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All You Need To Know About Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is an umbrella term for a long standing functional (relating to the function of) gut disorder that affects around 1 in 10 people worldwide. It is more common than you may think. It has now been recognized as the most common debilitating gastrointestinal disorder in the general population globally.

Classically, IBS manifests as abdominal pain or discomfort, that is relieved by passing stools or is associated at its onset. With an alteration in the stool frequency (either an increase or decrease) or a change in the appearance of the stool (to either loose or hard). There is still a lot that is being researched about this disorder, and although there is currently no cure, we can still manage the symptoms and live a quality full life!

What Causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome? 

While the main causative factors of this disorder are uncertain, it is considered to be caused by a play of numerous physical as well as emotional factors. Physical factors being lack of physical activity, improper dietary habits and poor sleep quality, coupled with a number of emotional stressors and impaired mental health. Research has shown that those who endure extended periods of stress, anxiety and depression, are more prone to experience IBS related symptoms & vice versa. However, people who consume high doses of antibiotics or antidepressants, are more likely to experience this symptom complex.

What Are Its Symptoms? 

The symptoms of this disorder vary individually. They can range from constipation, diarrhoea, bowel movements that are alternating between constipation and diarrhoea, bloating and abdominal pain/discomfort. Symptoms can be exacerbated on intake of certain foods and drinks, called ‘triggers’ or on days that the individual is experiencing poor sleep or excess mental pressure.

Note: If you are experiencing any other symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, blood in the stools, a prolonged change in bowel movements for 6+ weeks or have a family history of bowel cancer, consider consulting your General Practitioner.

How Can It Be Managed? 

Diet and Lifestyle

  1. Keep a Symptom diary to help identify potential trigger foods
  2. Practice Mindful eating: Eat slowly without any distractions like television or mobile phones
  3. Yoga and Physical Exercise can help reduce stress and some symptoms. It also aids in maintaining a healthy weight status.
  4. A varied diet is the key to microbial diversity. Having a balanced meal with foods from different food groups helps maintain gut microbiota
  5. Limit fruits to 3 portions/80g a day. This is because of the fiber profile of fruits that may interact with gut mobility
  6. Probiotics may improve symptoms, yet an individualised approach is needed

Food and Drinks

  1. Avoid long gaps between eating. Regular meal timings and controlled portion sizes prevent symptoms from exacerbating
  2. Consume lots of fluids, approx 6-8 glasses a day. However, limit fizzy drinks
  3. Spicy foods can irritate the gut lining, especially if used with highly flavoured ingredients such as too much onion and garlic. Limit them! 
  4. Caffeine should be reduced to less than 3 cups a day (tea/coffee)
  5. Reduce Alcohol intake to 30-60ml or even lesser per week
  6. Resistant Starch is seen to exacerbate symptoms. Reduce the intake of cooked and cooled carbs like frozen pizza/cold pasta, day old boiled potatoes, etc. or refined wheat flour products like bakery products 

We hope this article helps you manage Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below and share this article with someone who needs to read it! For more on living a healthy lifestyle, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

To get the right guidance for lifestyle issues such as IBS, Subscribe or Renew your GOQii subscription now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

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How To Survive The Heat With A Mask On

survive the heat with a mask onWith the pandemic gripping the whole world, every small step we take towards prevention is an essential one. Wearing a mask is one such effective way of halting the pandemic. When a healthy person wears a mask, it acts as a wall of defence against the virus that is floating in the air. On the other hand, it’s not very comfortable and gives some people rashes too. In the hot summer weather, due to wearing a mask, moisture gets built up under a mask, which irritates the skin. However, it may be less common for people who are wearing cloth masks compared to healthcare workers wearing less-breathable surgical or N95 masks. Just to help in this extreme weather, I am sharing some ways to survive the heat with a mask on. 

