The Gift That Keeps on Giving – Irritable Bowel Syndrome

We are now in peak holiday season. That means temptations are all around us with food and alcohol.  Fried food, excess sugar, salt and flour can all do a number on the digestive system. They may even cause edema, aka swelling, for some. If you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS, it can really be a pain, literally and figuratively. No matter where you are on the scale, oscillating between constipation and diarrhea, or staying at just one, can be very annoying.  But for some reason most of us still indulge, myself included, in the holiday cheers. I have had digestive issues since I was a child. I don’t know if it was caused by grandma feeding me ex-lax and prunes to keep me regular or the frequent doses of antibiotics, but I have one unhappy colon. I have experimented with elimination diets and found that if I stay clear of gluten and a lot of grains, it will get significantly better. Don’t worry, I am not telling you to give up gluten! This past weekend, I took my third level class of Lymph Drainage Therapy. I was really excited about it because I knew I was going to be learning how to drain the organs – colon included. My diet had been junky the whole time I was staying there so by the third day of class, I still had not eliminated (or pooped). So, I asked to be the demo body for the large and small intestines. It felt so awesome. I love getting my belly worked on because I know how much it can help. The instructor was great. He drew some anatomical landmarks on my abdomen. It was helpful not only to the class, but to me as well. When I worked on my subject, I could cheat and lift up my shirt and look at the drawing if I got lost. Were the results instantaneous? No. I still didn’t go until the next day…but I felt so much better. Some of the bloat was gone and I have been regular since the 15 minute work on my abdomen. If you are relating to any of this, PLEASE come to see me. If you are reading it and you can’t visit me personally, I will include some links at the end to help you find some resources. Here are some quick tips: 1. Drink LOTS of water. Take your body weight and divide that by two. That is how many ounces you should be drinking each day. 2. If this is a chronic problem, you may want to get tested for food sensitivities/allergies (see link at the end of the article). 3. A hot pack on the belly is nice and can provide some relief. 4. Most importantly, cut back on the junk!  If you have to have some, take a nibble or half a serving instead of eating it all. Hope this is helpful! Lymph Drainage Therapy Local Food Sensitivity Testing