Please note: A number of other websites refer to using bentonite clay. Please DO NOT substitute their guidelines or product for ours. Our clay is stronger in its action than a lot of other clays, different in its texture and the way it behaves. Our guidelines are designed to work with our products.
This guideline has been written by our practitioner Sarah Beesley (MHD Hons) to provide a comprehensive approach. The best result is gained when the whole guideline is followed. Please be aware that results may vary and that if you have any other pre-exisiting conditions, we advise working with a trained practitioner.
The following information is not intended to diagnose any condition or to replace the advice of your doctor.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is usually the name given to any inflammatory bowel condition that seems to lack an obvious or consistent cause and which may come and go in severity. In all cases of IBS there will be some degree of damage to the gut lining, a change in the bugs growing in the gut and an increase in reactivity to food or food chemical types.
The triggers for IBS may include weak digestion due to a lack of required nutrients, stress which takes the focus of the body away from digestion into survival mode, a microbial infection or the presence of foods or food chemicals which cause inflammation inside the bowel. Food intolerances often start or increase because the irritated bowel surface has become leaky, allowing undigested food particles to escape into the blood stream at a rate the liver can’t address.
The primary focus for IBS is to reduce inflammation by removing the triggers (inflammatory foods, food chemicals and yeasts or bacteria), to strengthen the digestion and liver function, and to heal the bowel lining.
The First Steps
- We recommend getting our Food and Chemical Sensitivity Test done to help with identifying and then removing inflammatory foods and substances. In our experience this is essential when trying to resolve IBS.
- Use 1 tsp 1-2 x daily of runny Purely Earth clay internally away from food. To make the clay up, use our guide for internal use.
Strengthen the Digestion
- Use Purely Earth Essential Detox Minerals to provide the minerals required to support the digestive enzymes. They are a unique ionic mineral formulation that provides all of the most commonly deficient minerals required to run the digestive enzymes and liver enzymes in a highly bio-available form. Use 2 ml of the liquid per day for adults and 1 drop per kilo of body weight for children under 10. Put into water or diluted juice.
- Address any signs of weak digestion such as reflux, bloating, gas and indigestion. This is important and can be done by using Betaine HCL or 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar (ACV) in water before each meal and increases the uptake of minerals through the digestive system. For those with a history of ulcers or who are using antacid medications, we recommend an appointment with our practitioner Sarah before you try Betaine.
Addressing Bacterial and Fungal or Yeast Infections
People with a history if IBS usually have a disturbed gut flora and can have overgrowths of bacteria and yeasts present. We usually recommend a re balance and clean-up is done.
- Please ensure your bowel is moving every day before you start any of the following. Seek help from our practitioner Sarah or another experienced practitioner to get your bowel moving daily if necessary.
- Yeasts and some bacteria will form colonies in the bowel within a sugary film called a bio-film as part of their protection mechanism. Use Purely Earth Diatomaceous Earth by taking 1 generous tsp of powder mixed into water just before bed, preferably on an empty stomach. Diatomaceous Earth assists with breaking up the bio-films and is easy to use. Take away from the clay.
- Use Dr. Wilson’s Squeaky Clean to furnish the bowel with the right flora and to help sweep the surfaces of the gut clean. Take 1-2 caps 2 x daily with food and water.
- Use Dr. Wilson’s Body Guard at 15 drops in water 4 x daily away from food.
Once the above has been done for 2 weeks, fungal and yeast infections (if present) should be addressed systemically. This part of the process should be done under the supervision of an experienced practitioner.
Long Term
- Use Dr. Wilson’s Inner Healing to seal up leaky gut. Take 1 cap 2 x daily for a good 6 months.
- Continue the Squeaky Clean at 1 cap 2 x daily with food.
- Maintain the Purely Earth Essential Detox Minerals at 2 ml daily.
- Chew your food well. Do NOT gobble-and-go! Maintain the Betaine if necessary.
