Vegan and Plant Based Diets for Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Do they work? – Medical Doctor Explains

vegan plant-based diets for IBS do they actually work and what’s the best way to maximize your results in this video we’ll be breaking down everything you need to know about vegan and plant-based diets for IBS and how they compare to other diet options we’ll also go over some common mistakes to avoid foods to focus on and what to eliminate and how to monitor your progress effectively so stick around [Music] hi I’m Dr chanodsrier surgeon dedicated to reducing inflammation caused by gut microbiome imbalances i myself struggled with digestive dysfunction and autoimmune inflammation in my early 20s and successfully put together a methodology that works not only in me but also my patients my method is called the mind gut immunity approach and has resulted in thousands of successes over the years so if you or someone you know struggles with IBS and wants to rid themselves of inflammation for good check out our website mgic clinic.com and schedule a discovery call with me i’ll walk you through some practical steps for IBS SIBO and Candida recovery and how to achieve lasting results in just 6 weeks on the website we also have multitudes of free resources on how you can eliminate IBS naturally so check out the link in the description below and get started also before I forget please like and subscribe to receive more content such as this all right let’s jump in here’s a 2021 study that looked at severe IBS and how it was linked to lowquality animal-based diets which negatively impact the gut microbiome study also suggests that increasing plant-based foods can improve gut health and reduce symptoms and this 2016 study found that dietary patterns significantly affect IBS risk most gastronurologists will tell you that diet doesn’t matter for IBS so how do we know what truly works as I mentioned in my other video called Ideal Diet for IBS I’m a huge advocate for customized phytonutrient-rich diet plans tailored to each individual i use four criteria to determine whether a diet will work for irritable bowel syndrome or not to recap the four criteria are phytonutrients macronutrient requirements microbiome specificity and food sensitivity and if you want a deeper dive into these look at the ideal diet for irritable bowel syndrome video you may recall from some of my other videos the concept of complex proteins a protein is basically a bunch of amino acids connected together when the protein enters our digestive system enzymes in our intestine break up these into individual components called amino acids which then get absorbed these intestinal enzymes are called proteasis and the reason this is relevant is sometimes the proteasis don’t get the job done and we’re left with large particles of protein that linger in our intestines and bloodstream for long periods of time why does this happen well certain types of protein are hard to break down also there may not be enough protease to break down the proteins as you already know the gut is just one big giant immune organ so these incompletely digested proteins register as a foreign threat and generate an immune response basically the body thinks it’s under attack by these large undigested proteins so then it secretes a bunch of immune chemicals which cause inflammation and that can be a problem next you also have the arachidonic acid pathway which is directly related to the consumption of animal-based cholesterol all animal cells have a membrane wall that contains fats and cholesterol which convert into arachidonic acid and cytoines in our bodies and generate inflammation do all animal-derived products contain arachidonic acid no just meat and fat containing dairy products you can also have problems with saturated fat causing inflammation and this is why vegan diets sometimes work for IBS they eliminate these inflammatory foods from the diet the vegan diet is a plant-based regimen that excludes all animal products including meat dairy cheese and honey it focuses on a variety of plant-based foods to meet nutritional needs and here’s a detailed summary the biggest pitfall I see is many people who aren’t consuming enough protein which leads to protein calorie malnutrition a serious issue when you’re trying to heal inflammation especially in the gut however there’s a catch do you remember the four criteria we talked about earlier the first criteria is phytonutrients phytonutrients are micronutrients derived from plants these compounds are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which can benefit people with irritable bowel syndrome by helping reduce inflammation in the gut here’s a 2023 study on the effect of polyphenols minerals and fibers on irritable bowel syndrome and here’s one from 2022 discussing prebiotic fiber and its efficacy in treating IBS symptoms when following a vegan or plant-based diet for IBS it’s certainly possible to consume plenty of phytonutrients but this requires careful attention to your food choices for example if you’re eating a lot of processed foods like flour sugar or fake meats and cheeses this may lack beneficial phytonutrients and instead contain chemicals that aggravate gut microbiome related inflammation this would be totally unproductive on the other hand a more balanced vegan diet that includes resistant starches fiber omega oils and a variety of herbs and whole vegetables