Surviving the Heat With a Mask On 

  1. Choose the right fabric: Masks are made out of using a lot of different material, so If you want to be comfortable wearing a mask during summer, make sure it’s something that feels soft against your skin. Always go for lighter, soft, breathable cotton material, which can help you to avoid chafing, heat rashes, keep your face cooler and absorb sweat when you wear them.
  2. Try a mask made with Bamboo material: As it absorbs 3 times the amount of water as cotton, ideal for people who sweat often on the face. Secondly, while engaging in physical activity, a face-covering made of bamboo fabric may be a smart choice. Although, they are slightly more costly as compared to cotton masks. 
  3. Masking up without makeup: Makeup is very irritating under some kind of covering. It clogs the pores and contributes to acne breakouts and rashes on the face. As per skin experts, a bit of moisturizer is fine (preferably with some SPF), if you plan to go out in the daytime.
  4. Keep a spare mask: On increasingly hot and humid days, pack multiple masks because when you’re outside with the mask on, that mask has a limited lifespan. Changing masks is the better remedy if you feel your mask is getting icky and sticky. Just make sure that you follow all safety guidelines when changing outside, avoid the crowded areas, prefer changing inside and sanitize the hands before swapping your mask.
  5. Time management: It’s better to avoid going out during the hottest parts of the day. Try to stay at home if possible but If you feel it’s necessary to go out for some important errand then stay well hydrated, carry an umbrella to safeguard your face from the heat and direct sunlight, take frequent breaks in the shade.
  6. Check the fit always: Your mask should be somewhat snug on your face but shouldn’t be so tight that it’s uncomfortable or difficult to breathe through. So, use the mask which always has adjustable ties, which would be probably much better as every face shape is different. Adjustable ties have the potential for a more comfortable fit.
  7. Avoid dark colour masks: To avoid overheating in the hot sun, lighter coloured masks are also a better choice. This is because ultraviolet rays from the sun are easily absorbed by materials made using darker colours, which will cause them to heat up faster.
  8. Use clean masks: The best way to prevent germs from lingering between uses is to wash the mask after each use in hot water and dry it on high heat. If needed, masks can also be ironed as an additional way to kill germs.

We hope this article helps you survive this ungodly heatwave with a mask on. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Ensure that you stay safe. Your best bet to beat the pandemic is to follow the WHO guidelines. 

For more summer health tips and tricks, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

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Sleep Series: Sleepy Notes

sleepy notesIn the previous articles, we went into what influences sleep and factors that guide it. Today, let’s take a look at some sleepy notes to help you improve your sleep! 

Sleepy Notes To Improve Sleep 

  • Measure: Sleep is measured both quantitatively and qualitatively and both are important to score perfect sleep. For you to say that you slept well – scored 10 out of 10, myriad things have to happen during the 6-8 hours. You could use some kind of sleep measurement tools like the GOQii Smart Vital. You will get lots of data – as CXO folks say, “What gets measured gets managed!”
  • Bedroom: We saw earlier that bedroom should be DARK. Buy darkening curtains and blinds. 
  • Cool & Clean: It is ideal to sleep with the aircon on every day so that the temperature is uniform. Considering the air pollution, it is critical to keep an air purifier for Indian conditions with high levels of pollutants. Western blog writers have recommended 20 Degree Celsius – For Indian bodies, I reckon 24 is ideal, which is what I do.
  • Equipment: Sleep equipment includes the mattress, pillow, bedsheet and the comforter. Do your research – be as passionate as you are when buying a smartphone or car. You earned your sleep. Sleep comfortably! You spend one third of your life in it – this is NOT an expense – but an investment – Period. A good benchmark for investment is invest NOT LESS THAN the value of your CAR! You should also REPLACE them periodically.
    • Mattress: You literally want to bounce back to life. A mattress should allow body heat dissipation , if possible make it cooler, provide for the spinal contours and curves and overall invite you to sleep. Most mattresses allow a 100 days sleep trial. Don’t forget to change your mattress every 7+ years or so – but do change it once a while. A mattress is definitely NOT for your lifetime. Also ensure that you clean the mattress once in six months at least. Many service providers do vacuum and dust mite cleaning. Very important. Do not let millions of dust mites sleep along with you on your mattress. 
    • Pillow: Choose a pillow that doesn’t cause any pain to your neck. Pillow varieties can be confusing – I use a Memory Foam pillow. Try a few and stick to what suits you. Once again, trial is allowed here as well and make sure you replace them once in 2-3 years.
    • Bed Sheet: Choose one that allows heat dissipation to the mattress. Pure Cotton (bamboo is even better) and High Thread Count – Minimum 300 thread count is recommended for that 5 Star Hotel feel and conducting heat. Replace once in 2-3 years 
    • Comforter: Prevents heat dissipation and allows cooler air. Pure Cotton and high thread count. Replace them once in 2-3 years 
  • Power Nap: An afternoon nap for 15-30 minutes is very refreshing and powerful. I am aware of many CXOs sleeping in the office with lights switched off, wearing noise cancel headphones and eye masks. I found it useful and do this occasionally. Just in case you foresee working late on any day, a nap will help you keep going at full power till late into night.
  • Alarm for Starting sleep: I strongly suggest that you keep an Alarm for STARTING sleep, most likely you WONT NEED an alarm to wake up. Starting sleep at the SAME TIME every day is extremely critical to have good sleep.
  • Sleep Positions: Sleep how you feel comfortable. Side position with bent knees (closer to Fetal Position) is what suits most people.

