Going back to the brain gut connection, there is an important role for the nervous system to play in IBS. Meditation can play a major part here.
One randomized controlled trial demonstrated that mindfulness training has a substantial therapeutic effect on bowel symptom severity, improved health-related quality of life, and reduced distress. (7)
Interestingly, changes in quality of life, psychological distress, and visceral anxiety were not significantly different between groups immediately after treatment, but evidenced significantly greater improvements in the meditation group at the 3-month follow-up. (7)
This makes sense, as the effects of meditation are known to increase over time.