can supply enough phytonutrients to support healing from irritable bowel syndrome now let’s talk about macronutrient requirements the vegan and plant-based diets for IBS often fall short when it comes to meeting macronutrient needs macronutrients are carbs fats and proteins if you’re following a vegan diet you’ll need to adjust by increasing fat and protein while significantly reducing carbohydrate intake in general a diet that gets half of its calories from fat is normally a good thing although I don’t particularly like saturated fats i describe both of these pathways of irritable bowel inflammation in my other videos on my channel so if you need a refresher feel free to take a look at those videos when I design diets for my clients they’re generally lower in carbs for obvious reasons most of the fats come from omega plant sources so these problems are totally avoided another issue is that vegan diets for irritable bowel syndrome often don’t focus on balancing carbs fats and proteins effectively they also fail to track fiber intake accurately which can be a problem when trying to optimize the gut microbiome next let’s look at microbiome specificity let’s revisit this equation you have bad bacteria and fungi that feed on carbs leading to inflammation vegan diets tend to be higher in carbs anyways so some of these carbs are not helpful but do vegan diets promote healthier bacteria the answer is no i know this might sound controversial because plenty of people on YouTube argue that gut microbiome diversity improves on the vegan diet but let me give you a practical perspective i’ve reviewed hundreds of stool studies in the last year and most of the time when people are following a vegan diet for IBS they don’t select for good bacteria in their intestines the very nature of IBS involves inflammation caused by an imbalance in the gut microbiome so at the start of our program we use patented probiotics from Japan to recalibrate the gut microbiome and eliminate these harmful bacteria this is why the mind gut immunity excels we designed the diets then to encourage the growth of specific strains of beneficial bacteria and over several weeks the body begins to produce fewer pro-inflammatory markers the biggest issue with the vegan diets for irritable bowel syndrome is that it doesn’t address the root problem you tend to feed bad bacteria non- selectively because there’s no specific requirements for resistant starch or fiber and in fact vegan and plant-based foods allow for plenty of plant-based sugars carbs and chemicals which can trigger IBS flares i’ve often seen people get partially better for a short period of time only to face significant issues and fail with vegan diets for irritable bowel syndrome because the diet itself doesn’t fix gut microbiome dysfunction however you can make a plant-based diet work for IBS if you follow specific principles this is where the phyto diet comes into play it directly addresses the root microbiome problem associated with IBS this means that long-term you can enjoy more dietary flexibility i typically teach my clients how to cheat during their second or third month and this works because we have a sustainable long-term strategy and it’s not something that just helps during flare-ups over the years I’ve spoken to many people during discovery calls who’ve tried and ultimately struggled with plant-based diets for irritable bowel syndrome they often report experiencing temporary relief only to have their symptoms return when they reintroduce normal foods and that’s a common pattern my hope is that this honest review of the vegan diet for irrital bowel syndrome provides clarity while it may offer short-term benefits the real solution lies in addressing the gut microbiome for lasting relief of symptoms now let’s discuss the final criteria food sensitivities food sensitivities are a crucial topic when addressing irritable bowel syndrome in my talks I review the four types of food sensitivity tests which include the skin prick test the IG blood test the IGG4 blood test and the newer mediator release blood test if you need a refresher on these tests check out my video that dives into food sensitivity testing for IBS now specifically with vegan foods there are a lot of foods that are vegan and plant-based that can trigger sensitivities and these can include foods like sugars sugar alcohols dyes chemicals but even whole foods like beans and lentils and peas over the years I’ve seen all of these show up as positive sensitivities in tests i’ve even seen broccoli and spinach and even oats this means that the likelihood of reacting to one or more types of vegetables or vegan foods is fairly high that’s why following a vegan and plant-based diet for IBS can be risky your food choices may become very restricted and you could develop additional sensitivities and more irritable bowel all right that’s my talk in the comments below share your experience with irritable bowel syndrome and vegan diets what’s worked for you and what didn’t i would love to hear about your journey as you know I’ve had great success using the Mind Gut immunity method with my clients and I strongly advocate for customized phyto diets and focused gut microbiome recalibration to achieve lasting results if you found this video helpful don’t forget to like and subscribe for more content such as this as always this is Dr chan Doser with the Mind Immunity Clinic and I’ll see you next time [Music]