We hope these sleepy notes help you! Do check out more from the Sleep Series by Srini on Healthy Reads. For tips on how to sleep better and meditation, tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

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Sleep Series: The Relentless Rivalry of REM and NREM

REN and NREMWhen we sleep, we go through a few stages. Prominent among them are REM and NREM. It is observed that for some non-specific reason, there is significant movement of the eyeball in all directions rapidly during REM sleep BUT does NOT send any visual signals to the brain. Hence, the name Rapid Eye Movement ( REM) sleep and the opposite – Non REM sleep. Some also say that they are “deep sleep” vs “shallow sleep” which I am not a great fan of. I believe they are simply various stages of sleep.

 

Sleep Series

Courtesy: sleepadvisor.org and Mathew Walker.

IF we draw a graph of brain neural activity, the graph will look something like this

As you can see, at the start it is the NREM which is occupying the real estate and the REM shows up intermittently. Approximately each of the cycles lasts for 90 minutes and then it changes. But in general, we can see the domination of NREM in the first half and REM in the second half. 

Interesting Facts on REM and NREM 

  • Dream your way to creativity: As homo sapiens came down from trees to sleep on flat grounds, they developed REM sleep as an evolutionary advancement. REM sleep is responsible for the evolution of creativity, memory and problem solving. It is during REM sleep, the neural network gets more intricately wired with new synapses being formed. In some sense, it is the REM sleep that contributed to the supremacy of humans over other animals.
  • Early morning school timing inhibits creativity: If schools, colleges or universities start pretty early in the morning, it is quite possible that the student has to wake up early and hence, foregoes some part of REM sleep. That is NOT good news for memory and creativity, which are most critical for studies.
  • Sleep algorithm is an enigma: NREM has been measured in 4 stages depending upon how deep it goes. The deeper it goes, the body gets better rest and the housekeeping activity of scavenging the brain of useless memory and storing of useful memory in the long term storage area happens – this is a totally involuntary activity based on an enigma algorithm. God/Nature is the first and best coder. 
  • Forgetting is beautiful: The brain decides to delete (forget) what is irrelevant. You will definitely not remember what breakfast you had the same day last week. Forgetting is an essential function just as much as remembering is. 
  • Striping emotion – REM heals: REM sleep is responsible for stripping emotion from past events over time. For example, you would remember the death of a close relative. But rarely you can recollect the emotions that were recorded when it happened. It is a blessing in a way. It is not the Time, but it is REM that heals! 
  • 7 hours or nothing: 5 cycles of 90 minutes – 450 minutes approx. 7 hours gives you a good full cycle. Anything less is like jumping 90% of the well! Short sleep leaves work undone and there is no use. You add to the pressure of work.
  • There can be no sleep “Deposit” and Sleep “Loans” ( this would appeal to the Finance community). You cannot oversleep to compensate for a past deficit nor you can accumulate a deficit to be cured by oversleep a bit later. It is 7.5 to 8 hours  a day, every day! You would now have understood why from the chart above.
  • You cannot “Live your dream”: The motor activity other than breathing is all frozen during REM stage , all muscles (particularly limbs) are frozen – imagine you swishing your sword or trying to run away when chased by a cobra! It protects you from getting injured!
  • You are not meant to remember your dreams: You will only remember that you had vivid dreams or nightmares. Dreams have been the subject of so much research. Only one thing is clear – every dream is made of illogical and impossible combinations. If you behave during the day like the way you behaved in your dream, you will find yourself in a psychiatric ward. It is the façade or alibi as the brain is reorganizing the hard disk.
  • Dreams have no meaning: Do not over analyze, dreams have no hidden meaning. If you need to know something, why would it be revealed in your dream? It would rather appear in Times Square visible to all.
  • NREM is all about detox and growth: NREM sleep detoxifies the body, grows tissues, improves immunity, repairs injuries. Breathing slows down, body temperature goes down, blood pressure drops and the body gets a deep relaxation to get ready for the next day. 
  • You need both: It is NOT that NREM is better and preferred than REM. Combined activity and result from both is critical for overall physical and mental health.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article on REM and NREM sleep. Stay tuned for more from the Sleep Series by Srini! To read more about sleep and sleeping techniques, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]