Helix Clinic blog

IBS is probably the most common gastro-intestinal disorder. Roughly 15% of the population suffer from IBS complaints, with women twice as likely to be affected than men. IBS is characterised by some combination of abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, colonic mucus, dyspeptic symptoms such as flatulence or nausea, and varying degrees of anxiety and depression.

April is IBS awareness month, so we thought it would be good to talk about a few natural approaches to the treatment of IBS. The three major things to consider are (1) increasing dietary fibre, (2) eliminating allergic/intolerant foods and (3) controlling any psychological components to the problem. Today we will talk about (1) and (2), and tomorrow we will talk about (3).

As far as increasing dietary fibre goes, this is more important for people who are suffering with constipation rather than loose stools. Fibre from fruit and vegetables is usually the best kind - other traditional sources of fibre such as wheat bran could be contra-indicated because food allergy can often play a significant role in IBS, and many people have some kind of intolerance to wheat.

Food intolerances can be tricky to uncover and eliminate, but there are a few ‘old chestnuts’ that should be eliminated first to see if there is any improvement. Wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar and alcohol are the first things to stop in order to see if symptoms improve. In fact, if the thought of giving up one or more of these fills you with horror, then that could well be the main culprit - the body often perversely develops an addiction to the food that it is intolerant to.

Other symptoms  such as palpitation, hyperventilation, fatigue or excess sweating could also indicate a possible food allergy or intolerance.

Try eliminating all of the ‘bad foods’ and wait until the symptoms subside. Then you can start slowly bringing each food back into the diet in small quantities one at a time. If the symptoms start up again then you will have a good idea which food could be causing the problem.

Foods containing refined sugar are particularly pernicious because they can lead to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth by decreasing the intestinal motility. A rapid rise in blood sugar slows GI tract peristalsis (the natural rhythmic movement of the intestines).

If you are suffering from abdominal cramping, you may want to try peppermint oil, as this can be good to relieve intestinal spasm and is often used to treat IBS. If possible, find capsules that are enteric-coated to prevent release of the oils too early in the digestive tract to avoid possible heartburn or acid reflux.

Tags: fibre, food allergy, IBS, peppermint oil

Chinese medicine looks for patterns of symptoms and treats holistically by directing treatment based on the overall pattern rather than on specific symptoms. One pattern in Chinese medicine is called ‘damp’, and is characterised by symptoms like heavy limbs, bloating after eating, sluggish digestion, fluid accumulation, or congestion of phlegm/mucus in the chest or sinuses.

The pattern of damp is characterised as being heavy and slow to shift, and can be made worse by eating or drinking certain foods. Dairy products are a typical culprit, so if someone is suffering from a pattern of damp-type symptoms, we would normally advise them to cut back on products like milk, cheese and yoghurt. Often just doing this can make a real difference.

The thing is, when a woman is pregnant she is often advised to eat lots of dairy products to help keep her calcium levels up. Calcium is important for the development of strong bones, so is vital to the healthy development of a baby. But if that same woman has a tendency to develop damp-like symptoms, she may find that these become worse during her pregnancy once she increases her intake of dairy products. A common symptom is sinuses becoming more stuffy, because this can be doubly aggravated by damp and also by having to sleep flat on her back due to the growing bump!

So can anything be done? Well, dairy products are not the only sources of calcium. Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach and curly kale are excellent sources, as well as many nuts and seeds. Good calcium absorption is helped by vitamin D which is produced naturally by the body on exposure to sunlight, and also found in oily fish and eggs. If you are pregnant, eating lots of dairy produce and your sinuses are giving you trouble, why not try cutting back on some of the dairy and replacing it with some other less damp-forming sources of calcium?

Tags: dairy, damp, pregnancy, sinuses

It takes two to make a baby, and if a couple is infertile the problem is often due to a combination of male and female factors.

Three key measures for sperm health are sperm count (quantity), sperm motility and sperm morphology. The correct medical name for low sperm count is oligospermia, and there are some key nutritional guidelines that can help to improve this condition.

Most people have heard about ‘free radicals’, chemical fragments that contribute to the toxicity of various drugs, aging, and the development of cancer. What one might not know is that free radicals tend to be abundant in the semen of 40% of infertile men. In fact, free radical, or oxidative damage to sperm is one of the major causes of oligospermia.

