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About Heather Van Vorous
Expertise
I can address questions regarding diet, cooking, recipes, and non-pharmaceutical supplements (soluble fiber, herbal, probiotics, etc.) for IBS. I can supply information sources about diagnostic guidelines, symptoms, and the medical pathology of IBS, but I cannot give a diagnosis or analyze test results a patient has obtained. I would prefer not to answer questions about prescription drugs and diagnostic tests. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME YOUR SYMPTOMS AND THEN ASK ME TO DIAGNOSE YOU!

Experience
I'm the founder and president of HelpForIBS.com, an organization dedicated to serving people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. My goal is to offer education, support, and help that allows people with IBS to successfully manage their symptoms through lifestyle modifications.

I'm the author of Eating for IBS, the only explicit dietary guide and cookbook for people with bowel disorders. Eating for IBS then led to my second book, The First Year: IBS, a comprehensive view of the disorder and every way to successfully manage it. Together, these works have become the two best-selling, best-reviewed IBS books in America.

My writing has led to an ongoing Canadian clinical research study of the groundbreaking dietary guidelines for Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Eating for IBS; this work also led to my inclusion in the 4th edition of Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. Today's Dietitian has featured my IBS dietary guidelines, and I regularly exhibit at the international Digestive Disease Week conference to reach gastroenterologists and internists. I'm also the author of "Heather's IBS Newsletter", which is free to subscribers and is published twice monthly. As a result, I've become recognized as the foremost patient-expert on IBS in America. I've personally had IBS since age 9.

I now teach classes on managing IBS through lifestyle modifications, I developed the Heather's Tummy Care line of organic medical foods for the dietary management of IBS, and I'm planning to work with corporate HR departments to offer employee IBS education programs. I host Heather Cooks!, the Seattle television cooking show for good digestive health.

Publications
Canadian Living Magazine
USA Today
Today's Dietitian
Digestive Health & Nutrition Magazine
Health Magazine
American Airlines In-Flight Magazine
Health.com
DiscoverCare.org
Drkoop.com

Eating for IBS excerpts and recipes licensed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Education/Credentials
M.A. 1996
B.A. 1992

Awards and Honors
Inclusion in Marquis Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare

Eating for IBS Finalist for an IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award 2001

Eating for IBS #17 on the Library Journal's Cookbook Bestseller list for 2000

You are here: Experts > Health/Fitness > Irritable Bowel/Crohn's Disease > Irritable Bowel Syndrome > IBS supplements

Irritable Bowel Syndrome - IBS supplements

Expert: Heather Van Vorous - 10/27/2009

Question
Hi many thanks for your recent help.

Do young people mostly get IBS between 20 and 40 say?

Is IBS always long or do a lot of people grow out of it by strict diet control?

I was wondering how long it takes to stabilise as the saying goes, when you follow strict diet (about a week or two)

Is the longer someone has been stable through strict diet, the more likely they are to get away with the odd treat or two on a night out?

I have been trying peppermint oil capsules this lately and have heard these can be really good for IBS and wondered if you had heard similar stories, and am also taking soluable fibre supplements and Probiotics, can you think of anything else I could try in the way of herbs maybe (perhaps that even claim to cure the condition?)

Many thanks

Answer
Hi Steve - IBS can develop at any age, though the older you are when symptoms begin the more tests you'll need to rule out other problems.

IBS by definition is chronic but intermittent. It's not often a childhood problem that people grow out of - it comes and goes throughout a lifetime and does not often simply disappear, though that can happen.

If you can stabilize through diet, you are more likely to remain stable, and you are more likely to get away with the occasional cheat.

Best way to stabilize is the breaking the cycle diet here http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/faq.asp#break_cycle

Peppermint oil caps, soluble fiber, and probiotics would be my top three choices for IBS supplements. For most folks it works best to key products to symptoms.

Pep caps http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/suplmts/pmintcaps.asp and peppermint tea http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/teas/pmint.asp are best for pain. Soluble fiber http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/suplmts/acacia.asp is best for diarrhea or constipation or alternating. Fennel http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/teas/fennel.asp is best for bloating and gas. You can mix and match as needed.

The only thing I know of that is a possible cure for IBS is gut-directed hypnotherapy. Some researchers are calling it a cure and it is definitely a terrific treatment. There is info here http://www.helpforibs.com/hypnosis/ and a program you can use at home here http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/books/hypnoibs.asp

Best,
Heather

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