The Digestion Blog

A recent minor spat between the University of Iowa & the University of Melbourne brings awareness to the roles that prunes, sorbitol & FODMAPs play in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Prunes were the topic of discussion in a recent debate over their effectiveness in treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome constipation. The debate started over a bit of research done by the University of Iowa’s Department of Gastroenterology which suggested that prunes were possibly a more effective treatment option than psyllium husks for those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome constipation. Continue reading “Irritable Bowel Syndrome & The Great Prune Debate” »

Well unfortunately it seems like the cost of Iberogast has gone up considerably over the last year or so. About a year ago I could purchase Iberogast for right around $18 USD(free shipping), now the cheapest place is around $35 after shipping costs. This is practically a 2x increase. I’ve searched around for alternatives, even going so far as to see if it can be imported from Germany, but no luck.

So far the cheapest place for Iberogast is still Amazon.com as they list multiple vendors and you can choose the cheapest one. Also note that many of them operate out of Canada, so there may be a longer delay when shipping.

Debbie DeAngelo of GoErie.com wrote an article highlighting some interesting things about ovarian cancer which routinely goes undetected due to misinterpreting warning symptoms. I will have to admit that the symptoms are rather vague and could be hard to decipher as being related to ovarian cancer, especially for someone with a chronic digestive disease like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Crohn’s Disease.

Some symptoms too look out for are:

“…abdominal bloating, increased abdominal size and urinary urgency.”

as well as:

“…feeling full after a small meal, unexplained weight loss, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, fatigue and abnormal uterine bleeding.”

Factors that could put you at risk are:

…[a] personal history of breast cancer, family history of breast, uterine, ovarian or colorectal cancer, certain breast cancer genes and use of fertility drugs, especially without achieving pregnancy.

Check out the full article on GoErie.com.

Align Probiotics Review

Buy Align from Amazon.com

Recently Proctor & Gamble’s marketing department got in touch with me to take a look at their flagship probiotic, Align. While I haven’t actually started taking Align yet, I’d like to share some of my first thoughts on the product.

I’ve seen Align advertised before & it has received good reviews on places like Amazon.com. I am a little skeptical on mass marketed products that have slick packaging. In some cases the word probiotic is used to attract people to a product that has little digestive benefit. In one case I got some terrible breakfast bars that supposedly had “probiotics” in them, but they were barely a step above sweetened laminated cardboard. I don’t think this is a goal of Align since they are strictly focusing on a probiotic supplement where the cardboard is only in the packaging, not the actual product. Continue reading “Align Probiotics Review: First Glance” »

Review: Gas-X Thin Strips for gas & bloating with Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)

So I am sure we’ve all probably had times were we’re filling gassy or bloated. When dealing with IBS these times are probably more often than we’d wish. Now, normally I’d suggest a natural product, but in some cases a less than natural product is needed. This is were Gas-X Thin Strips step in. Why do I like Gas-X Thin Strips? A) It works. B) The packaging and form factor are very discreet.

Thin strip style products have been around for awhile, I first saw them showing up in the early 2000s for things like mints. At the time my co-worker handed me something that looked like a piece of colored tape and said “try it”… I pondered for a bit as I wasn’t sure if I was being handed some sort of psychotropic drug or an actual piece of tape. Luckily it turned out to be a a minty breath freshener. I don’t think my co-worker was trying to tell me something as we didn’t sit near each other, he was just showing me this cool new product(at least this is what I tell myself). So now instead of minty freshness we have minty gas relief thanks to Gas-X Thin Strips.

Gas-X contains Simethicone which is basically an anti-foaming agent, it helps the bubbles that form in your digestive tract form into large bubbles which makes it easier to pass gas. So while it’s advertised as an anti-gas drug, it actually makes it easier to fart. This is probably of benefit for people with IBS, I’d rather fart than feel bloated. Being bloated makes you feel tired & flabby. One of the benefits I’ve found with Gas-X is that it seems to also help motility so if I am feeling constipated as well, it usually helps get things moving again.

The main reason I tried Gas-X Thin Strips in the first place, was because it was in thin strip form. These things are very handy & very discreet. You can fit a bunch of them in your wallet, which is just not possible when dealing with pills. The only thing non-discreet about them is that it says “Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X” all over the outside of the package. It’s not that big of a deal though as you can easily tear it open and gobble it down with no one the wiser.

