The BRAT Diet

Gas, bloating and diarrhea each can be red-flags signaling early stages of IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  This Brat diet post will address some remedies suggested and discussed in my readings as of late that I believe will offer some additional insight, if you are seeking alternative solutions to rid your IBS and diarrhea, gas pressure and or bloating.

Gas reduction in your intestines can sometimes be found, through the use of peppermint oil in capsule form. In addition, this can help to reduce pains and bloating.

Acupuncture: this has been shown to have conflicting results. Positive impacts such as reduced symptoms of bloating and improvement in overall well being were reported in the Hepato-Gastroenterology Journal -(think Gastro-Intestinal diseases).  But acupuncture found no significant improvement or benefit to speak of regarding digestion.

Reduce stress: stress management techniques can help reduce IBS condition. Patients are recommended to try meditation, biofeedback and yoga exercises.  *Editor’s note: from all the things I read, an individual with IBS or chronic diarrhea, very OFTEN is stressed to the max, has lousy lifestyle habits and sorely poor excuse for a diet.

Hypnosis:  hypnosis can help through aiding the patient to relax and relax symptoms. According to Olafur Palsson, an expert (Associate Professor of Medicine in the gastroenterology and hepotology department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) of hepatology  (the study of the liver, gall bladder, pancreas and the biliary tract (or biliary tree also referred to as sometimes) and gastroenterology, this is supported by many studies. He has observed that such strategy has worked on 80% or more patients, in numerous published studies.

Therapy: change of self-perception and perceptions about the world can help solve IBS. This is called Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).  This was supported by a study involving IBS patients, many (55% and 65% of patients in the individual and group category respectively) of whom resulted in having IBS symptoms reduced by a fifty percent.

These were taken through CBT sessions (Cognitive Behavior Therapy sessions) as groups or as individuals, where they were taken through various aspects of CBT, including being trained how to relax muscles, development of skills to solve IBS, and other information about IBS.

Patients undergoing Irritable Bowel Syndrome are advised to try out natural solutions instead of suffering in silence. One of the most discouraging trends is that many do not talk it out with their doctors, and few do it in America when constipation, pain and diarrhea disrupts normal working, daily life, routine, exercise or even simply going out for dinner.
Statistically, only 20% of patients seek medication or medical help for their health problem, although 20% of all Americans are suffering with IBS. Many of them are women. Many who do not seek medication because of the bowel problems are just shy to talk about it with the doctor, while the symptoms are not unusual or does not cause bother to others – - According to an expert at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

IBS is characterized by combined symptoms, including diarrhea, constipation, being uncomfortable or unable to take particular foods, stool having mucus in it, bloating and feeling pain in the abdomen. In addition, the combination includes cramps and experiencing flatulence. Diarrhea and constipation will mostly alternate.

Abdominal pains are experienced for 12 weeks in 12 months period (previous period) during treatment, but this may not be taking place consecutively.  Again, bowel movement leads to pain relieve. The movement rate changes when pain or discomfort has started.

Symptoms often repeat after a couple of days, but symptoms must be experienced for at least 25% of the time period if one has to be said to have IBS.

The common theme to fix your IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, diarrhea or the conditions and symptoms that creep into your life because of one of the above (gas, bloating / water retention, constipation, etc.) follows three constantly rooted themes in almost every solution that has passed through my hands.  Rarely is any of this information earth-shattering.  But, few people bother to pay attention to the simple, easy, obvious stuff: eliminate stress from your life, focus on the cause of the real problem and examine the realities and consequences of your lifestyle and poor habits that are costing you (IBS and diarrhea may not be the worst to come!) daily, in a big way.
Sandy

Brat diet for dogs seems to get a lot of attention on this website, so I went digging through my numerous bookmarks and finally found this video I watched awhile back about a guy who feeds his dog an all natural diet – mostly vegetarian, he admits that his dog (LOVES) and eats meat, but he does not.

