Diverticulitis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

To understand diverticulitis, you need to understand diverticulosis, so let’s start there. Diverticulosis is a very common bowel condition. It usually occurs in the last part of your colon, called your sigmoid colon. A pouch of the inner lining of your colon pushes inward  through a weak area of the … Read More

Do Specific Foods Cause Kidney Stones?

Kidney stones can form when you have too much dissolved minerals and salts in your urine. [1] They can be tiny grains of stone that pass through your urine painlessly, but larger stones can get stuck, block the flow of urine, and be extremely painful. [2] About 50 percent of … Read More

What to Know About Gastritis: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Diet

Gastritis is not one disease. It is a group of conditions that cause swelling and irritation, called inflammation, of your stomach lining. Normally your stomach lining has a mucous barrier that protects your stomach from stomach acids. Stomach acids are digestive juices that are great for breaking down the food … Read More

What Is SIBO? All About Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

SIBO is the acronym for a disease called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. [1-3] It is hard to know how common SIBO is. It causes digestive symptoms that are very common like belly, pain, bloating, and bowel changes. Many cases of SIBO may be missed because the diagnosis requires special testing. … Read More

Colon Cleansing: Not Necessary—and Potentially Dangerous

Colon cleansing is in fashion—and it’s a big business. You’ve likely heard people talking about having a colon cleanse as if they were going to a spa for a massage. But be very careful! There are no scientific studies that support any benefits from this practice—except for the bank accounts … Read More

Gastritis Definition: What Is Gastritis, and Why Is the Term So Confusing?

Gastritis is a general term for inflammation of the stomach lining. There are so many different types of gastritis, however, that it is difficult to come up with a single gastritis definition. Sometimes, gastritis is defined based on its cause, such as “H. pylori gastritis” (gastritis caused by infection with … Read More

Do You Have Heartburn? Try a GERD Elimination Diet

If you suffer from chronic heartburn, certain foods may be to blame. But the foods that trigger heartburn in one person can be different than the foods that cause heartburn symptoms in another person. So how do you figure out which foods to avoid with heartburn? You may want to try a short elimination … Read More

Foods That May Stop Diarrhea

Diarrhea is not a topic of choice at the dinner table. Nonetheless, it is a common condition that affects many people. An estimated 179 million acute cases occur each year, and 5 percent of the U.S. population suffers from chronic diarrhea. Diet may help control this condition, as we'll discuss … Read More

Melatonin May Offer Benefits for IBS Sufferers

People with irritable bowel syndrome can suffer for years without finding a way to relieve their symptoms, but a new review article reveals a promising treatment option: melatonin benefits for IBS. Produced by the pineal gland in the brain and by cells in the mucous lining of the digestive tract, … Read More

Could Your Digestive Problems be SIBO Symptoms?

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is an increasingly recognized condition in which there is an elevated number of bacteria in the small intestines.[1] The small intestine normally contains relatively few bacteria, but with SIBO, bacteria that are normally found in the colon—Escherichia coli, species of Enterococcus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Proteus … Read More