Overall Gas-X & Immodium(though haven’t been using this in quite awhile) are my trusty over the counter standbys which I use from time to time. There are probably other similar products that use Simethicone & they would probably work in a similar fashion. Gas-X is just the one I’ve been using. You get 18 strips per box, which is a pretty good value. I am still on my first box and it’s been a few months since I bought it. You can probably find it at your local pharmacy or department store – OR you can support this site and buy it from the Amazon.com link below :)!

Purchase Gas-X Thin Strips Peppermint from Amazon.com.

Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel(IBS) – Buy Iberogast from Amazon.com

Today I’ll be reviewing Iberogast, a natural herbal pro-kinetic motility agent from the company Medical Futures.

So first off, what is a motility?

GoodBelly Strawberry Fruit Juice Drink

GoodBelly Probiotic Fruit Drink

I found out about GoodBelly juice drinks from my local public radio station. Between shows they’d have an advertisement for the “non-dairy probiotic fruit juice based drink”. Intrigued I went off in search of this stuff. The first visit to the GoodBelly website suggested that my local Fred Meyers carried it, but when I went there it was not to be. I then tried a local Safeway(may also be known as Vons), which did indeed carry it, but it took some looking as it was near the yogurt and not on the juice aisle.

So what exactly is in GoodBelly? Obviously it’s a fruit drink with probiotics, but getting in a bit deeper it appears they grow their own strains of B. Lactis & L. Planatarum299v from oat flour & barely malt which I imagine the little bacterias munch down on. While their test show that the product doesn’t contain detectable amounts of gluten, it is not considered a gluten free food. This is important if you suffer from Celiac Disease. So basically you whirl some juice concentrate, fruit puree & probiotics together & you have GoodBelly.

How does it taste? Pretty good actually! I tried the Bluberry Acai & the Strawberry flavors.  There’s a slightly sour aftertaste to it, but it doesn’t taste bad. It is comparable to other juices you’d find on the market, just not as sweet(which is a good thing). I could not find the quart containers, so I had to use the little “Good Belly Plus shots”, which are about 2.7oz(80ml) each. There are usually some fruit seeds hanging out at the bottom of the container no matter how well you shake the darn things up.

Was it effective? The little shots contain 20 billion colony forming units(CFUs), to me, this seems like too much. While their website does state “You can never get too much of a good thing”, I would have to disagree; especially for people just starting with probiotics. Much better to taper up with a small amount of probiotics to let your system adjust. Overall I experienced the same thing I’ve dealt with with other probiotics – constipation  & bloating.There is such as thing as the “Herx Effect”, where you have to tough out these symptoms for days/weeks before you start feeling the benefits. However, I’ve tried toughing it out with other products and in the end I have to stop taking them because these symptoms do not subside. Thus, my search for the perfect probiotic continues. Importantly, do not take my experience for your own. Try the product, see how it works for you! We all have different bodies & mine is extremely picky. Bottom Line:  It did not cure my IBS, but who knows about yours?

Cost? Cost is a concern, it was about $3.50 for 4 little shots. You’re suppose to drink one per day. This could get pricey, especially when considering you can get a bottle for a months worth of probiotics in some cases for $10. You’re looking at $26.10 per month if you’re going to be drinking a GoodBelly a day. Keep in mind though that some of the higher quality probiotics are just as much and don’t offer as many CFUs, nor are they as tasty. GoodBelly does offer a $1.00 off coupon on their website. This lil’ coupon could save you quite a bit! It looks like you can only use it once per visit, but you could just do it with your weekly shopping & be good to go. The website has had it up there for months, hopefully they don’t take it down anytime soon.

Final thoughts? A worthy choice for those who may not like taking a pill or those who are adverse to trying healthy things. It’s worth a shot! :)

If you don’t have access to GoodBelly locally you can order some GoodBelly ToGo packets from Amazon.com.

Vitamin D & Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Was browsing over @ IBSGroup.org & found a blog post by user ‘absoluterob’ about Vitamin D deficiency. It is an interesting post on how Vitamin D can help reduce inflammation. Vitamin D is known as ”the sunshine vitamin” since most people produce it naturally by being out in the sun. I don’t get a whole lot of sunlight during my day & a lot of people in the northern hemisphere probably don’t get a lot either. Besides helping with inflammation it also helps with mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder which is basically seasonal depression is suspected to be caused partially by a lack of sunlight/Vitamin D production. So overall it would seem like supplementing Vitamin D would be a wise idea. Continue reading “Vitamin D & Irritable Bowel Syndrome” »