I don’t want to have IBS when I’m 50!!
Everyone gets a bit fed up with their IBS from time to time and I like to at least make those moments productive. As any University student would do, when I don’t understand something… I read. I seek information from any semi-reliable source and try my best to learn the subject; I create theories and test them. IBS has been no different for me.
As you’ll know if you read the first episode of my IBS diary, you’ll be aware of how I inflicted IBS on myself – through an over-consumption of alcohol. But surely there’s a logical link between alcohol and IBS? Not that your GP will tell you (or is even aware of) it seems. My travels across the Internet led me to read about a condition referred to as SIBO or ‘Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.’
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.
I won’t explain about it too much here as you can read all about it on Wikipedia and everywhere (most clearly explained here) but the principle centres around an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the small intestine. In case you didn’t know, the small intestine is where a number of enzymes work which are responsible for breaking down different foods. It’s also where all the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria reside, ordinarily in perfect harmony… However, according to ‘SIBO’, people with IBS have an unbalanced level of bad bacteria and that’s what causes us discomfort and bloating.
As your food enters your small intestine, these bad bacteria stimulate an overproduction of gas as they begin to break down and ferment your lunch before your own body fully has a chance to. This is why some foods (particularly high FODMAP foods) seem to be prime suspects of causing unbearable levels of gas and often cramps or IBS attacks. They are more ‘fermentable’ foods and the bad bacteria is more likely to ferment them quicker thus causing more gas when compared to other foods.
Hands up if you feel that this explains your IBS better than anything else ever has? I’m sick of being diagnosed as the ‘mysterious IBS’ where my colon apparently spasms for no reason other than ‘it just does, so don’t eat those foods.’
But what about different food intolerances?
People with IBS not only are gifted with excessive bloating and wind from some foods but also very specific food intolerances. Gluten, dairy, fructose-malabsorbtion, certain vegetables etc. Is that all caused by bad bacteria too?
Well, yes and no. Let’s say a gluten-intolerant person (who obtained the intolerance through IBS) eats gluten. It’s not just that the bad bacteria decomposes the food before the body gets a chance to this time, it’s because the body seems to be lacking in the enzyme that originally used to breakdown gluten. Same goes for me and lactose. The awful pain you go through after consuming wheat/dairy is undigested gluten/lactose passing through the rest of your body when it should have been broken down in the small intestine long ago. This is why consuming these foods can often cause bad bouts of diarrhea; it’s the aftermath of those things that can no longer be broken down as they unpleasantly exit your system.
So what causes intolerances through IBS then? Clearly it’s the lack of enzymes. This puzzled me for a while. Does the body just stop producing them? Why? I’m still not decided on this but it’s either something to do with the levels of bad bacteria disrupting their function or a change in the small intestinal pH level of someone with IBS (enzymes have optimum pH levels to function correctly).
However, my latest find as of late is this article on ‘Alcohol and the small intestine‘ confirmed that it was likely to be one of these two causes. This article documents how an over-consumption of alcohol can affect the small intestinal function the performance of enzymes.
“Lactase (the enzyme which digests lactose) activity can be depressed and perhaps result in a transient milk intolerance in predisposed individuals.”
This is exactly what happened to me. The first thing I could no longer digest (after twenty years of having the ability to) was lactose and all dairy products. This article carries on to sum my case up almost to the letter. The following indicates how other enzymes are also affected:
Other enzymes, such as Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, can be inhibited and result in a decreased absorption of substances that require active, energy-dependent transport mechanisms.
Lactase Enzyme tablets I take to help digest dairy. A big help, but not a cure.
So clearly, it is the effect that alcohol had on my body that has affected my enzyme function in the small intestine. And from the second quote, it’s also apparent that it’s not only my lactase function that has been affected. This may explain why I also can’t eat fried food, spicy food, red meat, fructose, wholegrain fibre, caffeine and more in addition to dairy. Whatever alcohol does, be it increasing bad bacteria or altering small intestine pH, it inhibits the function of enzymes when consumed in excess; this is likely the case for the physical effects of stress too. Can it be reversed I wondered?
This article states at the beginning that these changes are “quickly reversible” but falls short before explaining how; but I will keep on searching for the answer. When I find some concrete solutions, I’ll be sure to share them in my next IBS diary. As of today, I take lactase supplements when I eat foods that contain small amounts of dairy. I’m still testing other enzymes for specific foods but I can’t really say what other enzymes help with what specific food groups. I’m hoping to speak to a professional to confirm my findings… the investigation continues…
