Water, When You Have IBS
Don’t Drink the Water
In my teens, quite a while ago, I often mentioned tummy pains to my family doctor. While the diagnosis of IBS didn’t exist, he did give me a word of wisdom that helped. He said: “Don’t drink ice water!”
I have now extended that to “Don’t drink cold, refrigerated water!” I have a bottle of (fresh) room-temperature water in the kitchen. I mix it in varying amounts with cold water from the refrigerator. Keeps my IBS tummy happy!
The thing is, really cold water, especially on an empty stomach, triggers the gastrocolic reflex, that demon that we want to keep sleeping!
Gastrocolic Reflex
The nice thing is that by drinking cold water on an empty stomach, and triggering your gastrocolic reflex, you become aware of what it feels like. You know the effect on your IBS symptoms because the cramping, or bowel moving, or gas passing, that is part of your IBS, pops up in miniature. When you know what it feels like to have an IBS trigger activate your gastrocolic reflex, you can chase the gastrocolic reflex with a banana, or banana chips, or some rice, or rice crackers, or some soluble fiber (Benefiber ™, Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™, or FiberSure ™). So you have some control over the later and stronger IBS reaction that would otherwise come.
Is that clear? I’m trying to say (1) Recognize when your IBS trigger has hit your gastrocolic reflex, using cold/ice water; (2) chase your IBS trigger by eating one of the IBS soothers I’ve listed above.
Nice!
Somehow that strategy, chasing after a mistake you made in eating or drinking something you shouldn’t, is a really nice “benefit” of having IBS. :-/ There are not many things in life that really allow you to undo the past. This is one of them!
