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One in five or over 60,000,000 Americans are victims of a most unpopular topic of conversation, namely, the overwhelming growth of an epidemic that will eventually affect most of the global population as well. The culprit is IBS. At present Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is not a single syndrome or condition. Several conditions that affect your digestive system, especially the colon or lower end of that system, are all lumped together and referred to as IBS.
This is more of a group of symptoms than a single illness. Instead of taking the newest miracle cure that may treat one or two of the symptoms experienced with IBS you can rid yourself of all these ailments and improve your overall health naturally by understanding the seven simple secrets behind IBS.
Understanding IBS starts at a cellular level, as does life. Starting off the day by eating protein within an hour of waking helps to regulate glucose levels and sets the stage for the day. Eating enough protein throughout the day helps your body to regulate hormone levels. Cellular activity within the body creates acid as nutrients are brought to and waste products are brought from your cells.
Water
Hydrating your body with alkalized water to flush the waste products from the cells regulates your overall acid levels. Eating the right combination of foods throughout the day helps to keep the acid and alkaline balance within the body. When the digestive tract has improper alkalinity and acidity levels bacteria and parasites can take over and a multitude of health problems can arise. Toxins in the environment can be avoided to an extent. When we choose to take control of our lives and our diets we can remove many harmful substances from our lives and be rid of IBS.
pH Balancing
These secrets control the overall acidity and alkalinity of your body. If you keep the acidity and alkalinity in proper balance your body runs much smoother and you will feel better. Being able to understand why IBS is happening is important if you want to successfully treat IBS. In this report we are going to look at all seven areas individually then discuss how they work together and how this can help you.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the fuel, or energy, that each and every one of the cells in our bodies uses. The purpose of nutrition is to supply our bodies with the needed energy or fuel that our bodies require for proper functioning. All of the foods we eat can be broken down into five main categories (carbohydrates, protein, fats, minerals and vitamins) and we need all five to survive. Knowing how these foods react with one another is essential for you to control IBS.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the sugars your body uses for an immediate fuel resource. There are two types of carbohydrates; simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates provide energy immediate energy. These include processed refined foods, fruit juices, soda pop, honey and other highly sugared foods. Simple carbohydrates are what your body uses for short term energy boosts. Simple sugars are burnt off quickly and need to be constantly replenished. If your diet is made up of large amounts of simple carbohydrates you’ll experience nearly constant hunger.
Complex carbohydrates are basically starches containing vitamins, minerals and protein. These include potatoes, rice, beans, legumes, whole grain breads and cereals, some dairy products, fruits and vegetables. Complex carbohydrates contain both sugars and fiber. The fiber content helps that glucose to move into the bloodstream slower feeding the body for a longer period of time. This means that you do not get hungry as quickly eating complex carbohydrates as you would when you are eating simple carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are broken down into fiber and simple sugars and introduced to the bloodstream as glucose. The brain uses glucose as its only source of fuel. Your brain must be fed around the clock. As the glucose levels in your blood raise your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin goes in and removes excess glucose from the blood stream and stores this glucose for future use in the form of fat.
The fiber content in carbohydrates is essential for proper bowel health. Fiber assists in the removal of toxins, chemical byproducts, Candida, bacteria overgrowth and parasites from the digestive system working as your body’s own cleaning crew.
Protein
Some of the most common forms of protein come from meat, fish and dairy products although there are many fruits and vegetables that are a source of protein as well. It is natural that fruits and vegetables would be a source of protein, including amino acids nature provides all of the nutrients that we need.
Protein creates hemoglobin, an essential part of the red blood cells. Protein is used by the body to fortify maintain and replenish the tissues of the body. Protein is needed for muscle growth and muscle repair. Not only is a protein found in beef, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products but it can also be found in nuts, seeds and legumes.
Protein is reduced by the digestive juices into molecules called amino acids. Your body takes these amino acids and uses them to maintain muscles, blood, bones and body organs. Of the 22 essential amino acids, 13 are naturally manufactured by the body and the other 9 must come from your diet. Amino acids are used to regenerate tissue heal ourselves and build muscle mass body also uses amino acids to form digestive enzymes that are necessary for digestion. If you don’t have a proper supply of essential amino acids in your diet not only will you have difficulty healing but your moods will be affected. Amino acids are also a used in the foundation for neurotransmitters. Without essential amino acids the body will go into survival mode.
Fats
Fats produce more energy than carbohydrates and are essential for the growth repair of tissue cells. Fatty acids are required hormone development. Fats are found in most protein sources as well as vegetables and grains. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are among the most important fats to include in your diet. Fats also contain cholesterol which can be harmful when excessive amounts are added to your diet. When it comes to fat, moderation is the key.
