As a life-long sufferer of functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome, I have struggled with symptoms of cramping, bloating and slow motility. But in the last twelve years I have been doing pretty well.
What started me down the road to recovery was taking up Mindful Eating. I didn’t take up the practice to help my gut, actually. Rather, I was trying to get control of my appetite and eating habits.
Mindful Eating involves chewing food thoroughly, and paying attention to all of the tastes and textures in a food. This has the result of slowing down eating, and enabling the perceptions of “gut cues” for satiety. You learn when you have had enough. But for my stomach, this meant that the food coming down was really well chewed, and thus easier to digest. It was also coming down at a slower rate, and not so much in quantity either. Less food, better chewed! This had the rapid effect of reducing nighttime gut cramps.
Eventually I did lose weight, but the effect on gut symptoms was nearly immediate. I offer this here in case anyone with IBS/gut cramps or reflux might want to try an easy behavioral change.