It’s more in depth than just the if it’s o.k. to give the Brat diet to your canine friend or not (which of course it is and there are specific times when you’ll want to), but I thought as a reader you might enjoy a new perspective on the expanded view of how this dog owner lovingly takes care of his dog.  He suggests some different ways to work Brat diet alternatives into your dogs diet that are affordable.

Here’s the video about fresh, natural dog food and it’s about forty minutes long.  It is a LOT of information packed in there, but there are some specific examples of what not to give your dog, based on his own experiences, that is a staple ingredient that most dog owners actively put INTO their own dog’s diet.  Just thought you might get some additional benefits from this dog resource and his healthy insights.

Sandy

I began to write (and rewrite) an up and coming post focused on the many different things I’ve been reading about IBS and diarrhea that readers have asked me some questions about and as I crafted one particular post, some of the digging-deeper investigative work to double-check reported facts in a popular magazine article, led me to go off on a tangent.  My findings are included below, standing on their own.  I opted for the sake of fluidity and staying on topic to put those findings here by themselves, rather than as an indented quote or editor side bar in the original post.

EDITORS NOTE: A WARNING: One of the articles I have recently read about alternatives for IBS and diarrhea, gas and bloating was via a normally trusted and reliable source: Natural Health Magazine.  But, I came across an herb suggested, based on a Chinese herbal formula, sold as IBS-F based on a study monitored by the “Journal of the American Medical Association”, or JAMA, a peer-reviewed general medicine journal whose stories and studies get picked up by popular, known media outlets: USA Today, major (U.S.) prime television and cable networks.

What was published about the study, in my opinion is not conclusive enough to endorse it here.  Those details include: Researchers administered IBS patients one of three formulas for their Irritable Bowel Syndrome: a 5-capsule dose per day of a Chinese herbal formula with ginger, licorice and “18 other ingredients” three times a day, OR a placebo (sugar pill) or a “similar mix” targeting specific symptoms.  According to Natural health Magazine: 64-76 percent saw their symptoms improve in four months time, versus only 33 percent of those taking just the placebo.  The Chinese formula used in the study was IBS-F, manufactured by Brion Herbs (BrionHerbs.com).

I’m including a screenshot of the only similar clinical study relating to determining the use of Chinese herbs in relation to treating IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, via the JAMA website.  It is possible, that what was reported a published in Natural Health Magazine, and what I found is not the same.  But, when I went fact checking to dig deeper before I share opinions and conclusions with my readers, some parts just didn’t add up, in my book.

Note that the study I found dated back to a trial from 1996-1997, and the Natural Health Magazine article was published in 2010.

Note that an improvement was marked by a “degree with interference of life caused by IBS symptoms”, which could also be interpreted as not actually improving IBS, in actuality.  To me, sounds like science was not the desired result here.

Note that the clinical study only had 116 people in it.  That’s very few in my opinion.

Note that their conclusion, based on the above criteria was: “Chinese herbal formulations appear to offer improvement in symptoms for some patients with IBS.“

Well, one could also conclude that if you have IBS and suffering from the conditions and symptoms which include: gas, bloating, constipation and or diarrhea that if you take five placebos (plain sugar in a capsule) three times a day over a four month stretch and have IBS, you’ll see a 33 percent improvement in your symptoms!

Mentioning such a story, in a semi-recent magazine, without digging deeper in my opinion is misleading to the general public.  There are many out there who are legitimately sick, but I really don’t believe that what needs to be fixed requires such complications – - unfortunately, the media is only fueled by what the public demands: quick, painless options that require little or no work or dietary or lifestyle change from individuals suffering from poor diet and lifestyle habits that have resulted in their current, unhealthy predicament.

I didn’t feel right implying an endorsement to that Chinese herbal formula in particular, decided to do a little more legwork, dig deeper and went to their (BrionHerbs) website, located in California, and frankly did not like what I saw.  I lot of ways to buy and formulas being sold, but little explanation, a red flag in my opinion.  Which led to further digging.  – Sandy!

P.S.  I will be posting the original, additional posts about other alternatives to fix and heal IBS and diarrhea in the next few days, so watch for those related posts.