Vegan and ibs?

emilyluder19 wrote: »

Hey guys, weird question. Has anyone switched to a plant based diet to help with ibs or other intestinal issues? I’ve been struggling really bad for about a year, and i started being vegan about a month ago. I’ve had no symptoms whatsoever and feel great! I’m hoping it will last, though....is there a reason eating plant based would help with these issues?

My wife and I (on her docs advice, she goes to a MD that is in an "integrative" practice) switched to more of Plant based diet years ago. We're not vegan but close. Meat a couple of times a week and the rest gluten/dairy free.

The more I learn about, the less I'm surprised that a Plant based diet would help. I also take great interest in microbiome research (because I do technical recruiting and I'm well connected in that industry space so I get to see a lot of the latest research through my LinkedIn connections who on the forefront of Microbiome research). I'm personally not a technical guy, so I grasp what I can.

There's a lot of excitement going on in the microbiome space about high fiber (very high fiber, like over 75g a day) and what it can do for your microbiome. Cranberries, tart cherries and other polyphenols. One bacteria really seems to be getting a lot of press. Akkermansia muciniphila. It's supposed to assist in repairing stomach lining and reduce inflammation. You can only build it, it seems, by eating tons of fiber and polyphenols. There are others but they are just starting to understand how what you eat impacts your health and the balance of bacteria and spores in your system. Eating a Plant Based diet would certainly assist in building this bacteria in your gut.

So to answer your question, no it doesn't surprise me. Whole grains/legumes (organic), lots of whole veggies and fruits as well as Omega 3s and Polyphenols seem to be the common theme. Eating more meat/dairy changes everything and typically not in a good way (at least from the initial research I've seen) but I think there needs to be a balance. My wife just had her microbiome tested (through uBiome's free Pilot program) and some of the recommendations were get some probiotics and fermented dairy added into her diet so perhaps we've gone too far to the other extreme! I'm not sure anyone yet fully understands how it all comes together but with AI (artificial intelligence) along with Big Data analytics, they are rapidly seeing strong trends about how what we eat specifically effects our long-term health. We were Paleo a while back but the studies I'm seeing don't back up Paleo all that well. They more back up either a Mediterranean Diet or a Vegan diet with supplementation (algal omega oils/perhaps B vitamins) as the best approach for digestive health.