I recently read a medical journal article on managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. IBS, along with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), are the most common GI disorders adults suffer from. The article made it sound very complicated!

There are the ROME IV criteria for types of IBS, to IBS with diarrhea, IBS with constipation, and IBS with mixed diarrhea and constipation. These types of IBS all have their own new and expensive drugs to treat them, none of which go to the root cause of the problems. They only manage the symptoms, with a number of side effects to deal with. The same can be said about the drugs for GERD. Yesterday a report came out that the long term use of the PPI drugs like Prilosec and Nexium are associated with early death!

These GI problems are a reflection of dysbiosis, or an unhealthy gut microbiome. The one hundred trillion bacteria in our GI tract largely determine our health in ways still untold, but especially our GI health. If you have chronic acid reflux or any type of IBS, you have a disorder of your gut microbiome.

Your gut microbiome complete depends on what you eat! It is our responsibility to feed it, and feed it well. Eat unhealthy foods and you will have dysbiosis! Science better understood just this decade shows that the inflammatory proteins of grains (especially wheat, barley and rye) cause dysbiosis. Processed vegetable oils and excess sweets and alcohol do the same thing. Many people are stopping these inflammatory foods and soon they have a healthy gut with no more GERD, no more IBS, and no more drugs that are not healthy in the long term.

Getting over common GI problems is a simple as eating a healthy diet!

For more information read my book, Lean and Fit, and the books in the Suggested Reading section of this website for more information on just what constitutes a healthy diet for good GI health.