It is natural to have gas in the colon. It is usually expelled during a bowel movement. However, some people have excessive amounts of gas, and are bothered by it throughout the day. Intestinal gas is primarily composed of oxygen; nitrogen; hydrogen; carbon dioxide; and methane. Oxygen and nitrogen are found in the air we breathe, whereas the other gases are primarily the result of bacterial fermentation in the large intestine. Some foods that may cause excessive gas are beans; peas; wheat; oats; bran; Brussels sprouts; cabbage; corn; rutabaga; and dairy products. From a naturopathic point of view, excessive gas may be an indication of candida overgrowth. Candidiasis can be worsened by eating excessive amounts of fermented and yeast-containing foods, such as soy sauce; beer; bread; sugar; fruit juice; or fruit.
Intestinal gas can be aggravated when dietary fiber intake is increased. Sometimes it occurs when taking herbal remedies one is unaccustomed to. Eating too fast and chewing gum can contribute to gas, as well as swallowed air. Therefore, eat food slowly and chew thoroughly. Carbonated beverages and sugar substitutes can also contribute. In terms of Chinese medicine, gas is usually due to diet, stress, and spleen qi deficiency accompanied by dampness. Over-the-counter chemical remedies should not be taken to relieve or prevent gas because there is no strong evidence that they are effective.
Self-Help
Professional Treatment
The following treatments should be administered by herbalists as choosing the correct formula will greatly improve efficacy.
Case Studies
Case #1: A female patient in her mid-30s complained of frequent intestinal gas, nausea, severe PMS, fatigue and low back pain. She usually had a glass or two of wine each night, and had a fondness for sweets. Traditional Chinese diagnosis revealed that her pulse was wiry, and her tongue was swollen, wet and red around the edges.
Before recommending any herbal formulas, I suggested she give up alcohol -- or have it only occasionally -- and instead, practice meditation after work. I also recommended cutting out sweets, as this would reduce both the PMS and intestinal gas. She was then given two tablets TID each of the woman's formula and digestion formula mentioned above, as well as adrenosen, to be taken symptomatically for fatigue. After two months she reported more energy and less gas, and the PMS was less severe. She still had lingering back pain. At this point, she discontinued the digestion formula, was given two tablets TID of a tonic consisting of astragalus root and seed (huang qi and sha yuan ji zi); ligustrum (nu zhen zi); hoshouwu (he shou wu); lycium fruit (gou qi zi); rehmannia (shu di huang); eucommia (du zhong); cuscuta (tu si zi); ginseng; tang kuei; and cornus (shan zhu yu) to tonify the body, and continued on the woman's formula.
Case #2: A male sales representative, 35, came to our clinic complaining of chronic gas, abdominal bloating and fatigue. He had already tried digestive enzymes and acidophilus. Traditional Chinese diagnosis found that his pulse was weak, and his tongue was wet. He was put on a combination of the digestion and codonopsis formulas mentioned above (two tablets QID of each formula). He was also counseled not to consume cold drinks or foods, and to decrease his intake of fatty and fried foods. Within two weeks, the gas was significantly reduced.
Case #3: A 27-year old male was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. His main symptoms were bloating, loose stools, and excessive gas in the afternoon and evening. Traditional Chinese diagnosis revealed that his pulse was thin and wiry; his tongue had a thick grey coating. I suggested following a protein and vegetable based rotation diet. In addition, he was given two tablets of the anti-candida formula before each meal and two tablets BID of colostroplex bovine colostrom. Within one month, nearly all symptoms had been reduced by 90 percent.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
| Digital Exclusive
One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
| Digital Exclusive