How To Treat Irritable Bowel When IBS Foods Don’t Work

Are you still looking for the right combination of foods to soothe your Irritable Bowel? A dietary approach is often recommended as the best treatment for IBS, yet many people find that IBS foods don’t work for them. Some even find that they can eat an “approved” food safely on one day but react to it with symptoms the next. Why does this happen? What’s going on? The answer takes a little explaining, but once you know it, you’ll understand how to treat your Irritable Bowel symptoms. Possibly even end them. Paying attention to food is valuable but it’s only one piece of the IBS puzzle. And sometimes not the most important piece. That’s because, according to evidence from recent trauma research, Irritable Bowel doesn’t start in your gut but in your brain. In fact, according to the brilliant neurologist, Dr. Robert Scaer, Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a result of the way your brain processes trauma. This explains why you can have all kinds of gastro symptoms even though your diagnostic tests show no damage to the intestines and bowel. Dr Scaer defines trauma as any experience where you feel your survival is at risk and you’re helpless to do anything about it. Some obvious examples of this are being in a car accident, a war or a natural disaster. There are also many less dramatic forms of trauma. They tend to be dismissed as the price of growing up yet the effects of bullying, verbal abuse, and neglect are just as damaging for many people as going to war. Experiencing trauma can result in mental, emotional and physical problems including the symptoms of Irritable Bowel, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety. Trauma specialist, David Berceli, PhD, points out that feeling traumatized is not a weakness. You CANNOT control your reaction to trauma. It is automatic - part of the survival instinct that protects your body. And while traumatic events may be frightening and painful, these experiences by themselves do not lead to Irritable Bowel symptoms. The real problem happens when the brain and body are unable to let go of the memory of the traumatic incident and continue to react as if it is still happening! This triggers the cycle of digestive problems in people who suffer from IBS. Fortunately, it is possible to release the stored memories of trauma and end that cycle. To do this, Dr Scaer recommends body-mind healing techniques such as Dr Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing or Gary Craig’s Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Dr Berceli uses Trauma Release Exercises (TRE), a process he teaches all over the world. Dr David Servan-Schreiber suggests EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. All of these methods are highly effective for letting go of stored trauma. The body is then able to heal. This is not a simple answer to treating Irritable Bowel, but the plain fact is, there is no simple answer. IBS is a complex condition. To treat Irritable Bowel when IBS foods don’t work requires: - clearing old trauma with one of the methods mentioned abovern- eating a healthy diet - uncovering food sensitivities and allergies so you can find out which IBS foods will work for yourn- restoring the internal environment of the digestive tract with probiotics and appropriate supplementsrn- avoiding antibiotics, artificial sweeteners, and chemical toxinsrn- being very proactive about your health When you do this, it may seem like a lot of work at first. It’s well worth it! (And it gets easier after you’re through the learning curve.) Once you take these actions, you can clear up your Irritable Bowel symptoms. And instead of years of physical and emotional suffering, you’ll enjoy a lifetime of good health.