Renew You Challenge
Let’s start this week off right!
Weekly challenge (I mean, opportunity!) to help set you off on the right foot and in the right direction for bringing health to your week. You could even add it to your calendar. Join us!
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gut disorder characterized by abdominal pain and discomfort, and altered bowel habits—constipation, diarrhea, or usually, alternating between both. People with IBS have a decreased health-related quality of life. Often, they also experience such conditions as fibromyalgia, depression, or even colon cancer.
It is known that women with IBS are less physically active than healthy women, and that women with IBS who do participate in regular physical exercise experience less fatigue or bowel complaints. A study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology takes this association one step further by testing whether increased physical activity decreases IBS symptoms, and whether it increases quality of life.
As it turns out, regular exercise—20 to 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 3 to 5 days per week—improved gastrointestinal symptoms and quality of life in people with IBS. The researchers recommend that physical activity be used as a primary treatment modality for IBS.
I recommend exercise a lot because I believe it should be a part of everyone’s routine. It helps improve gut function, yes, but it also helps improve just about every area of health. So this week, if you or someone you know has IBS and you aren’t getting enough physical exercise, get moving. Find some form of exercise that makes you feel good, and just do it.