Causes of irritable bowel syndrome

There is clearly no one cause of irritable bowel syndrome as it presents as a range of symptoms. Medical examination usually cannot find a physical abnormality that can explain the symptoms, but in general symptoms are believed to be caused by malfunction of the digestive tract lining, by uncontrolled muscle contractions in the bowel wall and/or by disruption of the natural gut microorganisms.

The natural balance of the gut micro flora (bacteria and other microorganisms), which helps to digest your food can be severely affected after episodes of gastroenteritis a very common and infectious illness involving vomiting and diarrhoea. Usually caused by food poisoning (bacterial or viral infection), mild cases clear up without intervention, but when antibiotics are prescribed they kill the friendly bacteria as well as the infection.

Other major triggers of IBS include diet and stress. Within your diet specific foods may interact with your gut lining resulting in problematic symptoms. Common foods which can elicit such as response includes:

Dairy products.
Cereals e.g. Wheat, barley and rye.
Caffeine products e.g. tea, coffee and cola.
Spicy foods.
Alcohol.
Smoking.

With suspected food sensitivity care must be taken in ensuring that you continue to manage a balanced diet, where appropriate advice should be sought from experienced dietician.

For further advice on how to manage your diet please take a look at our Nutrition pages.