Irritable Bowel Syndrome Dietary Therapy
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Diarrhea Dominant
There are many causes of diarrhea. Your physician will want to be sure there is not a correctible cause present. For instance, some patients chew sugar free gum, which is high in the sweetening agent, sorbitol. This can lead to diarrhea. Read the labels. Others may have lactose intolerance, meaning they don’t digest the milk sugar, lactose. The lactose ends up in the colon where it can promote colon gas and diarrhea. There may be chronic infections, such as the parasite, Giardia, residing in the small bowel. Celiac sprue may be a concomitant or even the major problem. When all of these and more are ruled out, then diarrhea dominant IBS can be diagnosed with confidence.The next step is to consider the types of fiber in your diet. Increasing insoluble fiber in the diet or with a dietary supplement is worth a try as these can bulk up the stool which, of course, is desirable. Soluble fibers can aggravate diarrhea. However, they, along with probiotic bacteria, can also change the bacterial makeup of the colon in such a beneficial way that it may reduce the diarrhea.
Go to Fiber Content of Foods for details.
I suggest gradually increasing the insoluble fiber in the diet up to 10 grams or more a day. Following this, I would add prebiotic fibers, either in foods or a dietary supplement in very gradual increasing doses. If there were no change in symptoms, then I would add a probiotic at the direction of your physician. There is no secret here. What works for one IBS patient with diarrhea may not work for another. Judicious trial and error is recommended.
