Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is very common. It affects probably one in five adults at some point. It’s a long-term condition, causing cramping tummy pains, bloating, wind, changes in bowel habits, and much more. It’s what we call a functional bowel disorder. That does not mean that it is all in your mind. But what it does mean is that, there’s no one bit of your gut that is to blame. If we look at it under a microscope, no part looks inflamed, but the different bits don’t work well together.

There’s been all sorts of research into what causes IBS, and there’s still no consensus. It could be a mixture of things. This includes oversensitivity of the gut wall to pain messages, possibly food intolerance, and possibly a mismatch between the messages to and from the brain and the gut. But there’s been a huge amount of interest in what researchers call a gut microbiome in recent years. We have trillions of bacteria in our gut, and we couldn’t digest food without them. But the problem is that if the bad bacteria get the upper hand from the friendly bacteria, those bad bacteria can create gas, which can lead, of course, to bloating and pain.

Now, with so many possible causes, there are all sorts of treatments. This includes treatment that relates to you looking at your lifestyle, treatment that involves addressing stress because stress makes it worse, regular exercise, and looking at possible food triggers you may be reacting to. But much of the research on this topic has focused on looking at this gut microbiome, and that’s where we’re thinking about things like the low FODMAPs diet.

FODMAPs are fermentable, non -digestible foods that can lead to pain and bloating because they create gas. So, reducing those foods in your diet can allow the friendly bacteria to get the upper hand. Prebiotics. are basically doses of food that the friendly bacteria can feed on and probiotics are doses of friendly bacteria. All of these may help your symptoms, but it depends on which kind.