Stress, sedentary lifestyle and poor diet: three factors that affect irritable bowel

While helping her partner with the studies of the Physical Education career, Paula became enchanted with the contents of the biology classes. She studied to be a physical trainer and once she graduated she wanted to study something that complemented her studies. Gastronomy was the first option, she studied a couple of months but the constant mistreatment in the gastronomic spaces made her abandon. But devising new dishes continued to generate enthusiasm, and that added to her interest in knowing in depth the functioning of the organs, made her decide. Today he has been in the exercise of nutrition for almost five years.
“I attend 100% online, with patients from Copiapó, La Serena, Santiago, even patients from Germany, Chileans who were struck by my vision of nutrition, which I make known through publications on social networks.” Before the pandemic, Karime worked at home, then in a private house but until that moment virtuality was not an option.
Like others and other nutritionists, every day she receives numerous patients with the same symptoms: a constant discomfort, “feeling of pregnant guatita”. Problems with the colon have grown steadily in people of all ages.
“A consensus has not been reached on what causes irritable bowel itself, that is why it is a syndrome of intestinal inflammation, it is a series of factors that come together and detonate, which can range from psychological alterations (motivated by childhood traumas, which drag from childhood to adulthood), to the style of eating that is carried. Being in a hurry, not having time, stimulates him. We also live very sedentary, that’s the perfect combination to develop irritable bowel.”
A change in the way of life
The Western diet we eat, Paula said, is the ideal recipe for having irritable bowel: “the consumption of refined white cereals (flours), the excessive consumption of gluten, the decrease in fruits and vegetables in the diet, the high consumption of processed proteins (such as ham and sausages), high fructose syrup, artificial sweeteners derived from alcohols, they produce an imbalance of the microbiota”.
The microbiota are bacteria, viruses, fungi that inhabit the digestive system and throughout the body, explained the physical trainer. And it is the lifestyle “that directly impacts that balance, they live in harmony until we give them the wrong stimuli. If populations begin to grow, for example gas producers, or bacteria that inflame proliferate, some die that ferment some fruits and vegetables that are consumed.” In this way, he explained, the body begins to reject some foods and in certain cases, cause water to be taken and water to produce bloating, or broccoli, also to produce diarrhea, constipation or fatigue “repeated and for no apparent reason. 
Problems of this nature can be prevented. In this sense, the nutritionist was emphatic in pointing out that eating a “balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, unprocessed meats (such as chicken, beef, fish, seafood), incorporating in correct proportions carbohydrates (quinoa, rice, potato, among others) and reducing the consumption of refined breads and flours, along with ultra-processed fats, is very important.” Margarines, vegetable oils, wonder or canola, for example, are part of those processed fats that have inflammatory components, he explained, while avocado and olives are anti-inflammatory. 
“If you’ve ever developed IBS, the situation is likely to recur. Therefore, the first thing is to evaluate what is the trigger, is it the diet?, Is it stress?, Am I not happy?, Do I have depression?  And also to associate. Depression, for example, is probably going to lead to consuming refined carbohydrates such as chocolate or similar and even if they do not have sugar, there may be a sweetener that causes harm.
In situations like the one mentioned, there is a psychological factor and a food trigger, for that reason “we must not separate the psychological factor from the body,” he stressed. He also said that several studies associate the brain with the colon, “so if I eat badly I can have some emotional problem and vice versa.” In the same way, he reiterated that some studies link depression with food since there are bacteria of the microbiota that predispose it. Hence, he established, disorders such as depression can be treated on a par with nutrition.on.
Allergies, cultural customs and the risks of not changing habits
Is it possible for a single food to cause irritability of the colon? Yes. When there are intolerances, allergies and sensitivities to a certain food, and due to ignorance or custom it continues to be consumed, “it is generating damage,” said the nutritionist and explained that it is “like putting a finger in the sore.” 
From an early age, infants are taught the benefits of milk consumption and the need for their consumption is insisted upon. This cultural custom generates the impossibility of judging this liquid, since it is presented as a healthy and essential substance, Paula Karime illustrated. But certainly, many people develop at an early age sensitivity to its consumption “which manifests itself in changes in stool or abdominal swelling” and is accentuated over time. “It is so socially accepted that children should eat dairy that parents continue to give them, and that is making a hole, every time I do it I am putting my finger in the sore,” said the nutritionist, “then an episode of stress occurs, which can occur in adulthood, and that detonates in an irritable bowel.” 
Up to 2-3 years, mammals should consume milk. But from then on, he said, “it can be risky.” It’s not just lactose that causes the problem, “it’s the milk proteins.” In this same line, the specialist remarked that at present “dairy products are ultra-processed, a yogurt is almost not a dairy, it is a combination of milks, including powder, with artificial sweeteners and colors that can accentuate the picture”. However, if you want to consume products of this type, he confirmed that “there are better dairy products”, such as fermented, natural and bird yogurts, which do not pose a threat to those who do not have allergies or the like.
Treat, a necessity
Every day, phrases like “I swell even with the water” listens to the professional before the screen while performing a virtual attention. There are people who manage to identify what food(s) hurt them, after eating a loaf of bread, or when eating broccoli, and “in these cases what you should do, is simply leave it.” In other cases, you have to look for the origin of the problem and not let it go, he said with the highest tone than in the rest of the conversation.
“If the picture is not treated, it is most likely that it will continue to accentuate and in such situations, many professionals only medicate and thus the problem is not solved, nutritional therapy must be done.” 
This March 31 was commemorated the World Day of Colon Cancer, a disease that is evidenced in changes in bowel habits and in the consistency of the stool, the presence of blood in these and abdominal discomfort. Before reaching this stage, more critical, untreated irritable bowel syndromes, said Paula Karime, “predispose to develop, ulcers, polyps, diverticula, diverticulosis (bags that are formed and filled with water, come together and if they burst, they can cause hemorrhages)”. From there, there is little distance from the development of cancers.
Different patients, different dietary needs
The nutritionist appealed to health specialists and also to patients. To the former, he invited them to “get out of the standards of the books that educate them since, as he commented, they are instructive that in the end, they say what to do in different cases, but the prescription is not the same for all patients. ” People have different economic possibilities, cultural preferences, and other health problems that sometimes nutrition does not take into account when indicating treatments and diets, and it is necessary to take that into account,” he said, adding “there is a different diet for each person.” 
Often, very specific products are usually recommended, “certain types of salt, yogurt, cooking in one way, for example in cooking” and that, he said, without taking into account the economic possibilities, can end in the abandonment of treatments. “The same function can be found in different foods.”
In the case of patients, he valued the importance of “not self-medicating” as well as assisting “updated” professionals. Many vitamins and food supplements are over-the-counter, and that together with the sustained growth of youtube channels and profiles on social networks such as Instagram and TikTok dedicated to health, increased self-diagnosis and with it self-medications. 
“If I have constipation, it will not be very useful to consume certain bacteria because they can accentuate the picture. That is why you always have to be advised to consume foods and medicines more appropriate to the personal situation of each one. Many times social media information is based on experPersonal situations that cannot be generalized because all bodies are different.” 
Finally, and to close the interview, the nutritionist referred to the time it can take to regulate the functioning of the intestine: “with a psychological and nutritional treatment appropriate to the case, considerable changes in the quality of life can be noticed from the sixth week of treatment.”

Original source in Spanish