Irritable Bowel Syndrome: What to Do Day to Day? 8 Habits to Live Better With It
Regular meals, fibre, gassy foods, a diary, walking, stress: 8 simple habits when you live with irritable bowel syndrome, and the signs that mean you should see a doctor.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects about 5% of people in France, and twice as many women as men. Abdominal pain or cramps, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea: symptoms come and go, with flare-ups and calmer periods. Fatigue and stress can trigger or worsen them. Here are the habits recommended by the French national health insurance (Assurance Maladie).
1. Eat at regular times
Have three meals a day without skipping any. Eat neither too much nor too little, to avoid both feeling overfull and getting hungry between meals.
2. Eat slowly, in a calm setting
Take time to chew, sitting down, with no screen or other activity at the same time. A meal is not a task to rush between two meetings.
3. Keep a diary
Write down what you eat and the symptoms that follow: pain, gas, bloating. After a few weeks, you will spot the foods that bother you, not someone else.
4. Get the fibre right
Eat a normal amount of fibre and spread it over the day. Too much fibre at once encourages bloating. Cooked vegetables and fruit are often better tolerated than raw ones.
5. Limit what causes gas
Peas, dried beans, broccoli, cabbage, onions and bran are often among the foods to limit, along with fatty foods, fizzy drinks, coffee, alcohol, chewing gum and sweeteners whose names end in "-ol".
6. Don't pile up diets
An exclusion diet, such as the low-FODMAP diet, should be done with your doctor or a dietitian. If it doesn't work from the start or stops working after two months, stop it. Too many restrictions can lead to deficiencies.
7. Drink and walk every day
Drink 1 to 1.5 litres of water a day and move every day. Walking is the basic activity: it improves resistance to fatigue, sleep and anxiety.
8. Make room for calm
For many people, the stomach is the first to react to stress. Relaxation exercises can help some people: talk to your doctor about it.
When to see a doctor
See your doctor if your symptoms have lasted more than three months: the diagnosis is made by a doctor, after ruling out other causes.
See a doctor without waiting if you have red blood in your stools or black stools, fever, weight loss for no reason, symptoms that wake you at night, symptoms that change or appear for the first time after age 50, symptoms that started after a trip abroad, or a family history of colorectal cancer.
A moment of relaxation, designed for people living with IBS
I designed the Digestive calm listening programme for people living with irritable bowel syndrome or a stomach sensitive to stress who want regular moments of abdominal relaxation: 36 minutes lying down, one hand on your belly, headphones on, away from meals, one session every 6 days over 30 days. It does not treat irritable bowel syndrome and does not replace your doctor's advice. To discover the method, the first session of the Anti-Stress programme is free.
Éric Rosati, osteopath with 30 years of experience. This article is for information and does not replace your doctor's advice.
Sources (in French): Assurance Maladie, Recognising irritable bowel syndrome · Assurance Maladie, What to do and when to see a doctor · Vidal, Treatments for irritable bowel syndrome
🎧 Recommended programme: Digestive calm · IBS
To listen to with headphones, in a quiet place, at your own pace.