How Intermittent Fasting Affects IBS

Intermittent fasting is a dietary change which many believe has several different benefits. It could help you to gain more energy and even lose weight. But what if you have ongoing digestion problems? Is it clear how intermittent fasting affects IBS?

Some cases show that intermittent fasting may actually help to relieve IBS symptoms. However, we need to dig a little deeper. IBS can be a complex condition, aggravated by many different lifestyle factors. Therefore, can intermittent fasting help to relieve some of the regular strains?

How Intermittent Fasting Works

Let’s cover this briefly. Intermittent fasting is, as its name suggests, a dietary change where you choose to fast for sporadic periods. For example, you may choose to fast across eight or nine hours a day. You may even decide to avoid food for up to 72 hours.

Many people who fast intermittently report feelings of being cleaner and less bloated. Therefore, it’s easy to see why we can imagine it to benefits people struggling with IBS. For one thing, studies suggest that intermittent fasting may help to stabilize good bacterial growth in your gut.

However, we also need to understand quite how IBS works, too, in line with fasting.

Why It Might Be Beneficial

IBS is a condition where people may suffer from bloating, cramps, extreme abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. It is an unpredictable condition which affects millions of people. Therefore, predictable relief is always something sufferers are looking for.

Studies and expert opinions suggest that intermittent fasting may benefit IBS sufferers who struggle to digest or enjoy food without pain or discomfort. Fasting this way, naturally, spreads the amount you consume across the day, widely apart.

What’s more, many state that fasting may help to trigger MMC or your migrating motor complex. This part of your internal digestive system can help to clear your intestines. Therefore, coupled with additional growth of healthy gut bacteria, a fasting plan may well help those with food-triggered IBS.

Learning how intermittent fasting affects IBS will help us to understand when and where sufferers require relief. Fasting, on the whole, can help to detox our bodies. Therefore, adopting a healthier way of consuming and digesting food may help to provide long-term relief.

How Intermittent Fasting Affects IBS in the Long Run

It is immediately clear that fasting can have wondrous effects on our general wellbeing. However, when it comes to IBS relief, there are a few more factors in play. Studies which show fasting can reduce inflammation, a key problem for IBS sufferers may be enlightening.

However, IBS is still a complex condition. It can arise in many different ways for multiple reasons. Therefore, it is perhaps not always easy to say for sure whether all IBS sufferers will benefit. At the same time, there’s nothing to say they won’t, either.

While intermittent fasting can support those looking for relief from IBS after eating, it may not help those who have other triggers. IBS can be triggered by stress and other factors. In fact, in many cases, IBS is a mysterious entity. Even with advanced medical knowledge, it is a condition with much left to the imagination.

Some IBS sufferers may find that symptoms get worse through not eating. Therefore, intermittent fasting will be immediately inappropriate. There is also a danger that a dieter may choose to ‘relapse’ after a fast. That means that anyone suffering from IBS triggering through food consumption will immediately feel ill at ease.

Is Fasting Recommendable for IBS Sufferers?

Ultimately, it depends on the type of IBS a person has. Of course, it will also depend on how their condition triggers. Intermittent and longer fasting can be challenging to adapt to initially. Therefore, it is important for anyone looking into fasts to consider their options carefully.

Fasting can be a significant change for anyone, even a healthy individual. Therefore, you must carefully plan ahead. It may also be beneficial to seek advice and support from a doctor or medical practitioner. There are longer intermittent fasting plans which may be worth building up to over time, as opposed to leaping directly into.

Will Fasting Work for My IBS?

As established, intermittent fasting can have fantastic benefits for IBS sufferers. However, as IBS affects many people in many different ways, you will need to consider your own individual health and needs.

Therefore, consider looking at a milder or smaller fasting plan in the first instance. While it may be tempting to leap into an extended fasting plan, you must consider the effects of hunger on your condition. Do you know what is likely to trigger your IBS?

Understanding how intermittent fasting affects IBS will offer support to millions of people. It is a potential route of comfort and relief from a painful condition.