IBS is not a modern disease

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IBS is not a modern disease

by Alex Duncan
(Gardoussel, St Andre de Valborge, France)

Alex Duncan, France

First, I would like to say that I loved this podcast, it got me excited to share...

Rick, I totally agree with everything you said in this podcast except for two points:

1. IBS is a modern condition - wrong!

Did you know that the cause and treatment of IBS was discovered thousands of years ago by ayurveda, the oldest health system known to man? They called it ?grahani dosha?. Its modern name, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, portrays IBS as some sort of illusive, unsolved condition.

Unfortunately in our modern healthcare system this is true: doctors often can't tell you why you have IBS and how to successfully treat it. Luckily, thanks to the heritage and continuity of the ayurvedic health system, the cause and treatment of conditions such as IBS are available to anyone willing to look beyond the conventional approach.

2. Curing IBS the natural way through diet and lifestyle is hard, and difficult to maintain

Here I only half agree! What I can say is that as an ayurvedic educator I have helped many people beat IBS using a tailored but very flexible (read: doable long term!) diet and lifestyle.

The secret lies in the correct use of common mild spices and herbs.

A simple mixture or spices like turmeric, barberry, fennel, cumin, fenugreek and nutmeg (for example) can be taken as a powdered mix during meals in a little warm water.

The result, when put in place along with a simple wholefoods diet, is fast relief from IBS.

The spices actually speed up the process of the body's natural healing that you mentioned.

In ayurveda, we change the proportion of the spices depending on the nature of the person - a truly tailored approach.

You also mentioned that it is hard to keep up the pace of cooking and all that.

I agree. But I live it day to day. Ayurveda uses simple whole foods, some lifestyle tools, along with the daily spices. It's the spices that allow me to 'transgress' into less than perfect eating habits.

The spices protect me by boosting digestion (we call it Agni = digestive fire), soothing the gut, keeping the colon bacteria healthy etc.

When I come in from a long day out, I just whip up a 5 minute one-pot meal. See my non-commercial youtube channel: alexayurveda and watch the one-pot meal videos

Finally, Rick, I would love to talk to you or anyone from the team as I am about to launch a unique internet program for IBS sufferers. I would be really happy to talk about it with you. It is a commercial venture, but we are, well - how can I say it - not just in it for the money. My main job is a senior ayurveda teacher in France, as well as co-founder of a small family run retreat (also my home) in the south of France. Just Google "Gardoussel Alex"

Take care and good luck with the website.

Alex, France.

P.S. Feel free to sensor my post!!!

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IBS is not a modern disease

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May 04, 2010

Reply to Rick
by: Alex Duncan

Dear Rick, sorry for not replying sooner, I did not know a post had been made. Yes, your reservations about using herbs or spices in addition to natural, wholefoods are fair enough. Spices like turmeric can be seen as part of a natural diet, however, and, when used correctly (at an appropriate dose, taken at the correct time, will often enhance the natural healing or balancing properties of whole foods. When does a spice stop being a food and starting being a medicine. Likewise, when does a food stop being a food and start being a medicine. Ayurveda in fact uses the same language or method of understanding medicinal substances (plants etc) as it does foods. One thing that ayurveda teaches is that substances that are naturally quite bitter or astringent tasting, as typically more useful as medicines, than as foods. Man spices and herbs are quite bitter.

Getting back to the spices though, what we find in practice is that when diet is married with spices and some simple herbs, a more therapeutic effect is felt more quickly. The other point, which might help clarify your experience with the eating experiment you did, is that while it is often possible to affect a symptomatic relief (where IBS appears to go away) using, say diet alone, sometimes, the underlying pathology needs a more rigorous treatment to more thoroughly eradicate the cause.

Ayurveda beliefs that the cause is an imbalance in the bodies biological controllers, or doshas. A secondary factor is when this imbalance leads to a chronic build up of toxins.

Spices along with a 'clean natural' diet will speed up the detox and dosha-balancing process that food alone can achieve (but over longer periods).

We typically find that 2-3 months are required to remove toxins and reset the metabolism to a healthier state.

You have to realise that IBS, according to ayurveda, is really just the result of chronic neglected indigestion.

In order for the lover, pancreas, enzyme function etc to get used to the original, healthy function, a little time is needed.

And then of course, there is a psychosomatic factor with IBS.

Well, I'd better not blather too much more on this blog sort of page.

I will be in touch via the contact us page once we are up and running.

Take care, and good luck helping folk with IBS.

Cheers, Alex.

Apr 08, 2010

Some interesting ideas...
by: Rick

Hi Alex,

Thanks for getting in touch. Glad you liked the podcast about my IBS experiment.

Ayurvedic healing sounds very interesting. I have never doubted that our ancestors had the capabilities to cure and relieve all sorts of ailments through natures products, and I'm even prepared to believe that they were often more efficient than our modern day pharmaceutical equivalents.

I, along with many others I'm sure, would love to be able to know we can reach for a plant, Herb or spice, instead of a bottle of chemical pills any time we have an ailment. It's a knowledge I wish time would allow me to learn in more depth.

I do however remain slightly hesitant in embracing the use of the herbs & spices you mention as a necessary component in dealing with IBS. You say that they offer fast relief from IBS as long as they are taken along with a simple whole food diet. My point is, that's exactly what I did in my experiment; I switched to a simple whole food diet, and my IBS went away very quickly, of its own accord, without the use of, or need for additional 'medicine'.

So ultimately, for me at least, it boils back down to the same issue I had with maintaining the strict natural diet necessary to keep the IBS at bay.

After saying that, I can however see obvious merit in the herbs and spices if they do allow you to eat some of the wrong things and still stay on top of your IBS. I'm pretty sure our visitors and readers will be interested in learning more about this too.

Do feel free to get in touch with us regarding the program you intend to launch, if it's something that might benefit our visitors, then we're all ears. (use the "Contact us" button).

Thanks and good luck with your new venture

Regards
Rick from IBS-Life.com

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IBS is not a modern disease

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IBS is not a modern disease