Irritable Bowel Syndrome has very negative effects on a sedentary lifestyle. It used to cause me decreased mental clarity, decreased work productivity, even time off work. IBS also contributed to my anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
I went to multiple doctors. One told me to take fiber pills. Those didn’t help at all. Another gave me a list of fiber-rich foods to include in my diet. But it just made me feel bloated. I even went to physical therapy that specialized in the functionality of the pelvic floor.
In theory, all these treatments would help. But what I didn’t understand was: the unhealthy, fast foods I was eating made healing irritable bowel syndrome an uphill battle for me.
This article will talk about the IBS diet and lifestyle changes I made at the end of 2022. Overcoming irritable bowel syndrome challenges wasn’t easy for me. Doctors didn’t help much. I learned most of these natural remedies for IBS relief either on my own, or on the internet. So, it only felt right to share my IBS personal success story in an article.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: How I Fixed my IBS
Here are the 5 healthy habits I follow to manage my IBS symptoms effectively.
1. Stop eating fast food.
When I used to eat fast food, I would go for the “healthier” option. Grilled chicken versus fried chicken, for example. There are many problems with fast food. It’s often ultra-processed. A sandwich bun can contain far more than a dozen ingredients. But one of the biggest issues is the oils that fast food is cooked in. Fast foods chain use massive amounts of cheap, unhealthy cooking oils. This saves them a lot of money. They profit much more by using a cheap, unhealthy canola oil, versus a healthy fat, like beef tallow.
To be honest, I didn’t think my diet was contributing to my irritable bowel syndrome. I knew I didn’t have the cleanest diet, but I didn’t think it was terrible either.
One day in late 2022, I was tired of feeling tired. I wanted to feel energetic and pain-free when I woke up every morning. I wanted to relieve my muscle tension and decrease my computer-related chronic pain. So, I stopped eating fast food 100%. I didn’t realize it then, but not eating fast food would be the best health habit I could’ve made to overcome my irritable bowel syndrome.
2. Cook my food at home.
When I gave up fast food 100%, I immediately made a long, comprehensive grocery list on my phone that I could reuse easily. I’d heard good things about the carnivore diet, but I didn’t want to go 100% red meat. So, I started eating a “carnivore-based” diet. That basically means I focused my meals around mostly grass-fed, pasture-raised red meat. These foods included steak, ground beef, bison, venison, and elk. But I also ate clean, organic foods like eggs, avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, raw honey, salads, and raw cheese (made from raw milk from pasture-raised, grass-fed cows). To learn more about my IBS diet changes, check out my article titled Foods That Promote Good Posture.
I cook most of my foods in duck fat. Sometimes I’ll cook with beef tallow, which has a similar texture to duck fat. Beef tallow has the same amount of total fat, but it has more saturated fat than duck fat. The other cooking substance I use is raw butter from pasture-raised, grass-fed cows. To learn more about these cooking substances, check out my article titled How to Cook Without Seed Oils. In that article, I also touch on different toppings and dressings that are made from natural ingredients.
I can’t stress the value of cooking real, organic foods. All the foods I eat are minimally processed, with minimal ingredients (ideally, just one ingredient). I don’t spare any expense when cooking high-quality foods. But I also don’t spend a fortune at the grocery store. I’m often surprised that my grocery bill isn’t more expensive, considering how much money I save (compared to when I used to eat fast food). Regardless, my health is the most important investment I can make. If it’s more expensive to eat high-quality, organic vegetables and pasture-raised meats, that’s what I’m going to do.
3. Drink AG1 daily.
In addition to eating clean, I wanted to start taking a multi-vitamin. I’d heard a lot of good things about AG1 (formerly known as Athletic Greens). It’s a popular product that contains vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and greens.
I tried AG1 for a month and I was hooked. It’s definitely one of the most expensive supplements I’ve used, but I needed it at the time. My body was so nutrient-deficient from eating ultra-processed, low-quality foods. I started feeling more energy after the first few days of taking AG1.
AG1 comes in a green powder form. I add it to 8 ounces of water (filtered by reverse osmosis). I also add in some collagen protein, half a banana, and a small amount of raw honey. Also, I blend it all up and drink it first thing in the morning before I start cooking breakfast.
I’m still taking AG1 currently. But I’ve decreased the serving size. This is just my theory, but I don’t feel like I need a full serving after being on it for 2 years at this point. This also helps me save some money, because I do spend quite a bit of money every month on heavy metal detox supplements (which has been another incredibly valuable investment for me).
4. Take collagen protein daily.
Ironically, this is another healthy habit I started in late 2022 that improved my digestive health. But I didn’t intend for it too. I started taking collagen protein to improve my tendon health. I’ve had 3 ankle surgeries. The surgeries did what they were supposed to do, but the functionality of my ankles wasn’t good. They were stiff and I had trouble building up foot and calf strength. My soft tissues weren’t healing from the surgeries. So I started taking collagen protein a month after I started AG1.
My tendon health and ankle joint function improved after a couple months of taking collagen protein. But it also contributed to the improvement in my IBS symptoms. Collagen protein is also proven to have other health benefits as well, such as improve skin, hair, muscles, and bones. I’ve continued using collagen protein every day since. I combine it with my AG1 (as mentioned in the previous section).
These first 4 lifestyle changes healed my IBS about 90%. I was having well-formed, clean bowel movements 5 to 6 days a week. This was a huge improvement from zero days a week (before late 2022, before I made these 4 changes). Well-formed, clean bowel movements 5 to 6 days a week was pretty consistent for a couple months. Then, I started sleeping on a grounding sheet.
5. Sleep on a grounding sheet.
The final healthy habit that improved my IBS was sleeping on a grounding bed sheet. I started using a grounding sheet to decrease my inflammation. I also wanted to sleep better. Honestly, I’ll admit I don’t know how, or why it happened. But after only a few days of sleeping on a grounding sheet, I was having well-formed bowel movements 7 days a week. That was an increase of the average 5 to 6 days a week (after doing the previous 4 healthy habits for 2 months). I’ve consistently had well-formed bowel movements 7 days a week ever since (it’s been 2 years, as of writing this article).
As office workers, we’ve become disconnected from the Earth and its healing properties. Even when we do touch the ground, we’re usually on concrete, or wearing shoes, or both. Sleeping on a grounding sheet is a manufactured way of connecting with the Earth. The grounding sheet connects to a small wire that plugs into the negative ground of a power outlet. The sheet is made of 95% cotton and 5% silver fiber. The negative current is transmitted through the silver fiber onto our skin, which essentially provides us with the healing properties of the Earth (while we sleep in our own bed at night).
I’ve written long enough for this article. But to read about my full experience with grounding sheets, check out my article titled Do Grounding Bed Sheets Really Work?
It’s pretty ironic that I started all these healthy habits for other reasons than improving digestive health. I thought for sure a doctor was going to be the way to healing my IBS. But all 5 of the healthy habits in this article contributed to overcoming all my irritable bowel syndrome challenges.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on how I manage my IBS symptoms effectively, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.
I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen