# Fermenting foods in the gut



## thelibertine (Sep 8, 2009)

So, I havn't been on for a while as I've been busy with university. When I was last on I was recovering from a sigmoidoscopy and bowel prep. Though I had some problems originally after a few days my stomach began to really get better for several weeks, especially the first two, I felt completely normal again I went to the toilet once or twice a day normally, had only a little wind and bloating and almost no sense of urgency or pain. However! The last week my stomach has become terrible, I ate a sauce with vegetables in and have drank a few times and now my stomach is in turmoil. I have to keep going to the bathroom for small bits and am full of wind. I feel like I need to clear my gut out but am terrified of touching fiber as that upsets my stomach. I am now more convinced then ever after being perfectly normal for a few weeks after the bowel prep that my IBS could be majorly caused by food getting stuck and fermenting in my gut. Does anyone have any tips on how to keep your gut clean, what to eat etc. I heard flax seeds are a gentle laxative? Without triggering my IBS-D. ATM I am going a lot but the results are much more like constipation in form. I just feel in so much pain and so sad right now. I had to miss a uni lecture and I don't feel like going out anywhere I feel so uncomfortable.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

Have you tried proper food combining? Eating certain food combinations causing food to ferment while the other foods are being worked on.I follow some of the basics and it help cut back on gas.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I don't think that foods fermenting in the gut damaged you to the point you got IBS. Every human being has food fermenting in the gut. That is why the average fart frequency is 10-14 farts a day.However it does seem that IBSers are much more sensitive to gas volume changes than most people so it can be a trigger of IBS symptoms once you get IBS.IBS is often started by a GI infection and that doesn't usually make you suddenly start fermenting food when you never did before. You always had some food fermenting (being eaten by bacteria in the gut with gas being released) in there. It is virtually impossible to keep a colon bacteria free, and as soon as you have bacteria in there (starting at birth) you get some fermentation.Food doesn't ferment only because it has been in there way too long. Most of the fermentation happens in the first couple of hours after it hits the colon. Most people do not have weeks, months, years, or decades of fecal matter in there. The colon is for the most part pretty well self cleaning. However when you do a bowel prep you do tend to knock down the bacteria population from the watery diarrhea and if you are lucky you get a set afterwards that works with you better.If you tend to alternate between diarrhea and constipation then keeping things moving generally prevents the alternating cycle (the back up makes the body try to flush it out with loose stool and that sets you up for constipation). Flax seeds (ground) or other fiber sometimes is enough to keep things moving and soluble fiber tends to normalize the stool rather than just act as a laxative. I'd avoid bowel cleaning products as they usually are just fiber or laxatives or both with better hype so cost more than the same ingredients sold as fiber or a laxative.Magnesium oxide or a stool softener can also be used to keep things wet enough to move well, just start with a really low dose for a week or so to see if you tolerate that then ramp up to whatever dose tends to keep things moving.You may find probiotics help. They eat carbs but do not process them all the way to gasses. They stop part way through the process. Some people find that helps keep the gas volume below the threshold that sets off the sensitivity of the gut.


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## thelibertine (Sep 8, 2009)

Thanks for your response. I eat a probiotic every morning for breakfast but have been eating canned peaches with it, no fructose syrup! this was working for me but I have a feeling the peaches may be fermenting, cut them out this morning.Considering what to eat today to try and bulk out my stool and try and flush it all out. Will an apple or an orange help? I've become terrified of fiber but I do think I may have to accept some of the downsides of eating a fruit or maybe some oatmeal today in order to cleanse my body.I understand everyone gets fermentation but I think the problem may be that the food is sitting in my gut too long and irritating my bowel, as I was fine for a few weeks then suddenly it hits, possibly after a build up of fermentation?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Most of the fermentation happens right when the food gets to the colon. Bacteria eat fast. Some will happen over time, but the reason they can do a breath test is because most of it happens when the food gets to the colon, not weeks later if it stays in too long.Here is the flatus reducing diet. Apples and peaches both have sorbitol but canned will be better than fresh. Sorbitol can increase gas.http://www.endowsec.com/pated/edtgs12.htmHere is a list of a few intestine friendly fruitshttp://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T042600.asp#T042601Here is a list of soluble fiber foods if you want to look at that aspect of diet (but fiber foods often are exactly what is fermentable, but like I said this is mostly a few hours after eating when it gets to the colon, not weeks or months later only after the food is trapped, no matter how many times the colon cleansing people say food stays in there forever unless you take their product it really doesn't and some have clay in them to make the awful looking things that come out)http://tinyurl.com/4jgl3dMost of the irritation and sensitivity of the gut is because the nerves aren't working right, not what is IN the colon but how it mis-responds to normal stimuli.


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## thelibertine (Sep 8, 2009)

Thanks for all the info, nice to get an actual list as google can be so conflicting! I've eaten an orange, we'll see what happens, atm I have a constant pain in my tummy, hopefully will begin to subside. I just find it so difficult to find a diet that works, one thing is fine for a few weeks then suddenly becomes bad again, it's hard to get a routine when your body rebels constantly.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

FYI on food combining.http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=97655Here is the book.http://www.amazon.com/Food-Combining-Healt...9810&sr=1-1


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## thelibertine (Sep 8, 2009)

I'm not sure whether I have a bug or something because my stomach just feels all sore on the left and right hand sides. my friend say she has similar sore feeling, hasnt said about other symptons. stabby, urgent needs to go to the toilet but having been able to do a proper bm in days, just small bits and wind but regularly with stabby fleeting pains around gut before hand. lots of churning, feel very tired, want to seep, cant concentrate.could it be a bug, or just a bad week? what can i do to make this stop?any ideas


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