The term inflammatory bowel disease is a broad one, it encompasses a wide variety of conditions. Two of the most common ones include ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Ulcerative colitis is a condition which causes sores in the lining of the colon and rectum. Crohn’s disease can get really severe, and it affects a wide range of organs such as intestines, stomach, mouth, and esophagus and causes inflammation to its tissues.
The symptoms for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s very similar, which include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, cramp in the abdomen, bloody stools, and mucus-covered stools.
With the right treatment, the symptoms of these conditions can be effectively kept under control all your life.
Increase the number of good bacterias
Your gut contains a number of bacterias, some of which are bad and some of which are good and beneficial for your well being.
Healthy people’s colon is a home for good or beneficial bacterias. When you have healthy levels of good bacterias in your gut, it prevents the growth of bad bacterias.
However, your good bacterias can come under attack when you consume antibiotics, which paves way for the growth of bad bacterias.
Increase in the number of bad bacterias in your gut can lead to inflammation. This is where probiotics can come very handy. It helps to maintain a healthy balance between good and bad bacterias.
Probiotics can be either consumed in supplements or through foods. Yogurt with active cultures is known to be a very rich source of probiotics.
Minimize Spicy Foods
If you are already suffering from abdominal pain, and cramps, consuming spicy foods will only make your condition worse.
Try to opt for foods with bald taste like cooked carrots, rice, apple sauce, etc…
Minimize Dietary Fat
Deep-fried foods like chips, french fries, fried chicken, fat-rich meats, and other dietary fats or trans fat, in particular, can increase contractions in your intestines which can lead to diarrhea or worsen your diarrhea if you already have it.
Minimize Dietary Fiber Intake
While dietary fiber is good for normal healthy individuals, as it helps to normalize your bowel movements. People with inflammatory bowel disease, however, should try to minimize its intake, especially during flare-ups.
When you notice your painful symptoms flare up, try to minimize its intake because it can increase abdominal gas and make your condition more painful.
You can increase your fiber intake once you start to feel normal again.
Avoid Dairy foods
Most People with Crohn’s disease have difficulty with digesting lactose, a unique form of sugar particularly found in dairy foods.
If you have Crohn’s and feel bloated or gassy, try to avoid dairy foods for a few days and check if it helps to ease your condition.
If you found your symptoms eased, it could mean you are lactose intolerant. Switch to lactose-free dairy products or take lactase supplements which helps to digest lactose, or avoid consuming dairy foods altogether.
Maintain a food journal
Try to maintain a food journal and make a note of all the foods you consume on a daily basis. Then at the end of the week or end of the month review your foods and get a sense of how you feel. This will help you to track down the foods that might worsen or soothe your symptoms.
Beat your stress
Health experts believe stress can potentially trigger a flare-up of inflammatory bowel disease.
If you are someone who is diagnosed with IBD, then try to practice calming exercises like yoga, meditation, deep breathing, etc…
Mind calming exercises will help a lot to bring down the symptoms of IBD and make you feel better.
Take Multivitamin Supplements
If you suffer from persistent diarrhea you are depleting your body of vital mineral salts and vitamins. Consuming multivitamin/mineral supplements will help you to restore the balance. Consult your doctor or read the label for dosage information.
Consume Para-Aminobenzoic Acid
This is a vitamin-like chemical compound which helps to ease the inflammation in your intestines. When you have flareups consume about 1000 milligrams of Para-Aminobenzoic Acid (PABA) three times a day to soothe the condition.
Once you notice your condition goes into remission, cut back the dosage to 1000 milligrams two times a day.
PABA is an easily available over the counter drug in most drugstores.
The Three antioxidant nutrients
Though it is exactly unclear how these antioxidant nutrients help to ease the symptoms of IBD. However, we know for a fact that it helps. These include:
Grape Seed Extract (100 milligrams once or twice a day)
The Amino Acid (NAC) (500 milligrams twice a day)
Vitamin-C ( 1000 milligrams twice a day)
All of these three are easily available and sold over the counter in most drugstores.
Cabbage Juice
Cabbage juice is a traditional folk remedy for intestinal inflammation and most users of this remedy have only positive things to say about it.
Health experts believe the presence of amino acid L-glutamine in cabbage juice is the reason for its anti-inflammatory properties.
You can consume L-glutamine in pill form. The recommended dosage is 500 milligrams a day.
Else, you can drink half a glass of cabbage juice.
Flaxseed oil or Fish oil
Omega-3 fatty acids present in flaxseed oil or fish oil is very good to improve your digestive health. Additionally, it is anti-inflammatory in nature thus helping you to reduce the inflammation caused due to IBD.
A Scientific study done in Italy found that consuming fish oil helps to reduce the frequency of intestinal attacks due to Crohn’s disease.
Chamomile tea
Chamomile is a rich source of antispasmodic compounds that helps to soothe and ease the pain caused due to abdominal cramps, which is very common in people suffering from IBD.
Steep a teaspoon of dried herb in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Stain and drink the tea. You can substitute it with your regular cup of coffee or tea.
Marshmallow tea
Make a tea out of one or two teaspoons of dried herb per cup of water, and drink it once or twice a day.
This herb helps to soothe the mucous membranes in your digestive tract and ease the pain caused due to IBD.
When to Call a Doctor?
After you have been diagnosed with IBD, it is essential that you are under the care of a gastroenterologist. Get your doctor notified whenever you notice a flare-up in symptoms. Especially, when you notice your stools contain blood or mucus.