[Guest]

I think i have noticed that eating small amounts of food sometimes help. Does anyone have any ideas as to why? I also think the tempature of food might play a factor.

 

[flux]

I don't think the temperature of food can make a difference. Your intestine has no way to determine it. In addition, food in the stomach probably equilibrates to body temperature pretty quickly.It is possible that the stomach nerves may be hypersensitive to distention and that's why small meals appear to help.

 

[Guest]

Well I know that for me I had my colon removed and they still think I have ibs, I have to eat every 2 hours and if I eat big meals or even heavy meals it hurts and even more so when it passes. Alot of that I learned is that the more you eat the more you have to pass thru your digestion system

 

[Guest]

The temperature of food definitely plays a key role in its digestion. It is a fact that warm water is utilized by the body much faster than cold water. Also I can attest that whenever I drink a slush or ice cream I get very sore abdominal pains.Oh and small meals definitely seem to help, especially if the meal consists of alot of fats and proteins.

 

[TERIO]

I have heard it has to do with the amount of fat and/or sugar you are eating. Bigger meals have alot for the stomach to do it's job. Alot of books that I have read will tell you to eat smaller meals. That might help out ALOT!

 

[flux]

GIJoe's statements are wrong.While it is true that at a chemical level, enzymes activity is affected by temperature, it's a moot point for humans because the food equilibrates very rapidly to the body's temperature.It does make a difference for cold-blood animals that don't maintain their own body temperature. An ice-cube in their stomach can shut their bodies down.In a human, an ice cube just melts.

 

[Guest]

In an ideal world, we could eat an ice cube and suffer nill to no affects from it. However, we are a group of people that have compromised digestive systems to say the least and the ingestion of a block of ice can and does throw our insides into a tailspin, albeit a temporary tailspin. Whether this initiates spasms or perhaps interfers with brain/gut transmissions is not fully understood. Cool drinks and warm meals are best.

 

[flux]

I don't think anyone has studied the response of foods at temperature extremes in persons with IBS, so the actual effect is unknown.My tendency is to believe the temperature change is too short to make a difference.However, if there is an effect it is probably psychological for the gut has no way to directly determine a food's temperature.

 

[Guest]

The reason why eating larger meals causes IBS problems is because large amounts of food stimulate the intestines to move faster. Smaller meals don't cause the intestines to contract as fast, thus, preventing diarrhea. As far as the temp of foods, it is said that drinking warm drinks will cause the intestines to speed up, causing a bowel movement. I'm not sure about very cold foods or drinks, but I suppose it's possible that they will have an effect too. I usually eat about 6 small meals or snacks a day, and it does help a lot.

K

 

[flux]

I don�t think warm drinks can have that effect because all drinks quickly equilibrate to body temperature. The larger meal, the longer it takes to be digested and absorbed. In fact, the purpose of the stomach is really to store large meals and "feed" them to the small intestine a little at a time. Hence, the small intestine is always with "fed" small meals.However, gastric emptying is often too slow (the opposite of what was said above) in upper GI disorders, so a large meal takes too long and the stomach becomes too distended. Alternatively, the stomach nerves may just be overly sensitive to distention.In that scenario, small meals should be beneficial.

 

[Guest]

All I know is that in my nursing books, it says to provide warm fluids to the constipated client, because it is supposed to help them have a bowel movement. So there must be some truth to it, if that's what they're teaching us!!! K