What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Because of the nature of our bodies, as woman, we can go through many changes each month. When our bodies get out of balance and become overly acidic, this is when you can experience some of the signs of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This is also why it can come and go, along with your menstrual cycle.

What is pH?
These two letters signify -- the percentage of hydrogen (which is present in the subject being tested). The neutral state, where hydrogen is neither too high or too low is considered to be 7.0 with the range being from 0.00 to 14.00. The human body on average, operates best at around 7.4 - 7.8, which tends to be more alkaline. Anything below 7.0 is considered to be the "acidic" side of the pH scale and anything above to be the "alkaline" side of the scale.

We are not talking about the actual pH of the "stomach acid," we're talking about the overall state of the fluid within the body's tissues. Since we are, to a large percentage, made up of water and fluids, you can see how important having the proper pH balance in your body can be.

What Goes On When Your Body is Overly Acidic
Your body's immune system begins to break down when your body experiences an over acidic condition and in worse causes, uric wastes don't exit the body properly and end up in your blood stream.

An imbalanced pH, or a situation of high acidity will give rise to an internal environment that easily can become a host to disease. Often-times many of the foods we eat cause this condition in us and is one of the reasons we may experience bouts with IBS. What we eat is one of the major influences of this condition in the body.

Acid Causing Foods
Wheats, Grains
Meats, Poultry, Fish
Un-soured Dairy Products
Split Peas, Pinto Beans, White Beans
Carrots, Soy Beans, Carob
Chocolates
Alcohol (except for Sake)
Yeast Products, Sugar, (Honey -- though considered low acid)
Most Rices

Alkaline Causing Foods
Potato / Bell pepper, Mushroom / Fungi, Cauliflower, Cabbage
Rutabaga, Salsify / Ginseng, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Collard green
Sea Salt (not table salt)
Tomatoes
Lemons, Watermelon, Limes, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papayas
Dates, Figs, Melons, Grapes, Kiwi, Apples, Pears, Raisins
Lentils, Brocoflower, Seaweed, Onion / Miso, Daikon / Taro root
Sea vegetables, Burdock / Lotus root, Sweet potato / Yam, Kohlrabi
Parsnip / Taro, Garlic, Asparagus,Kale / Parsley, Endive / Argula
Mustard green, Ginger root, Broccoli,
Grapefruit, Canteloupe, Lime, Nectarine
Persimmon, Raspberry, Watermelon
Tangerine, Pineapple, Honeydew, Citrus
Olive, Dewberry, Loganberry, Mango
Avocado, Blackberry, Cherry, Peach
Papaya,

While this is only a partial list, there are recommendations that say one should eat a diet that consists of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods.

Needless to say the fast food diet, the pizzas, fried chicken, hamburgers, hot-dogs, and tacos we all love to eat are some of the main culprits of creating an imbalance in the body's pH status.

Don't be fooled -- ionized water is simply water that is more "alkaline." My husband was a California-State Certificated water treatment operator for 25 years. Additionally, he's now certified as a specialty contractor in the state of California to filter and treat well water -- which is what he does for a living.

Since we live in the mountains on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California, we've discovered a whole host of problems with the underground well water, the biggest one being an "acidic" water condition. When we tested our pH balance in the water, it turned out to be 6.4 (or acidic).

To fix this, we added a filtration system onto our water distribution system for the house and now our water is about 7.4. The system we use, simply filters the water, running the water through natural media that changes it's pH balance. When people are trying to sell you "ionized" water, all ionized water is -- is water that contains "negative" charged ions or "alkalinity." There are ionizers that you can buy, but this can get expensive, especially since you can use a filter media to restore the proper pH balance to your water at a less expensive cost.

Most tap water from city water distribution systems is generally safe for consumption -- but may smell or not taste good. The reason being is that the requirements to treat public water have nothing to do with what my husband calls the "objectionables" taste and smell. Water in public systems is treated for health standards -- removing bacteria and ensuring the water is safe for drinking. For someone who lives in the city, a simple whole house GE water filter system is sufficient (or be sure to drink water out of the refrigerator if it has a filter for it) using the carbon filter. The GE water filter system runs upwards of $50 and the filter about $30. The filter should be replaced every six months or more depending on the water usage of the household. This system only makes the water taste better -- it does not treat it for acidity.

While most people ignore their refrigerator (on the newer models) that tell them to change the filter (and these filters are expensive -- about $38 plus) it is imperative to ensure you have healthy water. The newer refrigerators and their filtration systems, believe it or not, are excellent sources of good drinking water, provided your water distribution system is from a city and not a well. If you have a well, then most likely, that filtration system is simply not enough.

If you're on a well system and unsure as to the state of your water, you can take it to a local lab for testing, or you can use the same kits used for testing aquarium water to get a general idea of the state of your water. When testing for pH balance be sure you have a tester that tests within the correct range -- this may take two different bottles. The range the bottle tests for is listed on the bottle itself.

The water you want to be drinking is right about a 7.4 pH balance.

Your best bet for conquering IBS is to develop a diet that is rich in Alkaline forming foods. This is not something you do once and forget about -- this becomes a way of life. The minute you go off the diet and back to your "old" ways, you'll find yourself back in the state of suffering with IBS, and you could create a whole host of other problems.

We all love our hamburgers, fried chicken, pizzas and tacos -- and you don't have to exclude these from your diet. But if you overeat foods that are acid-forming within the body, you'll just end up suffering.

A diet that is comprised 60% of alkaline-forming foods will help to balance your body as well as to relieve you of the pains of IBS.