So how to reduce damage from free radicals? This is where anti-oxidants can work their magic, and some of the best anti-oxidants are vitamin C (found in citrus fruits), beta-carotene (found in red, orange and yellow vegetables) and vitamin E (found in nuts and green leafy veg).

Smoking reduces vitamin C throughout the body - this is one reason why smokers are more likely to have low sperm counts, but non-smokers will benefit from increased vitamin C as much as smokers.

Vitamin E is the main anti-oxidant in sperm membranes, and can enhance the ability of the sperm to fertilize an egg in vitro.

In addition to good levels of antioxidants, it’s important to have the right kind of fats and oils, so saturated or hydrogenated fats should be avoided and replaced with the good Omegas (3, 6 and 9) found in oily fish and seeds like flax, pumpkin and sunflower.

Finally, the most important trace mineral for sperm production is zinc. Zinc deficiency decreases testosterone as well as sperm counts, and studies have shown that men with oligospermia tend to have lower levels of zinc.  15mg a day should do the job, and zinc can be found in high quantities in oysters and other shellfish, chickpeas, baked beans and pumpkin seeds.

Tags: antioxidants, fertility, infertility, oligospermia, omega oils, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc

As we mentioned yesterday,  insomnia often responds well to acupuncture. However, chronic insomnia can sometimes be trickier to shift. In these cases it can be useful to try a natural supplement in addition to acupuncture treatment.

When thinking about supplements for insomia, it is useful to keep in mind the basic brain chemistry that leads to a good night’s sleep. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that initiates sleep, and its precursor is the amino acid L-tryptophan. The reason that taking a direct serotonin supplement wouldn’t help is that once absorbed into the bloodstream, it wouldn’t be able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and get to where it’s needed. However, L-tryptophan and its metabolite 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), from which serotonin is synthesized, can and do cross the blood-brain barrier, so are suitable as dietary supplements that could help in the synthesis of serotonin.

5-HTP can be bought as a direct supplement, but in addition certain foods have a higher L-tryptophan content so can be useful to eat later in the day. Avocados, bananas and wheat germ are particularly good, so instead of eating a late dinner high in protein (which tends to stimulate and wake up the brain), why not try a bowl of sweet potato soup, with a lettuce and avocado salad, followed by a banana (or a banana smoothie made with added wheat germ).

Another remedy that could be worth trying is the one described on the BBC’s new series ‘Grow Your Own Drugs’. The presenter made a small pillow stuffed with dried hops, and tested it out on a couple of people who had suffered from chronic insomnia. They found good results when the small hop pillow was placed under their usual pillow at night. It’s an unconventional idea, but if it works it has to be better than going for the sleeping pills.

Tags: 5HTP, avocados, bananas, hops, sleep

This year, eating disorders awareness week is between the 23rd and 28th February. You can keep up to date with daily initiatives, projects and news on the website run by BEAT. BEAT is the leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families, and is the working name of the Eating Disorders Association.

Eating disorders are a serious mental illness, and they affect over a million people in the UK. BEAT provides helplines for adults and young people, online support and a UK-wide network of self-help groups to help people beat eating disorders.

If you have ever wondered if you suffer from an eating disorder, there is an effective and simple questionnaire that you can do to give you a better idea. The SCOFF questionnaire asks 5 questions, and was introduced in an article published in the BMJ in 1999. The questions are:

1. Do you make yourself (S)ick because you feel uncomfortably full?
2. Do you worry you have lost (C)ontrol over how much you eat?
3. Have you recently lost more than (O)ne stone in a 3 month period?
4. Do you believe yourself to be (F)at when others say you are too thin?
5. Would you say that (F)ood dominates your life?

In the original paper, two positive answers out of 5 were found to give a 100% sensitivity to anorexia and bulimia. There were a few false positives (i.e. if 2 or more positive answers were given by respondents who were not diagnosed with an eating disorder), but all of the respondents who had been independently diagnosed with anorexia, bulimia or both answered 2 or more questions positively.

If two or more of these questions are relevant for you and you haven’t been diagnosed with an eating disorder, it would be wise to make an appointment to talk to your GP to discuss it further.

We have other health-related questionnaires on our website. Why not check out our lifestyle questionnaire and checklist for symptoms of stress?

Tags: anorexia, BEAT, bulimia, eating disorders, questionnaire, SCOFF