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins and minerals promote life by assisting enzymes to perform chemical interactions that promote life. These are at times referred to as co-enzymes. Micronutrients needed by your body are found in vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are organic meaning they come from plants or animals. Minerals come from plants or animals that have ingested plants. It is essential that we include vitamins and minerals in our diet to provide the needed nutrients for our body.
Vitamins
There are two types of vitamins, water-soluble and oil-soluble (also known as fat-soluble) vitamins. Water soluble vitamins (including vitamin C and all of the B vitamins) need to be taken daily as your body cannot store these. Taking excessive amounts of water soluble vitamins does not cause toxicity as these are excreted in the urine if they cannot be used immediately. Oil soluble vitamins (including vitamins A, D, E, and K) can be stored in the fatty tissues and liver. It’s important not to take excessive amounts of oil soluble vitamins as these can become toxic.
Minerals
Our bodies require an ample supply of inorganic minerals on a regular basis. These come directly from the earth and are found in soil and water. We don’t actually have to eat soil though to get our minerals. Carbohydrates that we eat that come in the form of plants that are draw the minerals from the earth and we are able to get those minerals by eating the whole food sources.
When food is processed, as it is in the manufacturing process of prepackaged foods, the nutrients are lost. Minerals are some of the first nutrients to be lost and processing although vitamins come in as a close second. This has become one of the major causes of health problems of this generation.
Another serious problem that we’re running into is the depletion of our soil from our current farming practices in the
Basic crop rotation and not allowing the soil to have adequate rest periods are just the beginning of problems we’re seeing with our food sources. Farm land occasionally needs to have natural flooding to replenish the soil with minerals and vital nutrients. In 1950 a study on the nutritional value of a bowl of fresh spinach was done proving spinach has a large level of iron and other nutrients. The study was repeated in the year 2000. In those 50 years it was found that 80 bowls of spinach we grow today are required to achieve the same nutrition as the one grown in 1950.
The same type of study was done with an apple in 1976 and again in 2006. In 1976 there were sufficient nutrients in one apple to warrant the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” The study showed that due to the lack of nutrients in the soil we need to change that phrase to “ten apples a day…”
With time the amount of nutrients in our produce is continuously declining. These nutrients are needed for our body to properly digest and process the foods that we eat as well as maintaining proper health. On a cellular level IBS begins with improper nutrition and lack of nutrients.
Balancing Your Diet
In addition to having proper nutrients we need to look at having the proper food combinations. The food combinations we choose have a lot to do with what is and is not utilized by our body. Different foods are digested in different ways. Some foods require one set of digestive enzymes while other foods require a different set. Eating foods require different digestive enzymes together cause’s foods to not be digested as well as they should be.
It’s important to keep the proper acidity and alkalinity balance within your system to do this you need to have the proper nutrients and enzymes present. This means you need to look at eating as more than just the stuffing whatever is close by into your mouth. If your balance of digestive enzymes is incorrect your food will not be processed properly and you will end up with IBS symptoms.
Naturally controlling and eliminating IBS starts by utilizing digestive enzymes appropriately. Mixing the proper foods so your body has the ability to digest and get as many nutrients as possible from those foods is extremely important. In fact, this is much more important if you are prone to any type of bowel conditions.
Fruit
Fruit can make it difficult for you to digest other types of food so it should be eaten alone. This is why fruit makes a good between meal snack. Often fruit is used as a garnish; if you can’t send a garnish back with the dirty dishes because it looks so appetizing, save it for later.
Protein and Carbohydrates
Mixing protein and starchy carbohydrates can be very irritating your digestive tract. It is difficult to digest proteins and starches simultaneously as they require different enzymes for digestion. The combination of white bread and peanut butter is one of the more irritating foods as far as your digestive tract goes.
Mixing protein with leafy green vegetables will help you to be able to utilize more of the nutrition from both of those foods than you would by mixing them with something else. Oils and non starchy vegetables mix well as well. Eating non starchy green vegetables including asparagus, broccoli and bamboo shoots is important. Your body needs vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, garlic, green beans, collard greens, radishes, squash, tomatoes and peppers as well as other fresh non starchy vegetables. These are packed in nutrients and go well with your proteins.
When you eat starchy carbohydrates you shouldn’t add protein or fruit to that meal, but non starchy vegetables go with these as well. In fact, eating raw vegetables that are low and start will help your body to use the nutrients that are in foods that you’re eating. These also helped with your digestive health.
We use foods to comfort ourselves, we give foods is gifts during the holidays, we have foods at parties for birthdays and special occasions, food is all and us. Food has become such an integral part of our lives that we forget at times that food is just in its basic form fuel for the machines that we call our bodies. While looking at food on this basic level they seem to strip it of some of its appeal, it is important that we don’t forget what nutrition truly is if we want to overcome IBS.