Irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder of the digestive system. The main characteristics of this disorder are abdominal pain, major changes in bowel function, and stomach cramps. The other characteristics include diarrhea, gas, and constipation.


If you have experience any kind of pain or even discomfort in your stomach which is eased only when you pass stools or if you experience any kind of change in the number of times you defecate or in the kind of the motion that you have, you could well be suffering from Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This is a very common disorder and it is estimated that at least one in every five adults in the United States suffers from it. IBS is a not a structural disorder that can be detected using any tests or x-rays – it is a functional disorder.


 

There are a number of natural remedies that are used to treat IBS. The most important of these is to find out what your food intolerances are because these play a major role in controlling IBS. You should observe your diet carefully to understand what foods might be triggering off an attack for you. In consultation with your doctor, you could start an elimination and challenge diet. The basic idea is to eliminate some foods from your diet for a short time and re-introduce them one by one to see your body’s reaction to each of them. This is a very good way to understand your food intolerances. For a majority of the people suffering from IBS, it is grains and dairy which trigger off an attack.

Research has shown that soluble fiber can help fight the symptoms of IBS. You could start consuming either psyllium seed or ispaghula husk dissolved in water to help your symptoms. One of the other methods of treating IBS naturally is using probiotics. It is recommended that you should consume 20-100 billion of these bacteria on a daily basis. You can also use peppermint oil to treat IBS. This oil is said to alleviate abdominal swelling and pain in this region as well. Peppermint has also traditionally been used to expel gas from the stomach. You should be very careful when taking peppermint oil supplements because if they are not in an enteric-coated capsule, you could suffer from heartburn. Caution should also be exercised while consuming peppermint oil because an overdose of peppermint oil can lead to nausea, nervous system problems, kidney failure and in extreme cases, even death.