- Eat lots of green and colourful vegetables and a good quality protein at least 2 times a day. We do not recommend protein-deficient diets because protein is an essential nutrient required for repair, digestion and detoxification. If you choose to go vegetarian, get some good advice about how to get adequate protein into your diet. The World Health Organisation Standard is 1 gm of protein value per kilo of body weight. This means a 60 kg person requires around 60 gm of protein value per day in their diet. A palm size piece of fish for example, contains around 25 gm of protein content and 100 gm of organic tofu contains 10 gm of protein value.
- Avoid food that comes in packets. Eat food that is as close to its natural form as possible. This means it contains more nutrients and less added toxins and a better resource base for your body to use.
- Have a look at our Medicine Chest Smoothie recipe which is a great bowel healer.
- Take activated B vitamins to support digestive enzyme function.
- Reduce the amount of vegetable oil and saturated fat in your diet and increase foods that contain Omega 3 fats.
- Make sure you drink adequate water. Your body needs this to make digestive juices and to clear acidic wastes.
- Include a small amount of Celtic or Maldon salt as part of your diet. Your body needs the chloride it provides to make digestive juices. Do not use table salt – it is high in aluminium and is lacking in trace minerals.
Stress
Do not underestimate the effects of stress on your body. This can be stress due to a chronic inflammatory condition (think pain, tenderness, redness, swelling or aching), being over-busy, not breathing properly, eating foods that cause you problems, a lack of sleep, dehydration, infection, loneliness, or feeling emotionally vulnerable or unsupported.
Take Steps to Nourish Yourself
- Assess what must stay in your life and what can go.
- Assess whether the things that you think must stay, nourish you or deplete you and reassess if necessary.
- Provide a quiet space in every day that does not involve electrical devices. This allows your nervous system time to unwind.
- Seek out things, animals or people that make you laugh.
- Eat mainly food that does not come in a packet. Nature knows best how to provide balance; manufactured food does not.
- Eat regularly through the day and make good food a priority, not an inconvenience to be squeezed in amongst other activities.
- Avoid inflammatory foods – things you know you are intolerant to, or which make you feel sluggish, moody, affect your bowel or cause flare-ups of a health condition.
- Move your body without the exercise stressing it further. Exercise in a way that makes you feel good, not tired. Increase the exercise level gradually as your energy level builds.
- BREATHE DEEP. Breathing deep sends a signal to your body that you are safe. Shallow or fast breathing does the opposite. Your stress glands and nervous system will respond accordingly.
- Go to sleep before 10 pm and get up before 7 am. Your body clock requires this of you even if your head says otherwise. 1 hour of sleep prior to 12 am is worth 2 hours after 12 am in terms of the rest it provides. Avoid interaction with electrical devices (phones, computers, TV, play station, X Box, iPad, iPod and the like) for 1 hour prior to sleep and remove as many electrical devices from your bedroom as you can. DO NOT sleep with a light on and cover all digital light displays in your room, or even better, remove them.
Toxicity and Why it is Often the Start of the Breakdown
Mercury, excess copper ,cadmium and some chemicals will cause disruption to stomach acid production because they block the correct use of zinc, B1 and B6, so even if you take these as supplements they may not work as well as they should. When zinc, B1 or B6 is low or blocked, stomach acid will be low which will then affect the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the liver. This results in poor digestion throughout the gastro-tract and less efficient clearance of toxins through the production and release of bile from the liver.
When insufficient stomach acid and enzymes are produced, the minerals required for healthy digestion are not absorbed as well, food is not digested properly and can start to ferment and putrefy in the stomach and digestive tract. The resulting fermentation and putrefaction can cause symptoms such as food intolerances, indigestion, reflux, irritable bowel, bloating and gas due to an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria and yeasts in the intestinal tract. These can then cause inflammatory responses, increased permeability of the intestinal walls and abnormal immune function which may then lead to a myriad of complaints including acne rosacea, hay fever, aches and pains, oestrogen dominant hormonal conditions such as fibroids and endometriosis, an overloaded detoxification system, food and chemical sensitivities, eczema, asthma, erratic bowel function, IBS, lowered immunity, yeast infections outside of the gastro-tract, mood imbalances, headaches, brain fog and fatigue.
For more details about working with Sarah, go to www.selfhealclinic.co.nz.
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