.

Loperamide is helpful for symptoms of urgency and frequency but may exacerbate abdominal pain and discomfort. Antispasmodic and tricyclic antidepressant drugs improve pain, whereas ispaghula improves pain and bowel habit.

Although 5HT₃ antagonists improve global symptoms, diarrhea, and pain, they may rarely cause unexplained colitis. 5HT₄ Agonists improve global symptoms, constipation, and bloating, whereas selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors improve global symptoms.

“Patients [with IBS] comprise such a large proportion of gastroenterology outpatients that their streamlined and effective management would impact favourably on any gastroenterology department’s overall performance and hence improve the management of all GI [gastrointestinal] diseases,” the authors write. “Better ways of identifying which patients will respond to specific treatments are urgently needed.”

Warning signs indicating that the primary care clinician should refer the patient with suspected IBS to a specialist are as follows:

• Rectal bleeding requires rectal examination and usually referral for a flexible sigmoidoscopic examination
• Presence of several alarm features
• Uncertainty concerning the diagnosis
• Failure to respond to initial management strategies
• Disabling health-related anxiety
• Long-standing symptoms with impaired quality of life

The authors have disclosed various financial relationships with Novartis, Mundi Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilley & Co, Solvay, Clasado, AstraZeneca, Tillots Pharma, Ferring, Rotta Research, Proctor & Gamble, and/or Astellas.

Gut. Published online May 8, 2007.

Clinical Context

IBS is a chronic, relapsing gastrointestinal syndrome, with key features of abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel movements. IBS has a high prevalence in the general population and is seen commonly in clinical practice both by general practitioners and by specialists.

Although IBS is not known to lead to serious disease or excess mortality, it has a significant negative impact on quality of life and social functioning and generates significant direct and indirect healthcare costs. The Chairman of the Clinical Services Committee of The British Society of Gastroenterology convened an expert panel to provide guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of adult patients with IBS.

Study Highlights

• When diarrhea is a prominent feature of IBS, few investigations are needed unless alarm features are present.
• Diagnosis is made by history of abdominal pain or discomfort typically relieved by defecation and associated with change in stool form (usually looser) and in stool frequency.
• Associated features that may aid in diagnosis include frequent consultation for medically unexplained symptoms, somatization, and past history of anxiety or depression. Psychological assessment should evaluate current anxiety and depressive symptoms.
• Alarm features mandating further investigations include age older than 50 years, symptom duration less than 6 months, weight loss, nocturnal symptoms, family history of colon cancer, rectal bleeding, anemia, and recent antibiotic usage.
• Warning signs indicating that the primary care clinician should refer the patient with suspected IBS to a specialist include rectal bleeding (warrants referral for flexible sigmoidoscopy), presence of several alarm features, uncertainty concerning the diagnosis, failure to respond to initial management strategies, disabling health-related anxiety, and longstanding symptoms with impaired quality of life.
• Before additional testing (eg, for full blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and endomysial antibodies), patients should be told that IBS is the most likely diagnosis. Patients’ fears that their symptoms may reflect serious disease should be elicited and specifically addressed. Without denying the significance of their symptoms, giving the patient a positive diagnosis and reassuring them that IBS has a benign course tends to improve outcomes.
• Treatment of associated anxiety and depression often improves bowel and other symptoms.
• IBS is a heterogeneous condition with a wide spectrum of treatments including dietary modifications and psychological and pharmacologic therapies. Each of these therapeutic approaches benefits a small proportion of patients.
• Dietary management should begin with moderation of excessive consumption of any 1 component, especially lactose, wheat, and/or insoluble fiber.
• When anxiety, panic attacks, and depression are key symptoms, psychological therapies should be first-line treatment, including cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic interpersonal therapy to improve coping, hypnotherapy to reduce global symptoms in otherwise refractory patients, and relaxation therapy.
• Antispasmodic drugs are safe but only slightly more effective than placebo. Soluble fiber supplements may improve constipation, but bran and other insoluble fiber may aggravate symptoms.
• Loperamide may reduce urgency and frequency but increase abdominal pain and discomfort. Antispasmodic and tricyclic antidepressant drugs improve pain, and ispaghula improves pain and bowel habit.
• 5HT₃ Antagonists improve global symptoms, diarrhea, and pain but may rarely cause unexplained colitis. 5HT₄ Agonists improve global symptoms, constipation, and bloating, while selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors improve global symptoms.

Pearls for Practice

• The primary care clinician should refer the patient with suspected IBS to a specialist for rectal bleeding (for flexible sigmoidoscopy), presence of several alarm features, uncertainty concerning the diagnosis, failure to respond to initial management strategies, disabling health-related anxiety, and longstanding symptoms with impaired quality of life.
• Treatments of IBS may be dietary (moderation of lactose, wheat, and/or insoluble fiber), psychological (first-line therapy when psychiatric symptoms present), or pharmacologic (may be effective but aggravate some symptoms), each benefiting a small proportion of patients.

Article Source: Medscape