The Link Between Stress, Microbiota Dysbiosis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Part Three


By Stephanie Walsh, CPT, CNTP, CEPC


of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has yet to be identified. However, Part One of this article series did uncover six possible contributing factors of IBS – abnormal gut motility (constipation or diarrhea), visceral hypersensitivity (abdominal pain), altered brain-gut function, low-grade inflamma- tion, intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut) and psychosocial factors. Another con- sideration is stress. In fact, stress has been shown to play a starring role in the life of IBS sufferers. Stressful life events, anxiety and depression are all well documented in IBS patients. Additionally, Part One of this article series established a link between stress and each of the six contributing fac- tors of IBS symptoms.


D In Part Two, you learned stress also has


been shown to affect and be affected by the microbiota – the community of bugs living in your digestive tract. Part Two also revealed a link between microbiota balance and the six contributing factors in IBS. Ad- ditionally, as you’ll see in this last install- ment, there may be a connection between diet and the severity of IBS symptoms. If you missed the previous installments, you can read them in online back issues at www.essentiallivingmaine.com to learn more about the six contributing factors of


22 ELM™ Maine - September/October 2018


espite its astonishing prevalence in the United States and developed countries, a singular defined cause


IBS, the community of bugs living in your digestive tract, how the body responds to stress, and the role stress plays in the health of your gut community as well as your risk of suffering IBS.


IBS sufferers may not know just how


much stress, gut dysbiosis and dietary choices are contributing to their symptoms. But, having this new-found knowledge can be powerful! Finding a road back to better health when dealing with IBS may seem elusive or even impossible, but when you understand which tools are best for your situation, better health is right around the corner. That’s what this final article is about – helping you understand the best tools when dealing with IBS.


Stress Management


Although the symptoms of IBS are gas- trointestinal, stress plays a destructive role in the condition. As Hans Selye explained in his book, The Stress of Life: “Stress is essentially reflected by the rate of all the wear and tear caused by life…although we cannot avoid stress as long as we live, we can learn a great deal about how to keep its damaging side-effects, ‘distress,’ to a mini- mum.” This “distress” lies at the root of IBS. Therefore, it is not surprising that several stress management techniques have been shown to improve IBS symptoms. Success- ful stress management techniques include:


• Exercise. Three separate studies showed less or improved symptoms for patients who were physically active.


• Yoga. Yoga decreased anxiety levels, pain levels and gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS patients.


• Hypnotherapy. Review of seven stud- ies indicated hypnotherapy reduced pain, decreased symptom severity and improved overall IBS symptoms as well as quality of life.


• Cognitive Behavior Therapy. This goal- oriented psychotherapy has been shown to reduce symptom severity, especially visceral pain, as well as improve other IBS symptoms.


• Biofeedback Therapy. One study re- vealed biofeedback therapy improved IBS symptoms in 50% of participants.


Rebalancing the Microbiota Predictably, most of the stress manage-


ment techniques above also impact the gut microbiota in a positive way. Therefore, stress management further assists the IBS sufferer in their goal of rebalancing the microbiota. When considering probiot- ics, there are two important groups living in your gut community that are known to keep pathogens at bay - Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. If there is a reduction in either of these species and an increase in


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