Irritable bowel syndrome, often called IBS, is a disorder of the colon that causes cramping, gas and alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea. According to the Mayo Clinic website, while it is uncomfortable, it does not damage the colon or increase your risk of cancer, and most people learn to manage their condition by altering their diet and lifestyle and learning to manage stress. One possible dietary change that some people have considered is macrobiotics. Talk to your doctor about changing your diet.
Standard Medical Recommendations
Common recommendations include becoming aware of what foods tend to worsen the condition and avoiding them. Many people find that dairy products cause difficulties, as do caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks and certain artificial sweeteners. Other people have trouble with beans, cabbage, broccoli. Fiber can relieve constipation, but it can also increase gas and cramping; therefore, patients are cautioned to add it to the diet gradually. Other recommendations include exercise and drinking plenty of fluids.
Overlap Between Standard Medicine and Macrobiotics
Many macrobiotic recommendations are similar to those of conventional medicine for this disorder. The macrobiotic diet prohibits dairy products and artificial sweeteners, common causes of IBS symptoms, and discourages the consumption of coffee, alcohol and carbonated beverages. The most common macrobiotic beverage is kukicha tea, which is made from the stems of the tea bush and is low in caffeine. People who want to avoid caffeine completely can drink roasted barley tea. A possible difficulty is that between 5 and 10 percent of the macrobiotic diet consists of beans, which are problematic for many people.
The Macrobiotic Diet and Fiber
Fiber can be either a bane or boon to people with IBS, and the macrobiotic diet is rich in fiber because 80 percent of the standard diet consists of whole grains and vegetables. People who want to try the macrobiotic diet but who find that fiber gives them problems can eat rice cream, which is brown rice cooked in large amounts of water and strained through cheese cloth to remove the fiber (see Resources). People troubled by beans can eat tofu or get more of their protein from fish. Strained vegetable broth can provide added nutrition without fiber.
Probiotics
A May 2011 article published in "Discovery Medicine" stated that probiotics are a useful treatment for IBS. The macrobiotic diet has several sources of healthy bacteria. Miso soup, made from unpasteurized miso that has been simmered, not boiled for 3 or 4 minutes after the miso has been added, is a rich source of probiotics. A second source of healthy bacteria is macrobiotic pickles that have been fermented for at least three days.
Consult a Macrobiotic Cook or Teacher
The macrobiotic diet has many strengths: It is rich in whole grains and vegetables and low in fats and simple sugars. It is also free of artificial sweeteners, dyes and flavors. However, it can also be low in zinc and vitamin B-12, especially if you don't eat enough fish. For this reason, it is advisable to consult with a macrobiotic practitioner so that you can have a diet that is certain to meet all of your nutritional needs, and, of course, you should inform your doctor of what you are doing.
