Prof. Dr. Dragan Popovic, director of the Clinic for Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Clinical Center of Serbia, answered the questions whether the nervous intestine is the main cause of bloating, why it occurs and how to recognize it.
What is a nervous gut?
Nervous bowel or irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional disorder of the digestive tract. Although the cause of the decease has not been fully elucidated, it is believed that poorly coordinated signals between the brain and the intestines cause the body to overreact to otherwise normal stimuli in the digestive process. In addition to cramps and abdominal pain, symptoms include variable episodes of diarrhea and constipation, bloating, a feeling of fulness, mild nausea and heartburn, with frequent belching and audible and uncontrolled bowel spasms. The pain is difficult to localize in one place, so it's mostly "walking" in the stomach, and it usually intensifies after a meal and subsides after a stool.
When does the nervous intestine most often occur?
It occurs in young people, but no age group is excluded. It is twice as common in women. Food is not the cause of irritable bowel syndrome, but certain foods, especially those that swell, such as cabbage, kale, broccoli, some legumes, carbonated drinks, as well as stressors, can worsen symptoms.
People who have high expectations, i.e. perfectionists, most often suffer. Patients often complain of high levels of stress, anxiety, and other psychosomatic symptoms. Nervous bowels syndrome doesn't pose any risk for the development of serious decease of the digestive system, but it is very unpleasant and effects the normal functioning. It often occurs in young and socially active people, which further complicates the situation.
How to solve the problem?
The possibility of changing the daily rhythm of life and bad eating habits should be considered. The doctor must listen, understand, encourage and rationally choose the right therapeutic recommendations. Only then will the final result be positive. In the treatment of nervous bowels syndrome, an honest and open conversation with a doctor is the right way to exclude some typical conditions and diseases that can be the cause of unpleasant problems that accompany it.
The most important thing is to determinate the cause of the problem. If bloating is caused by diet, which is a common occurrence, it can be helpful to write down all foods and beverages consumed throughout the day, for several weeks, and to record unwanted symptoms. In this way, the pattern can be studied, so it is possible to identify all the triggers in order to avoid them.
Also, today it is well known that some strains of good, probiotic bacteria can significantly help in resolving problems. All current world recommendations and guidelines speak in favor of that. One of the strains that has been clinically proven and is used worldwide is Lactobaccillus plantarum 299v, patented in Sweden in the 1980s. By ingesting these good probiotic bacteria, we act directly on the cause of the problem. This unique probiotic culture, in a natural way, restores the balance of the disturbed intestinal flora, and helps people who suffered intestinal nervousness, bloating and gas.
A massage to all
Finally, we could emphasize that bacteria from probiotic preparations are particularly sensitive to ambient conditions: temperature, humidity, light. Most of them are anaerobic, which means that are they also bothered by oxygen from the air. If probiotics aren't produced, packaged and stored in an adequate way, it significantly affect their efficiency and safety.
The good news is that there is an innovative packaging that guarantees the stability of the probiotic product. Flow pack technology involves a special bag filled with inert gas. This special packaging prevents any possible penetration of oxygen and provides probiotics with additional protection from external influences (temperature, humidity and light). Regular health checks and the number of probiotic cells prove the safety of this packaging and the proven efficiency in acting on the very cause of increased bloating.
Literature: Lily magazine, number 38, fall 2019
Lead image: https://medium.com/@airnewsonline/nervous-stomach-causes-and-treatments-93c6ab325c37
